For the first few months we wondered which chicks were roosters and how we could tell. We carefully observed behavior, feather development and weighed the birds. By 10 weeks, one chicken had developed a beautiful tail and was clearly a rooster. Pecky, one of the smallest of the birds and not at the top of the pecking order, made it evident he was a boy.
\We patiently waited another month for the other roosters to make themselves known but finally gave up and rehomed Pecky, who had not still not started to crow, but was pecking at the other birds. The farmer who took him told us that all the rest of the chickens were hens! That's right 9 out of 10 were hens! We figured that we would likely get 4-6 hens since we had no experience in choosing female chicks.
The seven hens that we kept have continued to get a lot of attention, and several have new adult names to replace their baby names. The baby names were mostly based on their appearance or behavior at 6-days-old so it seems only appropriate that they would get new ones as they grew.
Iris (formerly Stripe) seems to enjoy being held like a baby.
Iris chose a new perch for herself.
Roadrunner (formerly Cheep-Cheep-A-Peep) is fast and hard to catch. Her small size means she can still fly quite a bit. When held she is the most "talkative" of the birds and makes a wide range of sounds. She has fluffly cheeks and impressive red eyes.
Cheeks is curious and eager to eat out of your hand. She is the most likely to go exploring at this point and doesn't run from being caught. No name change here, she still has those amazing cheeks!
Black Beauty is a big girl with feathered legs. The name fits with her beautiful iridescent feathers.
Cheep is little and relatively shy. She is not high on the pecking order. She enjoys a good snuggle. We need to vote on a new name for this sweetie. She has the most pronounced comb of the girls.
Toast, aka Cap or Cap Garland, was our big adventurer in the first few months. She is pretty laid back and gentle, but was the only hen who would stand up to Pecky, the rooster.
Henevere, formerly known as Ducky, has been a kid favorite. She is happiest hanging out with the crowd but doesn't hesitate to get in their when there is fruit to be had.
We love watching, holding and feeding the chickens. They really like to roam the yard but enjoy eating some of the plants a little too much! We have to try to keep them on the grass and out of the forest. Currently they are in dog crates indoors hiding from the smoky air. We are eager to see what color eggs they will give us. We think they will start to lay in the next month or so.
