Families Are God's Glory: 2010

So...as most of you know I acquired two chickens shortly after dad got out of the hospital this summer. They came with no names, instructions or info...just an open 50lbs bag of scratch and two hens with their legs tied together in a plastic crate. They were totally unexpected and we kinda scrambled to make a place for them in the garden which at that time had been taken over by weeds and bugs. Well, a lot has happened since then.

(Buffy, Buff Rock and the Head of the Pecking Order)

(Jean, Speckled Sussex and Buffy's vicious trained assasin/henchman)

You could say that an old dream began to find fruition. We'd had chickens when I was young and I'd always wanted to raise them again, but never even considered it in the middle of Vegas. I don't know why, I mean, we have heard roosters here on and off for years. After dad had his toes amputated and was able to get around without to much support we decided we'd like to get some more chickens. We began to plan a hen house and run, moving wood and exposing parts of the backyard we hadn't seen in years. We got online and ordered a new catelog from Murray McMurray Hatchery, the place we had gotten chicks from 20+ years ago. We called and visited various feed stores in town looking for laying hens to no avail. I found a listing on craigslist and we soon purchased 2'Ameraucana' pullets, or young hens almost ready to lay, that were actually Easter Eggers, or non-standard Ameraucanas.

(Amelia, Easter Egger or EE - loves to fly)

(Delores, Easter Egger - named after the previous owner, very vocal)

Then I checked out craigslist for the St. George area ... afterall, Tyler goes back and forth every week. I found four 3 yr. old hens for next to nothing. Not sure if they were worth it. They were in the middle of a hard molt and they looked (and in Rosie's case) smelled terrible. They have really changed a lot since we got them. Rosie got better, and a bath so she's not so smelly, and they all have gotten their feathers back look great.

(Rachel, Buff Orpington - named after the previous owner, sweet & curious)

(Hailey, Gold Comet - loud mouth busy body, very demanding)

(Rosie, Silver Laced Wyandotte - a STINKER in personality & smell)

(Lacey, Gold Laced Wyandotte ... very quiet, stays under the radar)

After the 'U-tards' I was quite a bit more cautious about getting more. We had completed the hen house and run by this time and were ready to add to our flock. So back to craigslist I went. I kind of jumped the gun and got some hens that weren't on my wishlist. So I ended up with two rarer breeds. These are not dual purpose chickens but smaller hens used more for egg laying than meat, except we really haven't gotten eggs from them yet. Molly did lay for about 2 weeks but has quit since and seems to be going through a bit of a molt. Selena had had her wings brutally clipped, both of them, so she looks kinda sad too. I think I may find a new home for them to make room for hens I really want.

(Molly, Lakenvelder - named after previous owner, skittish, squawky & fast)

(Selena, White Faced Black Spanish - she sings/coos in the sweetest tone)

Since we've had such good luck with our Easter Eggers (they are the only ones laying) we decided to get some more. I found some in Utah on craigslist and commisioned Tylers help again. This time I wanted photos before purchasing and Ty knew I wanted ones that looked different from the ones I already had. I told him I wanted 2 but after seeing them he decided we needed 3. They are awesome and beautiful. I had been drooling over pictures of white ones for months. Yay! I got my own now. Dad thought that one was a boy cuz it was the biggest and had more of a comb than the others. I was quite sure they were all hens but decided to name it Jules instead of Jill just in case. But happy day, as of today, they are ALL laying, all three of them. We've only had them for 2 weeks come Monday.

(Julie, EE - aka Jules, named after previous owner, Jill)