WHO ARE THE CHICKENS?

The other day, cousin Sloane asked "Tell us how many chickens you have and their names. Do they have any personality traits?"

The short answer is: 28, some have them some don't, and yes.  LOL!  Now to the long answer.

I have 26 girls and 2 boys:

• 1 Golden Buff (Buffy) - she is a very nice girl who is a leader, she is in charge but not pushy.
• 1 Rhode Island Red (Red) - she is very vocal at roosting time and will peck at anyone in her way, including me ;) .
• 1 Welsummer (Summer) - Summer, Buffy and Red are the last of my original flock and all three are very nice and will eat treats right out of my hand.  Summer is definitely the queen of the coop.  She roosts wherever she wants and will peck anyone down who invades her space.  She takes over any food or treats, the other girls get out of her way.  That said, she is still a very sweet chicken and the smartest of all my originals.
• 5 Partridge Cochins (no names yet) - these Cochins are in a world of their own.  They generally stay in their own pack and don't care to socialize with the others.  They are not agressive but do tend to pick on each other when molting.  They are hilarious when they are running, leaning way off to the right then way off to the left, those big fluffy, feathered bodies and feathered feet bounding toward you, waddling with great strides.  I have loved these chickens from the start.  Very active and curious.
• 3 Columbian Wyandottes (two don't have names yet, the other one is Zoey) Zoey has a name because I know who she is and she is kept with other special needs chickens.  Zoey has one toe that is bent backward.  She is sweet, rather demure.  I haven't named the other two yet because I'm not sure who is who, but I can tell you this, they are late night party-ers!  Always the last into the coop and even then they don't want to get settled in - always scratching around for something good to eat.
• 2 Blue Laced Red Wyandottes (no names yet) - I actually can tell these two apart, so I really should name them soon.  I hardly notice these two except at bed time and at wake time.  One likes to sleep on the very lowest roost and doesn't care if she's all alone.  The other girl likes to sleep on the very top roost all snuggled up with others - however, she doesn't like to get down from there by herself in the morning and waits for me to come and get her.  I love that!  When I go in to get her she stands on my hands and gets a little nervous but I say "look at me, look at mama, look at me, it's ok" and she watches my face as I slowly lower her to the ground.  As far as breeds go I will always have Wyandottes, no matter what kind, they are really good girls.  I've had these Blue Laced Reds, the Columbians, Silver Laced, and Gold Laced - they are great birds!
• 1 Blue Copper Marans (Marlee) - This girl is very confident and likes to follow me around and talk.  She doesn't necessarily want to be picked up but sometimes she'll let me.  I like Marlee, she's like a little person.
• 1 Wheaten Ameraucana (Whilamina) - This is my baby girl whom we never thought would even live to adulthood.  She's smaller than the other girls, likely because she had some troubles getting started in life but she's very bright and seems to smile.  I love that sometimes she'll take a notion to just fly up and land on my shoulder.  She spent many days in the house sitting on my or my husband's shoulder.  I love that little blonde girl.
• 2 Blue Ameraucana (Catherine and Pidgie) - Catherine is a noisy girl and she'll make such a racket.  It's ok though, I think it's cool because I know her voice.  Catherine has a crossbeak which could make it difficult for her to eat but I keep the food deep and pay her some extra attention and she's doing just fine.  There's always the possibility that the beak could get even worse but I haven't seen it change this far and she's seven months old already and laying beautiful blue eggs :) .  I've read that Ameraucanas can be prone to crossbeak - she's the only one out of the six.  Pidgie got her name because when she was about four months old I thought she resembled a Pigeon.  She's very quiet and tries to stay off radar.  
• 1 Blue Splash Ameraucana (Luna) - Luna, short for lunatic.  When she was younger I could have entered her into the Chicken Races (if there were such a thing).  I swear this girl was hopped up on caffeine all the time.  She's better now but maybe that's just because it's cold outside.  Don't tell the others but I think Luna is the prettiest ;) .
• 1 Blue/Black Ameraucana (Sabrina) - Nothing to know about Sabrina, she's pretty laid-back and polite.  I'd like to get to know her better.  Think I'll work on that this Spring.
• 3 Barnevelder (no names yet) - These three could be mischief makers in the making.  I think they think they have me fooled.  They're kinda sneaky and weave in and out grabbing treats smoothly when every one else is frantically gobbling everything they can reach.  They also squeeze into the very spots that they want on the roosts - even when there doesn't seem to be room.  They're very stealthy.
• 2 Salmon Faverolles (no names yet) - Just picked these chicks up from the hatchery today.
• 2 Cream Legbar (no names yet) - Just picked these chicks up from the hatchery today.
• AND the boys are: a Blue Splash Ameraucana (Crockett) - Crockett is a blast, he is all boy!  Ironically, he was supposed to have been a girl...oops!  He starts crowing at about 5am and doesn't stop till he's settled in for the night.  He has different calls for different reasons - I'm starting to recognize them.  He crows: to wake the girls up, to let them know there's something good to eat, to tell them it's almost time for bed and to get closer to the coop, he crows and makes clicking noises when he's trying to round them up for the night, and he crows when "danger" is near (meaning my husband has arrived in the yard and he does not belong there - LOL!!!)  Crockett also dances when he's trying to get a girl's attention, he kinda puts one wing down and jitters sideways toward her.  He is sooo funny!
• And a Salmon Faverolles (Tubbs) - My boy Tubby (Tubbs now that he's all grown up).  Tubbs is another who had a rough start to life but he's been a fighter since day one.  A little ball of yellow fuzz, as wide as he was tall he was the cutest thing.  But he couldn't open his eyes.  He didn't care, he'd run around like mad and cheep at everything.  Always eating voraciously - still does.  Some extra vitamins perked him up and opened his eyes.  Even up to a couple months ago I was still worried about him, he seemed to have some neurological problems but he's just fine now.  Just a big goofball.  I wanted him so bad when I saw him in the catalog and he is definitely a looker with his Autumn patchwork colors.  He surely lets me baby him - the only one I can pick up whenever I want, and good thing too because this winter his comb got frostbite and I've been constantly caring for it.  I didn't think he'd ever crow but over the past week he's really figured it out and sounds like a pro.  He's also lovin' on the girls now - LOL!

I love all my chickens so much - there's not one breed I would not recommend (so far).  They are all so very interesting, from the most active ones down to the wall flowers, they are each unique and precious.