My Chickens

When we moved to this house in April of last year one of the features that I was most excited about was the chicken coop. I have wanted chickens for a long time, and now I was going to be able to realize that dream (said with my tongue in my cheek!). So shortly after we moved in we joined our neighbor (and landlord) at a livestock auction to add some hens of our own to the coop. The auction was quite an experience and there were many chickens to choose from. We came in with the idea that we would be able to get some "pretty" chickens at a cheap price- but soon found that the pretty ones were going for more than we wanted to spend. I was getting discouraged- and the kids were getting a little desperate when I laid my eyes on 4 pretty Rhode Island Red pullets (a pullet is a young female chicken). I had wanted my hens to be laying already, but the price was right on these beauties, and so we bid on them and won them.

We brought them home to their lovely coop by the lilac bushes and we fed and nurtured them. We watched them grow (and grow) and we soon watched them out-grow all of the other chickens in the coop. I started to think we got some special genetic blend of Rhode Island Red chickens. We waited patiently for eggs to start appearing. It was hard to know if they were laying yet since there were other chickens in the coop, but when some oddly shaped eggs started appearing we were sure they were from our girls.

Then one morning I heard a rooster crow at dawn. Strange I thought since we had no roosters. When I went to the coop to feed them their daily scraps, I looked closely at my GIANT hens. They had beautiful tail feathers and a large comb and waddle. I had seen them before, but I was in denial. The last straw was when Brendan pointed out the talon's on the feet of the hens roosters! I could deny it no more. We had been waiting, watching, nurturing, and expecting eggs from roosters. The next morning I heard 4 roosters crowing. The neighbors love us.

We learned from this experience. After finding the roosters a new home, we spent a little more money on some hens that were already laying. No mistakes this time. Fool me once...