Cenere is a blue Cochin, and one of my very favorite girls. She has the sweetest personality, very curious and not afraid of people at all. Her hobbies include striking the funniest poses for my pictures and eating yogurt from my hand.

I am not sure what breed Ombretta is, but she is a bantam, and about half the size of Cenere. She is far more skittish of people and less silly than Cenere is, though super sweet with babies and generally not aggressive with anyone - new additions, others' chicks, you name it. She is higher in the pecking order than Cenere, and it's quite funny to watch her dictate the rules to the twice-as-big Cenere.

These two have surprised me by deciding to combine forces to raise chicks (after the chicks were hatched, they were separately brooding before then). Since then, they have decided that raising chicks is easier together, and now only go broody as a team.



Family dust-bath: Yes, that is Cenere's head peaking out from under Ombretta, and the light and dark blobs are two of the chicks.



"Hi there, I'm your mom too!"


And some of just Cenere since she likes to pose...

"Step away from the babies!"


more posing for the camera:





A kiss from a red star friend (Cenere was unimpressed, it seems):