Littlesquare
In the Brooder
- Jun 13, 2020
- 36
- 83
- 46
Hello! I've been on here not quite so long, but I feel like I've been asking so many question about my chickens, so I figured I'd join the discussion and introduce them to you! I also thought it would be nice to document our first flock so that we can come back and look at our starting point and progress later down the road.
A little background info:
We got our first flock in March from an aunt, who had owned chickens in the past but recently moved to a new town. They bought six chicks and two ducks and then promptly found out that the city ordinance did not allow them to have those chicks and ducks. So they gave us a call and my mother and I have always loved the idea of having chickens, but my father wasn't too hot on the idea because he didn't want to take care of them. But in the end, the decision was made and we were bird people! Our girls came to us when they were about 6.5 weeks old, so we missed the super baby chick phase. They grew up before our eyes, and soon we had a couple of White Pekin ducks, 2 ISA Browns, 2 Ameraucanas, a Barred Rock, and a RIR (who turned out to be a cockerel!). Eventually, we gave our ducks to a friend who had lots of water on her property and a bunch of ducks and peacocks for our two water friends to bond with since we couldn't provide that for them. But it turned out the move probably saved their lives, because two weeks later, a predator found a gap in our enclosure fence and took out our whole flock except for the two Ameraucanas. So we upped the security and made a few trips to bring home our new additions - 10 little baby chicks who we are learning how to raise and integrate! So without further ado - The Happy Hart Flock!
Nancy
Nancy is a 16 week old Ameraucana. Currently, she is the alpha hen since she's one of two big girls and the other is hurt, but I'm curious to see if she'll keep that position once all our girls are grown up! She's a very curious girl and likes to work her wings, but is not a fan of bees or loud noises. She also loves sitting on our shoulders, scratch grains, shiny rings, and talking up a storm.
Jo
Jo is our other surviving 16 week old Ameraucana. She was pretty seriously injured in the attack and lost an eye, and also has a large gash on her neck. But she's being treated for her injuries and is getting better every day! She's a fighter for certain and will definitely have the most interesting origin story! She grew a little beard, unlike her sister Nancy, which was pretty funny because we didn't knew they could do that. Jo loves cool, dark spaces and in her present state, being left alone to sleep and recuperate.
Duchess
Duchess is our new White Leghorn pullet. We think she might be a few days older than the rest of the young flock because she's a tad bit bigger than them. She is a girl who wants to explore the world and has made her way out of the brooding bin by herself already. We think she'll probably end up higher in the pecking order, but we'll see! Her name comes from Duchess the cat on Aristocats because of her color.
Queenie
Next up, we have Queenie, a week old Cinnamon Queen pullet. We weren't sure if she was a New Hampshire Red or a Cinnamon Queen when we first got her but some helpful folks on here chimed in to tell us. Queenie's name comes from the sister on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them because we liked the name.
Margaret
Margaret "Maggie" is a week old New Hampshire Red pullet. Her and her sister Lucy were the ones we weren't sure were NHRs or Cinnamon Queens, but now we know! We identify her by her wings - she has longer wings with more black in them than her sister, which is liable to change, but as of now it's a good tell! Her name comes from Sandra Bullock's (one of my mom's favorite actresses) character in The Proposal - a family favorite.
Lucy
Lucy is Maggie's sister - one week old with short little black-infused wings. We're definitely hoping they'll keep their distinctive markings so we can tell them apart when they're older! Her name comes from Sandra Bullock's character in Two Weeks Notice, another of my mom and sister's favorite movies.
Ducky
Ducky is a Blue Plymouth Rock, one of the newer chicks, a few days younger than our yellow ones. We got Ducky, Spike, Shadowfax, and Mordor all when they were just a teeny bit younger than their flockmates. She's my younger sister's favorite chick because she fell alseep in her hand the first time she held her and named her Ducky (like from Pretty in Pink). We tell her apart from her sister because Ducky has more yellow on her face and also has a white beak with a single black dot on her nostril.
Spike
Spike is our other Blue Plymouth Rock pullet. I wasn't too keen on her name, but my older sister really wanted Spike because although Ducky's name originated from Pretty in Pink, it inspired memories of Ducky and Spike from Land Before Time when we were kids. So we gave them the best of both worlds and I still love my Spike. She has less yellow on her face and her beak is black as opposed to Ducky's white, so those will be pretty solid identifiers later, I think.
Gustav
Gustav "Goose" is our week old Golden Comet pullet. She is differentiated from her sister by her head, which has darker feathers. They might change as they grow their new feathers, but we think something else will present itself to help us out. Her name comes from the movie Why Him? (yes, my family really loves movies) in the form of the parkour-inspiring live-in friend. Particularly from the scene where James Franco is feeding his chickens and going "peeeeep peep peep peep peep peep", which my two younger siblings laugh hysterically at every time they watch it. The name was born from laughter, so what else can you ask for?
Gammy
Another The Proposal inspired name thanks to Betty White, our other Golden Comet chick is quite docile usually. She has lighter head feathers and we think one of them might develop darker spots on their beaks as they grow, so that's nice.
Shadowfax
Shadowfax is our week old Barred Rock pullet. Her identifying features come in the form of large splashes of yellow right beneath her eyes. She and her sister are the other two younger members of the flock, if only by a few days. They're just a little smaller than the rest and have short little wings and tiny little bodies. Shadowfax got her name from Gandalf's horse in Lord of the Rings, even though his horse is white (we thought it was a cool name for a dark chick).
The Black Fires of Mordor
So I feel like I should address the name first. We were spitballing names, seeing if anything stuck and trying to make out which chick was which when my mom jokingly threw out this "name" from Lord of the Rings. Except my older sister and I thought it would be hilarious (it is) and now we have a week old Barred Rock pullet nicknamed "Mordor." She's got little specks of yellow under her eyes, which is her main difference from her sister. Mordor is also practically growing her wings out overnight! When she came to us, she had little tufts of down feathers, but they are quickly shedding off in favor of her new feathers.
And that's our flock! We're trying to start integrating the little girls by leaving the brooding bin on the other side of a screen door from our two big girls, but we took them and put them in the enclosure coop for a little while so Nancy could check them out through the fencing. She was very curious and tried to peck at the wire a couple times, but nothing major. She and Queenie had a little stare-down before Queenie broke and ran for cover with her sisters. Here's a few pictures of the little girls in the coop and a very curious Nancy! Jo tried to get a good look, but she still hasn't adjusted to being able to see with only one eye, so she lost interest pretty quickly.
Well, thanks for letting me brag about my little flock, until next time!
A little background info:
We got our first flock in March from an aunt, who had owned chickens in the past but recently moved to a new town. They bought six chicks and two ducks and then promptly found out that the city ordinance did not allow them to have those chicks and ducks. So they gave us a call and my mother and I have always loved the idea of having chickens, but my father wasn't too hot on the idea because he didn't want to take care of them. But in the end, the decision was made and we were bird people! Our girls came to us when they were about 6.5 weeks old, so we missed the super baby chick phase. They grew up before our eyes, and soon we had a couple of White Pekin ducks, 2 ISA Browns, 2 Ameraucanas, a Barred Rock, and a RIR (who turned out to be a cockerel!). Eventually, we gave our ducks to a friend who had lots of water on her property and a bunch of ducks and peacocks for our two water friends to bond with since we couldn't provide that for them. But it turned out the move probably saved their lives, because two weeks later, a predator found a gap in our enclosure fence and took out our whole flock except for the two Ameraucanas. So we upped the security and made a few trips to bring home our new additions - 10 little baby chicks who we are learning how to raise and integrate! So without further ado - The Happy Hart Flock!
Nancy
Nancy is a 16 week old Ameraucana. Currently, she is the alpha hen since she's one of two big girls and the other is hurt, but I'm curious to see if she'll keep that position once all our girls are grown up! She's a very curious girl and likes to work her wings, but is not a fan of bees or loud noises. She also loves sitting on our shoulders, scratch grains, shiny rings, and talking up a storm.
Jo
Jo is our other surviving 16 week old Ameraucana. She was pretty seriously injured in the attack and lost an eye, and also has a large gash on her neck. But she's being treated for her injuries and is getting better every day! She's a fighter for certain and will definitely have the most interesting origin story! She grew a little beard, unlike her sister Nancy, which was pretty funny because we didn't knew they could do that. Jo loves cool, dark spaces and in her present state, being left alone to sleep and recuperate.
Duchess
Duchess is our new White Leghorn pullet. We think she might be a few days older than the rest of the young flock because she's a tad bit bigger than them. She is a girl who wants to explore the world and has made her way out of the brooding bin by herself already. We think she'll probably end up higher in the pecking order, but we'll see! Her name comes from Duchess the cat on Aristocats because of her color.
Queenie
Next up, we have Queenie, a week old Cinnamon Queen pullet. We weren't sure if she was a New Hampshire Red or a Cinnamon Queen when we first got her but some helpful folks on here chimed in to tell us. Queenie's name comes from the sister on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them because we liked the name.
Margaret
Margaret "Maggie" is a week old New Hampshire Red pullet. Her and her sister Lucy were the ones we weren't sure were NHRs or Cinnamon Queens, but now we know! We identify her by her wings - she has longer wings with more black in them than her sister, which is liable to change, but as of now it's a good tell! Her name comes from Sandra Bullock's (one of my mom's favorite actresses) character in The Proposal - a family favorite.
Lucy
Lucy is Maggie's sister - one week old with short little black-infused wings. We're definitely hoping they'll keep their distinctive markings so we can tell them apart when they're older! Her name comes from Sandra Bullock's character in Two Weeks Notice, another of my mom and sister's favorite movies.
Ducky
Ducky is a Blue Plymouth Rock, one of the newer chicks, a few days younger than our yellow ones. We got Ducky, Spike, Shadowfax, and Mordor all when they were just a teeny bit younger than their flockmates. She's my younger sister's favorite chick because she fell alseep in her hand the first time she held her and named her Ducky (like from Pretty in Pink). We tell her apart from her sister because Ducky has more yellow on her face and also has a white beak with a single black dot on her nostril.
Spike
Spike is our other Blue Plymouth Rock pullet. I wasn't too keen on her name, but my older sister really wanted Spike because although Ducky's name originated from Pretty in Pink, it inspired memories of Ducky and Spike from Land Before Time when we were kids. So we gave them the best of both worlds and I still love my Spike. She has less yellow on her face and her beak is black as opposed to Ducky's white, so those will be pretty solid identifiers later, I think.
Gustav
Gustav "Goose" is our week old Golden Comet pullet. She is differentiated from her sister by her head, which has darker feathers. They might change as they grow their new feathers, but we think something else will present itself to help us out. Her name comes from the movie Why Him? (yes, my family really loves movies) in the form of the parkour-inspiring live-in friend. Particularly from the scene where James Franco is feeding his chickens and going "peeeeep peep peep peep peep peep", which my two younger siblings laugh hysterically at every time they watch it. The name was born from laughter, so what else can you ask for?
Gammy
Another The Proposal inspired name thanks to Betty White, our other Golden Comet chick is quite docile usually. She has lighter head feathers and we think one of them might develop darker spots on their beaks as they grow, so that's nice.
Shadowfax
Shadowfax is our week old Barred Rock pullet. Her identifying features come in the form of large splashes of yellow right beneath her eyes. She and her sister are the other two younger members of the flock, if only by a few days. They're just a little smaller than the rest and have short little wings and tiny little bodies. Shadowfax got her name from Gandalf's horse in Lord of the Rings, even though his horse is white (we thought it was a cool name for a dark chick).
The Black Fires of Mordor
So I feel like I should address the name first. We were spitballing names, seeing if anything stuck and trying to make out which chick was which when my mom jokingly threw out this "name" from Lord of the Rings. Except my older sister and I thought it would be hilarious (it is) and now we have a week old Barred Rock pullet nicknamed "Mordor." She's got little specks of yellow under her eyes, which is her main difference from her sister. Mordor is also practically growing her wings out overnight! When she came to us, she had little tufts of down feathers, but they are quickly shedding off in favor of her new feathers.
And that's our flock! We're trying to start integrating the little girls by leaving the brooding bin on the other side of a screen door from our two big girls, but we took them and put them in the enclosure coop for a little while so Nancy could check them out through the fencing. She was very curious and tried to peck at the wire a couple times, but nothing major. She and Queenie had a little stare-down before Queenie broke and ran for cover with her sisters. Here's a few pictures of the little girls in the coop and a very curious Nancy! Jo tried to get a good look, but she still hasn't adjusted to being able to see with only one eye, so she lost interest pretty quickly.
Well, thanks for letting me brag about my little flock, until next time!
Thanks for sharing the photos of them!! 
