We cater to 6 hens in our small backyard lot in Austin, Texas. They are the stars of our blog, From Our Garden.

We picked up our first 4 chicks from Callahan's General Store back in February of 2011. It didn't take long for us to go back for 2 more to round out the flock. Here are the ladies of our establishment, by pecking order, naturally…



Buttercup- Fearless (and tiny) leader. She is an Ideal 236 hybrid and is quite the egg-layer. She is slow to anger unless you try to shoo her from her digging hole. That beak does mean business, but it is rarely used on the rest of the girls.





Rosie- A level-headed but stubborn girl. She was sold to us as an Americauna but I think she is not an approved color so we call her an Easter Egger. She seems to like getting her beard and cheek puffs "preened" by the other chickens. They do such a good job that she has bald patches and looks a bit lopsided.





Bluebell- An adventurous Blue Andalusian and mischievous thief of Rosie's butt-feathers. Bluebell makes an excited bubbling noise each morning when she first steps onto the lawn. She was just born to free-range and dig holes.





Tigerlilly- Another Easter Egger. For some time, our biggest and… slowest chicken. She may give severe looks more often than not, but she is actually quite sweet and patient. It took her much longer than the others to figure out how the Chicken Early Warning System works, but she is now an expert hawk-spotter.





Gretel- The most beautiful and graceful Australorp one could hope for. She is too nervous to be picked up, but she will ride around on your arm like an overweight falcon. She is much too polite to want to participate in any pecking order rivalries. Just keep away from her nesting box while she is laying or you will get an earful.





Little Red- One of our later chickens, a Production Red. She had a pretty tough chickhood and it a bit skittish. She is apt to wander away from the other chickens and peer into the house or follow us about the garden looking for snacks. She is also a mushroom addict and does not lay eggs. Perhaps the two are related.



Thanks for stopping by. For more pictures, be sure to check out our blog.