- Sep 12, 2012
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This is Buddy, one of my Ameraucana hens, when she younger. Yes, I have a hen named Buddy. Allow me to explain.
I've never been very good at sexing chicks - or even fully feathered chickens - until the rooster starts to crow. Buddy is a good example as to why because she exhibited BOTH traits when she was younger, including little nubs on the back of her legs for spurs. She was also the only chick that was allowed to free-range as soon as they could fly, and still came running up to me when I was outside. Eventually I was allowed to pick her up with absolutely no problem at all. But not only does she like being picked up now, she even likes to be pet while standing on the ground. Most chickens will scoot out of your way when they feel your hand on their back, but not Buddy! She'll even push her head up a bit when you pet her so she can feel it better!
So as she grew, thinking she was a rooster, I called her my "little buddy". There were several times when we had visitors at the house and I would put her up on my shoulder to walk around and greet the visitors. As the other roosters began to sexually mature and try to pin her, she would always run up to me for cover! That's how we finally found out that she was actually a hen!
But Buddy had already gone by that name for a few months, and she DEFINITELY responded to it! So after my nieces tried unsuccessfully to think of a new name for her, they decided to stick with Buddy, because she already knew it.
Buddy has no fear of myself or my nieces. But everything else, she can easily be spooked by. She ended up being the only one out of her hatch group that survived the fox problem we had, because she takes off running at the first sign of trouble. And usually, she'll try to find me when she does! She also "talks" to me and responds to my coos and clicks with her own (but only after I speak first!) She regularly pecks at my painted fingernails, my eyeglasses, and my clothes to make sure they fit HER sense of style! And the face you see here in this photo, is one that I typically see when I first greet her outside, as if to say "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!?"
