Naming chickens

[AntiqueB]

I have 4, all named by a small child, and all named by the 2nd day of their lives:
- Peck, an EE who always pecked things
- Love, a BO who always wanted to be cuddled (and still does)
- Peeper, an EE who peeped a LOT and now is very quiet
- Flapod, an SS who was named Flapper for the first couple days, but it got changed because Flapper and Peeper sounded similar.

All know their names, and will either come when called, or answer if they are in the coop. I can tell their peeps and bawks apart, too. Can you tell I spend a lot of time with them?

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

So my question is, do you name your chickens?

Yes, I name my chickens.

How do you decide on names?

It depends. Sometimes, it's something that the bird does that gets their name. Sparkle Girl was one of those cases. Or something about their personality that gets their name. Both Cave I and Cave II were in that case. In some cases, I had a name or word that kept coming to mind, that would end up one of my chick's names. Lupin was one of those cases. In other cases, I just looked at the bird, and the name instantly came. AnnaBella is one of those cases. Also, there's been cases where a hen will get named after another hen. Names like Tweety and Perch are names that have been used a few times. In cases of those two names, they were named that if they were a certain breed. Eggsample: Tweety was something I'd name a Golden Comet, and Perch was something that I named a Barred Rock. One thing: I try not to reuse a name of a bird that died young.

If you have multiple of the same breed, how do you tell them apart?

Well with my EEs, I could. With my Buff Orpingtons, I couldn't tell most of them apart once they grew older, but I guess that didn't matter because I forgot most of their names anyways. A couple of them got renamed, though. Fluffy's Friend was obviously named after something that she did. She was Fluffy's friend; always around Fluffy, so she was renamed Fluffy's Friend. Joy, another renamed Buff Orpington, got her name from one of my dreams. Interesting story, but that's how she got her name.

 

[Iluveggers]

Yes, I name my chickens.

It depends. Sometimes, it's something that the bird does that gets their name. Sparkle Girl was one of those cases. Or something about their personality that gets their name. Both Cave I and Cave II were in that case. In some cases, I had a name or word that kept coming to mind, that would end up one of my chick's names. Lupin was one of those cases. In other cases, I just looked at the bird, and the name instantly came. AnnaBella is one of those cases. Also, there's been cases where a hen will get named after another hen. Names like Tweety and Perch are names that have been used a few times. In cases of those two names, they were named that if they were a certain breed. Eggsample: Tweety was something I'd name a Golden Comet, and Perch was something that I named a Barred Rock. One thing: I try not to reuse a name of a bird that died young.

Well with my EEs, I could. With my Buff Orpingtons, I couldn't tell most of them apart once they grew older, but I guess that didn't matter because I forgot most of their names anyways. A couple of them got renamed, though. Fluffy's Friend was obviously named after something that she did. She was Fluffy's friend; always around Fluffy, so she was renamed Fluffy's Friend. Joy, another renamed Buff Orpington, got her name from one of my dreams. Interesting story, but that's how she got her name.

Those are some cool stories! Thank you for sharing!

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Those are some cool stories! Thank you for sharing!

Yep.

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

Let's see: 4 barnyard mix girls: Olive, Pepper, Elsa, and Caramel.

2 blue laced red Wyandottes (each have 3 chicks): Cat has 2 barnyard mixes Uno, Dos, and Tres. Valentine has green eggers named Cinnamon, Toast, and Crunch.

2 Blue Andalusians : Smokey and Ash

2 indistinguishable lavender orpingtons known as "The Dove Twins"

Dottie the speckled sussex

Cloud the white Cochin

Tina (Turner) the white crested black Polish- named for energy as much as hair.

Purple Snurple- gray Easter egger that lays cream colored eggs

Jade, the mean girl light brahma named after a character in a tween show. Victorious?

Marshmallow fluff a splash blue egger that is co-brooding 5 chicks with Ash. 3 blue eggers (un-named so far, Rosie the RIR, and 2 little Polish babies also un-named for now).

We also have a cat named Kitty Purry

I think that's it.... In the past notable names are Free Bird, (chubby) Chica, Maleficent, etc.

 

[Iluveggers]

We named our babies today!
The three EE are Thelma & Louise (the two lighter ones) and Clover (the chocolate colored one...she’s my favorite and I thought Clover fit her perfectly!)
The 3GLW are Butternut, Daffodil & Crouton. I couldn’t tell them apart but I finally took closeups and Butternut has gold sparsely speckled above her eyes. Daffodil has a gold star/flower pattern above her eyes, & Crouton has a small gold triangle above each eye.
My aunt makes the New Hampshire Freddie (after her late husband...red birds are her favorite).
The Buckeye is named Peaches (I thought it was cute and she is an orangey color.
The Sapphire Gem is muffin, short for blueberry muffin, named by my son.
The Barred Rocks are Penelope, Basil, and my daughter has til tomorrow morning for the last ones name or she will be Gladys (Knight & the Pips) .
The Australorp are Henrietta, Bernadette, and Plucky (my DH named her...short for mother plucker) but at least Plucky is a cute name, & I’m the only one who knows her real name . I’m sure she’ll end up being something else with that name!
Thank you all for sharing! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading through all your posts. Keep the stories coming, I’d love to hear all of them, old & new!

 

[Iluveggers]

Let's see: 4 barnyard mix girls: Olive, Pepper, Elsa, and Caramel.

2 blue laced red Wyandottes (each have 3 chicks): Cat has 2 barnyard mixes Uno, Dos, and Tres. Valentine has green eggers named Cinnamon, Toast, and Crunch.

2 Blue Andalusians : Smokey and Ash

2 indistinguishable lavender orpingtons known as "The Dove Twins"

Dottie the speckled sussex

Cloud the white Cochin

Tina (Turner) the white crested black Polish- named for energy as much as hair.

Purple Snurple- gray Easter egger that lays cream colored eggs

Jade, the mean girl light brahma named after a character in a tween show. Victorious?

Marshmallow fluff a splash blue egger that is co-brooding 5 chicks with Ash. 3 blue eggers (un-named so far, Rosie the RIR, and 2 little Polish babies also un-named for now).

We also have a cat named Kitty Purry

I think that's it.... In the past notable names are Free Bird, (chubby) Chica, Maleficent, etc.

I’m taking it you have kids in your house! I love the chicks names! I especially love the image I got of Tina (Turner) Polish chicks do remind me of rock stars lol. Those are pretty awesome selections.

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

I’m taking it you have kids in your house! I love the chicks names! I especially love the image I got of Tina (Turner) Polish chicks do remind me of rock stars lol. Those are pretty awesome selections.

Yep. 10 year old daughter going on 16, but really almost 11. She says Tina is just Tina- she never agreed to the Turner part....

My son is 17. He hates chickens, but eats more eggs than anyone else in the house. He is great about helping me kill or re-locate snakes and deal with other unpleasantries.

 

[Novicehen]

Martin Rooster King was purchased as a pullet BCM, but...
Martina and Augustina are BCMs
Ms. Cleo is my EE
Nandi and Moremi are Polish Whites
Vanilla is a Cali White (she chose me while I was trolling the TSC when meant to be at Kroger for pie supplies)
Indigo and Amethyst are Lavender Orpingtons
Becky and Karen are Rhode Island Reds
Blu and September are Sapphire Gems
Nina and Pinta are Plymoth Rocks

 

[JurassicBawk]

Yup, all the chickens have names. The quail too even though they don't really care. But the chickens know their names and will come to them, can be identified by their individual sounds, and I know each one's favorite treats and who lays which egg.

I started with 4 EEs named after the Jurassic World raptor squad: Blue, Charlie, Delta, and Echo. Then at about 4 months old my Charlie was killed by a predator and Echo turned out to be a rooster and was rehomed, so I found similar aged pullets at a local farm and Clever Girl (RIP) and Char (Charlie2) joined the group. I took in some rescue bantams, Hawk the OEGB and Pearl the Polish, and that was it for about 4 years. Then last summer since my originals were getting older and laying less I added in 4 more 7 month olds. I tried to mostly keep with the raptor/army alphabet theme so the EEs were deemed Foxtrot and Indo (Indominous) and the Silkie mixes I picked up on Halloween were deemed Ecto and Ghost.

Then on May 5th I went to the local TSC and they had Welbar babies, and I couldn't resist. So since I had B-I covered and poor Pearl all alone on the alphabet, and because the babies came home on Cinco de Mayo, they were deemed Queso, Roma, Salsa, and Tango. Everyone looks different except for Salsa and Roma, and I think they'll be easier to tell apart once they get fully grown but for now they sport leg bands. My husband used to make fun of me for knowing which chicken made which noise, but he recently got me a chicken coop camera, Velociraptor Warning sign for their coop, and will sit and watch them during the day and comment on them because he knows everyone's personality now. They're addicting little pets.