Today was such a beautiful fall day that I spent most of the afternoon outside, cleaning the coop and letting my flock wander around the garden. I often like to watch them and imagine what is going on in their little chicken society. I managed to snap pictures of some of the flock and I decided to write little vignettes about them and what their lives are like. I hope you all enjoy getting to know my flock through these revealing (if imagined) peeks into their lives.
Fezziwig the Speckled Sussex Rooster
Fezziwig had been given his name by a rather bookish mistress. The spangles of his plumage had reminded her, in spirit if not in appearances, of a minor Dickensonian character known for his love of celebration and good cheer. Fezziwig met life with characteristic equanimity, even though he found that being the head of such a large flock of tempestuous wives and mischievious offspring kept him from enjoying his day in the sun as much as he'd have liked.
Martha the Lavender Orpington Hen (in nesting box) and some of the flock
Martha: "All day they've been out, preening and flirting their way to the choice morsels, not a thought in their flightly little heads, while I have been doing nothing but work, work, work! There is fresh straw to be flattened and scratched, nesting boxes to be arranged and eggs to be laid. We must earn out keep! Now here they are, home from a grand old time out in the garden and as I sit studiously laying an egg, they stand about trying to find the most flattering light and worrying about who is standing the closest to the rooster. It is just shameful!"
Jelly Bean the Speckled Sussex Hen and Fezziwig the Speckled Sussex Rooster
"Do you suppose, Jelly Bean," he began wistfully to the pretty little hen as he looked up at the greenery of the rose bush before turning to contrast the fading fall colors of the grass below him, "that rose bushes are edible? I've heard one should stop and smell the roses but as for me, I've never had much use for something I couldn't turn into dinner."
Left to Right: Glenda the Blue Orpington, Jelly Bean the Speckled Sussex, Anne the Black Orpington and Cloudy the Blue Orp/Speckled Sussex cross
Cloudy watched her mother Glenda silently over the Speckled Sussex hen's back, trying to mimic her graceful stance and wondering if her own plumage would ever lighten to the same elegant shade of pale-flecked blue. Behind her stood Anne, she of the obsidian eyes and coal black feathers, a favorite not only of Cloudy's father but of all the young roosters as well. She had grown up the odd one out, pale and large when her hatchmates were dark and slight, and it was the thought that she was the daughter of a great beauty that kept her head high when the idea of being strange and different grew unbearable.
Anne the Black Orp and Glenda the Blue Orp
"There's a hole there," said Anne, glancing down then towards her friend Glenda, "do you think there are any worms in there?"
"Surely not," Glenda replied, her eyes gazing pointedly in the distance and her foot concealing a fat, juicy worm she had just managed to scratch from the hole before Anne had wandered up, "but I'm sure there are some to be found way over there. You should check."
Fezziwig the Speckled Sussex Rooster
Fezziwig had been given his name by a rather bookish mistress. The spangles of his plumage had reminded her, in spirit if not in appearances, of a minor Dickensonian character known for his love of celebration and good cheer. Fezziwig met life with characteristic equanimity, even though he found that being the head of such a large flock of tempestuous wives and mischievious offspring kept him from enjoying his day in the sun as much as he'd have liked.
Martha the Lavender Orpington Hen (in nesting box) and some of the flock
Martha: "All day they've been out, preening and flirting their way to the choice morsels, not a thought in their flightly little heads, while I have been doing nothing but work, work, work! There is fresh straw to be flattened and scratched, nesting boxes to be arranged and eggs to be laid. We must earn out keep! Now here they are, home from a grand old time out in the garden and as I sit studiously laying an egg, they stand about trying to find the most flattering light and worrying about who is standing the closest to the rooster. It is just shameful!"
Jelly Bean the Speckled Sussex Hen and Fezziwig the Speckled Sussex Rooster
"Do you suppose, Jelly Bean," he began wistfully to the pretty little hen as he looked up at the greenery of the rose bush before turning to contrast the fading fall colors of the grass below him, "that rose bushes are edible? I've heard one should stop and smell the roses but as for me, I've never had much use for something I couldn't turn into dinner."
Left to Right: Glenda the Blue Orpington, Jelly Bean the Speckled Sussex, Anne the Black Orpington and Cloudy the Blue Orp/Speckled Sussex cross
Cloudy watched her mother Glenda silently over the Speckled Sussex hen's back, trying to mimic her graceful stance and wondering if her own plumage would ever lighten to the same elegant shade of pale-flecked blue. Behind her stood Anne, she of the obsidian eyes and coal black feathers, a favorite not only of Cloudy's father but of all the young roosters as well. She had grown up the odd one out, pale and large when her hatchmates were dark and slight, and it was the thought that she was the daughter of a great beauty that kept her head high when the idea of being strange and different grew unbearable.
Anne the Black Orp and Glenda the Blue Orp
"There's a hole there," said Anne, glancing down then towards her friend Glenda, "do you think there are any worms in there?"
"Surely not," Glenda replied, her eyes gazing pointedly in the distance and her foot concealing a fat, juicy worm she had just managed to scratch from the hole before Anne had wandered up, "but I'm sure there are some to be found way over there. You should check."
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