Isn't she a beauty? We have five of these in our chicken yard. They are definitely my favorite. I'll post pictures of the others in a few days. But these are called a barred rock. They are very curious, quiet, and full of personality. And great egg layers. I haven't quite figured out who is laying and who is not, but I'm pretty sure one of them is among the three that have started laying.
Since the chickens are so genteel, we let the kids in the pen with them often. Partly to keep the chickens acclimated, and partly to teach the kids to care for animals. So the other night, Paulee was in the pen because she wanted to pet one of the "girls". They were being very compliant, but she just wouldn't touch them. So as she stood there telling me all the reasons she couldn't pet the chicken by herself, this "girl" spotted some tiny little fingers. They were just hanging there. Right at chicken eye level. Being the wonderful Mom that I am, I stood there nice and quiet to see what would happen. The chicken cocked her head, took a hesitant step or two towards Paulee, and then lightening fast pecked Paulee's finger. Oh the commotion that started! Paulee jumped and yelled. The jumping spooked the chicken who then jumped and yelled. And that started a chain reaction amongst the other girls. Once Paulee was calm, she chased all the chickens in a circle for about five minutes, lecturing them about biting her.
The next day, she summarized the event with a perfect statement. "That dumb ol' chicken tried to eat me yesterday!" Guess I'd better stop calling our rooster "that dumb ol' boy".
I'm going to copy this and take it to Paulee's great-grandpa tomorrow. He was asking us what kind of chickens you have, but Joann and I couldn't remember. He'll love this story and photograph.
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