And Then There Were Five

It's time for a chicken update! Lots of things have happened in the Penncroft Hen House in the last week. Last Tuesday, I pulled up in our driveway and found a chicken outside of their fenced area. "Oh bugger", I thought. As I tried to lure her back through the gate, I happened upon a tiny light brown egg. Yay! Our first egg from our flock! My surprise was quickly replaced by worry when I started counting chickens, and came up short. Crap. At the same time my very sweet neighbor was walking up the driveway, and alerted me to the fact my missing chicken was in my adjacent neighbors yard. Double crap. Together we caught her and returned her to the fenced area. Naughty chickens!

Later that night as we observed them we quickly realized that the chickens have learned that they can fly the coop. Alighting onto the fence and hopping down, they pay no heed to our boundaries. This is a problem, we decided, for our future selves. In the meantime, they'll just go back to hanging out in their spacious run.

But if that weren't enough chicken drama, the very next day, whilst engaging in my morning pre-work routine, I heard a very loud, very distinct, "Cock-a-doodle-doooooo!" Seriously? My neighbors were probably already less than happy with us for the roaming chicken incident the day before, and now we've got roosters on our hands. Everything at once, right? Luckily that same day we were able to find a new home for the two roos, and then there were five...

Phoebe - Rhode Island Red, 19 weeks
Phoebe's egg was the first I found.  It's smaller and lighter in color, and she's laid about 3 in the last week. She was also the one in the neighbors yard.

Rachel - Rhode Island Red, 19 weeks

We can determine that Rachel isn't laying yet because of the three her comb isn't a brilliant crimson yet. She's one of the most brazen, by far. She's one of the escapees.

Monica - Speckled Sussex, 19 weeks
Monica is our egg laying superstar, already. Since she started last week, she's been delivering an egg a day.

Cybil - Americuana, 15 weeks
Cybil is secretly my favorite as the tiniest of the flock. She gets picked on, but she's learning to speak up for herself.

Rowena - Americuana, 15 weeks
Shy Rowena has beautiful iridescent green in her black feathers already.

Chris thinks it's crazy that I can tell them apart, well, just call me the Crazy Chicken Lady. Check back later for a post about all you could want to know about fresh eggs!