I’ve been remiss in keeping you updated on The Ladies…not anymore!!!

They’re about 3 months old now.  We’re hoping they will start delivering us some fresh gifts (other than chicken poo all over the yard) in a month or two.  They’ve still got a fair amount of growing[up] to do.

Dear Dorothy, the Black Australorp, is our “special” gal — she has a deformity that has forced her right leg to develop backwards.  I went so far as to take her to the vet at about a month and a half old to see if there was anything he could do — no such luck.  If she were in any other flock, she’d likely be a cull, as she’s now developing much slower than others and walks in the most awkward fashion.  Needless to say, no culling in this flock!  We’ve made some custom modifications to the coop so that she can live a happy, albeit handicapped, life.  Her coop mates are very kind to her and refrain from any kind of bullying.  She’s rarely alone, as they always seem to cuddle up wherever she lands.  It’s quite endearing to see on the day to day.  Interestingly enough, her biggest advocate is our Ameracauna, Rose.  Rose was crazy mean up until a month ago.  Now she’s everywhere Dorothy is — ruffling up her feathers if any of the other gals get too close or fluttery around her.

Even Lily loves to watch The Ladies (usually from afar, but sometimes she’ll nuzzle up to them out of curiousity).  We call it “chicken tv”…

A couple of weeks ago we added some new additions.  Dolly and Reba came to The Ranch only 3 days old — so cute and fluffy.  I almost forgot how cute they are when they’ve first hatched!

Unfortunately our tiny Dolly didn’t make it — she was ill and made her way to chick heaven one night in her sleep.  Since chickens are social critters, there was no question that a Dolly2 was in order.  Reba was miserable without her counterpart, peeping and fluttering about constantly.  It took us a couple of days to get to the grange, so Reba spent a LOT of time with us.  She claimed a t-shirt as her own, and as long as she was wrapped in it, she’d sit with us on the couch, in the kitchen, and sometimes I let her cuddle up in bed (mind you — she was not free to roam about — talk about a chicken poo mess!!!).  It was quite endearing, and the only time she was content for those two long days was near us.

We soon brought home Patsy, who is the cutest, strangest looking hen in our flock.  She’s a Polish, and will soon boast a large pom on her head!  Her and Reba were instantly glued to one another.

The newest gals are now outside in the coop with the rest of the ladies.  They’re currently sectioned off in the hen house, so they haven’t been fully integrated, but we’ll tackle that when they’re a bit bigger.  For now they’re thoroughly enjoying their chick mansion!