And now, the post you’ve been waiting for! A chicken virtual meet and greet! You have been waiting for that, right? Ahem.
Apparently there’s a nesting instinct that takes over pregnant women as they approach their due date. Instead of starting a painting project, organizing, or attacking the dire laundry situation, this phenomenon prompted me to do super unnecessary things like convince my longsuffering husband that we should spend a Saturday afternoon photographing each of our backyard chickens. What can I say? I’m a weirdo. But it’s endearing, right?
So here we go! Introducing the three Barred Rock gals:
These are the stinkers that escaped the other day and had me chasing them all around the yard with my giant 40 week pregnant belly. They are generally the trouble-makers and Bellatrix is the loudest of all the hens. They lay medium-sized pinkish-brown eggs. (Named after Narcissa, Bellatrix, and Andromeda Black from Harry Potter, of course.)
Her name inspired by Arthurian legend, Miss Morgan Le Fay is my second favorite chicken. The greens and oranges of her feathers are soooo pretty. We’re pretty sure she’s an Americauna because she lays lovely olive green eggs.
The Questing Beast is our only Aracauna. At first we though she was one of our meat birds but then those tell-tale fluffy feathers on the sides of her face gave her away and we realized she was a layer. Her mint green eggs are by far the prettiest. We named her after a creature from T.H. White’s The Once and Future King which is one of my all-time favorite books.
Our little Rhode Island Red! She lays large brown eggs. Yes, we named her after a Game of Thrones character. Nerd alert.
Maeve, Queen of Fairies, is my favorite favorite hen. There are FEATHERS ON HER FEET! She’s so exotic and beautiful and lays little pinkish-brown eggs.
Thanks for letting me introduce you to the ladies!
What’s your favorite hen?
We got eggs from a sheep farmer we know whose chickens are mostly bug-fed, and my husband has been endeavoring to figure out a way around the pen and coop laws in town ever since. 😉 Love your chickens! I have to comment on the names: Our cats are Crookshanks and Butterbeer, and we’ve found it to be a good way to find other HP lovers. 😉 People either call them Crookshank and Butter Bear and give us funny looks, or, like our vet, say, “Someone else mourning the end, huh?”
And I laughed when you went through almost all the names, then gave the nerd alert for the Game of Thrones reference. 😉
Love those names, Jen! I hope you can figure out a way around the city ordinances. Such a drag!
Well, if no one else appreciates that, I certainly did! I take it Benjamin wasn’t the primary namer this time?
Also, Daniel has really intensified his tattoos since we last saw you guys! I noticed in one of Gwen’s post-birth photos he got the chest one colored in, too. Am I missing anything about the BearMan on his arm? Did he draw it or is it a reference to something else?
I love thinking of you all grabbing the squawking chickens for their photo shoots. Maeve is GORGEOUS and I love her feet feathers. Do you know what kind she is? I think we had one like her at the Ranch, too, but I can’t remember.
Haha, no Daniel and I named them this time around. And yes, he certainly has added to his tattoo collection. The BearMan on his arm is Elisha and then on the other arm is the ram caught in the thorn bush from the Abraham and Isaac story. He didn’t draw those, the tattoo artist at Monument designed them but he’s really happy with them! I think Maeve is a Brahman? Is that a thing? Miss you guys!
Yes, Brahman is right! Funny I didn’t remember earlier, as it’s a word I hear pretty often these days…
Interesting choice about Elisha. I’ve always been perplexed by that story of bear mauling.
This might be my favorite blogpost ever. I’m pleased that you have the three Black sisters, and especially so that Ygritte made a special appearance. Maeve is very beautiful, indeed. She looks like she lays eggs with aplomb and dignity.
Thanks, Sarah! We had a lot of fun with the post 🙂
Nerd comment alert! Maeve is also the Bad Girl in the ancient Irish epic The Tain–it’s like the Illiad, except Maeve takes her own self back home. She feels that she has been mistreated by her husband, so she takes the magic cow (yes, cow) that had been her dowry. This, of course, starts a war. The story is mostly about the warriors, but Maeve is the coolest.
Ahhh! We’re nerd twinsies. I’ve read it. I did an independent reading course with one of my favorite professors on Irish sagas and legends in college…embarrassing and awesome 🙂
Awww, I love your chicken names! And isn’t Morgan Le Fay just the prettiest thing 🙂 I love Maeve’s feathers too, but her feathery feet are wee bit spooky to me for some reason. Yay chickens!
Thanks, Emily! The feathered feet are weird, but I love ’em!
Hi! I discovered your blog recently. I wish you lived near me in real life, as we are certainly kindred spirits! We started our own flock of seven hens this spring! They are: Helena and Hermia (Amberlinks), Ophelia and Miranda (Americaunas), Lady Macbeth (Black Australorp), Juliet (Golden Comet), and Hermione (Buff Orpington). Congratulations on baby Gwen!
Oh, I love meeting kindred spirits, Mary! We had some beautiful Golden Comets and Buff Orpingtons in our last little flock. LOVE the names 🙂
Morgan Le Fay and Andromeda are adorable. (Is it normal to call chickens adorable?) It is also hilarious to think of a chicken named Bellatrix. I want chickens of my own now. 🙂
Yay chickens! And yes, they’re totally adorable.
Loved this post. 🙂 They are adorable little ladies, thanks for the introduction. How many eggs do they lay in an average week?
Hmmm, well they lay 6ish eggs a day so in a week….42ish?
I love this. So happy to meet them!
Thanks, Heidi! 🙂
Genius! We’ve had our chickens a couple weeks now, and they have yet to all be named. I’m afraid they will be mostly names like “snowball” and “brown chicken” at our meet and greet because Mo likes to do the naming of the animals ’round here! That’s why we have a cat named “Bubble”. Singular. Not lots of bubbles, just one 🙂 However, I love your HP and GOT references and I might just try to sneak one or two in. “Mo, how about Hermoine?!”
Last time Benjamin named ours and we had “Gas Can” “Feven” and “Daughter” 🙂
Oh man! So lovely! I cannot wait til one day we have a yard that can house some of our own hens. And apparently naming them is WAY more fun than I could have previously imagined. Love your choices!
Thanks, Sarah! 🙂
Our chickens have nerdy names, too. Three Rhode Island Reds named: Khaliseei, River (from Firefly), and Ms Delaney (after my 15 year old daughter’s favorite song). We did have one named Strip (my 18 year old daughter has a warped sense of humor), but she went on to her great reward.
I love those names! haha!
I love seeing your beautiful hens – though looking at their photos is bittersweet for me. Until last month we had three girls of our own (named after NPR personalities – talk about nerd alert!). My son’s favorite, our Rhode Island Red, died unexpectedly. We’re all still heartbroken…