More Chickens

I knew almost immediately after Clara Belle went to his new home that we would have to replace him.  Three chickens were barely keeping us in enough eggs (each kid can eat a 4-egg omelet like nothing!) and this was the height of the laying season, not the dead of winter.

And then Scarlett stopped laying (she's recovered from her abscess but now she's molting, so she's still not laying) and Rosie went broody.  One egg a day wasn't going to cut it.

So.....

Allow me to introduce Clara Belle (II) and Windy:

They were hatched in April, so they are actually even smaller than CB and Rosie were when we got them.  They should start laying sometime in late September/early October.

Clara Belle (on the left) is a Silver Laced Wyandotte.  It made my heart sing that Joanna now has a chicken she can actually hold (the first CB was huge.  I thought it was the breed.  Nope!)

Windy is a Colombian Wyandotte.  These birds made their debut at the Colombian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) in 1893.  Having read "The Devil in the White City", I learned all kinds of neat facts about the Fair... one of which is how Chicago came to be known as "The Windy City".  Contrary to popular belief, it has nothing to do with the wind.  It has everything to do with the fact that New Yorkers were upset they didn't get to host the Fair and pretty bitter about how Chicago talked up their city.  So, the New Yorkers started referring to Chicago as "The Windy City" because they were bragging so much.  Anyhoo, all that to say that's how Windy the chicken got her name.  I also suggested 'Bernie' after Daniel Burnham who was the ingenious architect behind the White City, but the kids latched on to 'Windy' and that was that.

These are not chickens that have been used to human handling, but they've seemed to enjoy the petting they've gotten so far.  The plan is to keep them in the pen, separate from the others, for a few days to ensure they are healthy.  At that point, we'll slowly introduce them to the older girls by placing the cage in/near the chicken tractor.

Welcome home, girls!