New Chickens!

Ten new girls!
Iris lurvs them :)
Straw is cool.
She points to the chicken coop and says "boc-boc!" Too sweet!

These hens have just a bit more growing to do before they start laying, possibly by October. Brad will have to make them a run to keep them safe from Pedro, who is quite the punk about chickens (and cats). These a friend ordered and gave to us, since she got more than she needed. They were sold as a "rainbow mix," meaning that there are a variety of breeds that all told will produce the spectrum of egg colors: brown, blue, green, and white. So far we are certain of a few of them: two are turkens, also known as naked necks (unmistakably ugly); two we're pretty confident are white rocks; and two are most likely shaver reds. The other four we can't tell yet. Two look a bit like Ameraucanas but they lack the facial feathers, and the other two are of the "I have no idea" varieties. We'll see soon enough :) All look to be bantams. One is molty-looking but appears to feel fine; she might be a mottled cochin, that's the closest match. I can't wait to be getting a lot more eggs on a regular basis!

Oh, and from researching these, I've determined that our resident Henrietta is an Ameraucana, not an Araucana as I previously thought. Araucanas have tufts rather than beards, and have no tails. Henrietta lacks tufts, has the muff and beard of the Ameraucana, and most certainly has a tail. There you have it. More than you ever thought you'd care to know about chicken breeds.