My biter ESMERALDA...

Goofball GERTRUDE

Goofball sister HENRIETTA

MORTICIA ... my sassy yakker...

ROSALINA .. a tough one to catch.. not very friendly I'm afraid

Thank you for the chickies, love the descriptions and the names.

..oh, the roses are lovely too :>) Ha-ha

Nice to see all your flowers and the girls enjoying spring. Its already getting hot here grrr.

Love the chickens as much as I love the flowers! One of my staff has chickens and I love hearing the chicken stories. My favorite was she found two of her chickens laying on their sides with their eyes closed. She thought what is going on? Are they sick? Dead? Then exactly in unison, with eyes closed, they both raised their wings to the same height! Identical movements! Synchronized chicken gymnastics! She didn't know they would be so friendly to her and they run to her when she gets home from work to jump on her lap and demand to be petted. I just love chicken stories!

So beautiful Beth !! I also love the chickens... so sweet !

Mustbnuts - How cool is that!!! And quite the relief that they weren't dead! I don't know if I could eat chicken if I had such friendly chickens as pets. :(

Carol

Don't know if she still eats chickens but she is starting to enjoy the eggs that they produce (they are about 9 months old right now).

Yummy eggs!

Carol

That's too funny, Mustbnuts!! Yeah, my chickens will sometimes lay down like that... like they're dead or dying! Then all of a sudden you'll see them flap the wings and kick their legs, and the dirt flies up on their backs. That's how they take their dirt baths. They're goofballs.

Ah, good to know! No wonder they kept their eyes closed! I still like chicken synchronized gymnastics! One could base the points on how much dust they are able to kick up! Although it could be synchronized swimming since it is a "bath".

They should get extra points for appearing dead as a doornail. :)

Carol

The first time one of them did that.. laying down on her side, it kinda freaked me out. They do it to sunbathe, dust bathe, and to cool down when it's hot. They look like dorks.

Here's Gertie and some of the other girls when they were about 6mos old

Here's Josephine with the cute little white silkies I had when we first started getting chickens. It was so funny how she was their protector and one day they just lay down and one of them kinda gave her a hug! Not sure if it was the make or female. Had to re-home them because we can't have roosters. He was crowing a LOT and always trying to get with Gertie. The silkies are banties, so they're about half the size of the other chickies. Couldn't see keeping the female since they both were chased and pecked at relentlessly by the other girls.

Love the pictures and the commentary as to what I am seeing. I can see why one would freak out when seeing the chickens laying on their sides. It does look like something is definitely wrong. Your chickies are just beautiful and I love the chicken hugs. Have you seen the thing you can put around the neck of a rooster so it can't crow loudly. There are youtube videos on it. They indicate that they don't hurt the bird.

So everyone that has chickens wants my rose petals for their birds. Do you use yours for your birds?

I should start using the rose petals for them. Maybe when I start deadheading. Yeah I saw the no-crow collar. I made one for the rooster we ended up with last yr, but it didn't work. I felt sorry for him to have to wear that thing in the heat of summer too. He was not happy!

Ok Beth. What is your secret to getting your Iris's to bloom? I tried planting a handful of them, and foliage is great, and out of about 20 plants, I got one (1) iris bloom this entire season. Very sad...

Then, chickens! I cannot get my girls remotely interested in rose hips or petals. Grass they'll eat all day, lettuce's, grapes, and watermelons. But roses - no interest.

I wish I felt comfortable letting them hang with me while I'm gardening. But I don't trust my dogs... For anyone thinking about chickens as pets / egg producers / garbage disposals, they are the BEST!

Karen - you've created such a serene looking chicken coop. :) :)

Carol