the laying flock.

Our laying flock is full of lovely little and large fowl ladies with fabulous personalities - anyone who gets along well with docile and gentle personalities. These ladies give us love and occasionally eggs, as well as disciplining the more saucy of the bantam roosters before they are given their own flocks! 

Belgian d'Uccle, frizzle blue mille fleur: Genghis

*Genghis presides over the laying flock, proudly caring for his ladies both big and small. He went into the flock his first season, when he proved to be a bit too.. enthusiastic... for a small breeding flock. He was quickly shaped into a model rooster by the bigger pet girls. Such a model boy in fact that he now lives there permanently. He adores his ladies and they adore him right back. 

Brabanters, Cream: HEI-HEI

*Hei-Hei was aptly named - she is a bit scatty and a bit chatty. But this sweet girl is a hoot to watch with her polka dots, beard, crest, and blue legs! She lays a white egg - our only white egg layer! Hei-Hei has an amazing voice - you can hear it all the way up at the house. And she loves loves loves to comment on everything. She bullies newcomers, stumbles over chicks, sticks her head into everything. And we adore her!

Note the two horned comb - very apt.

She looks so innocent, doesn't she?

So lovely, such a troublemaker!

Cochins: Lenore (LF), Daphne (bantam)

Lenore is a giant cochin! This lovely girl is very shy, but boy what a beauty! She also goes broody constantly, and loves nothing more than to hang out with the babies. She lays a couple of eggs, goes broody, raises chicks for a couple of months, lays a couple eggs, goes broody....

Holding court as a young pullet

 Lenore was the only girl brave enough to check out the snow!

 A seriously awesome mama. All chicks love her.

 A rare Lenore sighting between chicks!

This is a BIG hen!

The end, and what a fluffy end!

Cochin, Bantam Frizzle: DAPHNE

Everyone (including us) adores Daphne. Who wouldn't love a chicken who walks like a tank, loves lap time, can't fly, and looks like she went through a jet engine backwards? Daphne's build keeps her low to the ground - she has a step so she can get up to the lowest nest box! Daphne is also our most loyal bird - she goes into depression for several days if someone from her flock dies. She love her family dearly.

Crested Cochin (mix by David Bolander): Indiana 

Indiana is a little fireball of a chicken with a big crest and a bigger attitude. She has silkie and bantam cochin in her background. We love our little lady!

Indiana LOVES her fermented food! 

Always posing, our little lady snuck into my flower garden!

 We have a bit of fun with Indiana when she's broody -she will sit on anything! I don't think that rock will hatch though!

Indiana is a fierce and fabulous mama!

Large Fowl Easter Egger: CASHMERE (large fowl)

Often mis-named Ameraucanas by hatcheries, our Easter Eggers lay large eggs in a variety of lovely colors ranging from a modern olive green to a pale robin egg's blue. In case you wondered, Easter Eggers usually have an Ameraucana parent and .... another parent. So, you end up with a bird, often a green egg layer, who may have cheek muffs, a beard, or none of the above. True Ameraucanas always have beards and muffs, only lay blue eggs, and  come in a very few approved colors. 
Cashmere - our timid sweetheart - loves to forage during free-range time. Though she doesn't seek our laps, Cashmere adores her flockmates and is one of our most docile birds! A large healthy hen, Cashmere lays our modern olive egg - lovely with a nice sheen to it. One of my secret favorites. She avoids contact at all times, but EVERY time we go on vacation and come home, she takes a nap right by my boots for three days before ignoring me again. She loves me.

Beautiful Cashmere

 Just got back from vacation! And who is at my feet? This girl!

Back from another vacation. And back at my feet.

Old English, bantam: Polly and Reepicheep

Polly almost lives in my lap. She follows me around everywhere, watching everything! Polly is a favorite with everyone who meets her!

Still a dainty little sprite now that she's full grown!

I just adore this special girl!

Meet Reepicheep, another Old English bantam! She has neat fibro coloring, resulting in dark legs, comb, and shiny black feathers with a green and purple sheen. Reep is our tiniest hen, and a darling girl! She was named Reepicheep after the Narnian mouse, since she was so tiny!

 Gorgeous little mama, with giant adopted chicks!

Beautiful beautiful Reepicheep, such a fabulous mama!

Sablepoot, lemon: Hope

Hope came from birds imported from England. She seemed to have a heart condition at first, so the decision was made never to breed her. She didn't lay an egg until she was almost two, which we have since found is a characteristic of this line. She no longer turns purple with exertion, so we are hoping her early issues were due to a faulty heart valve that fixed as she grew. Either way, Hope is now firmly ensconced in our flock as beautiful eye candy!

Watermaal, Black: Grover and Winner

These two girls are supposed to be gone, but they are not. I'm breeding to get mottled and lavender mottled Watermaal and decided to keep only those... but here I am with two black ladies. And here they will stay. Grover because, well, she's Grover. And Winner because she is "sister of Grover." I don't like to move single hens, so Winner moved with Grover, and now they've become a part of the flock. Winner is brave (stupid?) and chases snakes fearlessly, even giant snakes. And she's a tiny gal! Grover is endlessly curious, sticking her head in everywhere. She even hopped up onto the inspector's shoulder during NPIP testing to watch him do paperwork!

Saucy little Winner

Curious Grover

Wyandottes, Golden Laced: MOOKA

Our lovely Mooka always inspires sighs of "oh how beautiful!" with her lovely red golden feathers all laced with black. But don't let her delicate feathers deceive you! Mooka, one of the top hens, puts everyone in their place - Wyandottes are known for their "in your face" personalities. In fact, for a Wyandotte, Mooka is quite laid back - she only pecks others when they enter her space. So no one enters her bubble! Mooka rarely visits, but about once a month I get a wonderful surprise when Mooka leaps up into my lap for a little lovin'. Strong and hearty, Mooka is the queen of foraging, even eating a foot long snake one day! Mooka lays a nice medium large brown egg.