This is Whiskers, a pretty Aracauna hen. The cheek and neck feathers are distinctive on this breed. They look like they have beards, mutton-chops, poofy cheeks…all sorts of combinations. We can tell different Aracaunas apart by their different facial feathers. They lay pastel greenish and bluish eggs. Our experience with them is that they are somewhat shy, flighty, retiring, and somewhat inclined to roost in trees. They lay sporadically, too, but the Easter Egg rainbow of colors is worth the unpredictability!

To the right is a Welsummer. She looks a lot like the Aracauna, except without the cheek and neck feathers. Welsummers are a heritage breed. We chose them for their egg color….a stunning dark red-chocolate brown. They seemed to mature a little later than the other hens, and are somewhat shy of humans, but can be domineering of the other chickens. All the Welsummer hens look too much alike to tell apart, so are hard to name. One crafty one began flying alone over the garden fence to feast in solitude, so we clipped her wing feathers to save the harvest.

To the left, is Della, a heritage Delaware. We knew right away we wanted Delawares when we read about them. Mother Earth News describes them as one of the five most endangered chicken breeds in the U.S. And yet, they possess so many good qualities, including laying through the winter and foraging well. The Delawares have been the chickens who are usually involved when there’s a chicken story to tell. They are fearlessly curious explorers. They have been the first to do everything, in this mixed-breed flock. As tiny chicks, they were the first to perch on the edge of the cardboard box at a few days old. They were the first to explore roosts, venture farther out, find their way into the garage to eat the catfood, escape a coop, and try to eat our sandwiches out of our hands if we weren’t careful. They like to help with gardening and building projects. They are not aggressive though. Peaceful and agreeable, but….nosy busybodies! They are all-white, with varying amounts of black bands around their necks and tails. We lost one to a hawk when they were smaller…. perhaps in part because she ventured too far, or perhaps her coloring made her an easy target.

These are the Speckled Sussex - an immature hen and rooster photographed in the summer. Speckleds were the first chickens I ever owned, and I have loved them for years. Another heritage breed, I’ve had a hen who hatched out chicks in the past, and hope for that again (thus the roosters, too). They are a very handsome chicken, mahogany-colored with regular black and white flecks all over. Hens are easygoing and friendly, smart and careful. The roosters can get aggressive. And, since the hatchery generously included a few extra roosters when they found out I was open to housing two…. we have and will again eat Sussex rooster. However, the roosters take good care of their flock. When they discover a special tidbit of food, they stand over it and make a peculiar calling cluck that brings hens running to chow. Then they fake-peck a little to show the hens what they should eat, only eating too after the hens have gotten a start.

To the left are some of the older flock, a mix of Barred Rocks and Black Stars. They have been our main layers until recently. They have the old standby status for reliable egg production. Barred Rocks are thought of as talkative chickens, and they may have taught the Stars something - this is a clucky flock with commentary about everything. They look spiffier in this picture from June than they do in November, while they are molting, as chickens do when they’re about a year old.

None of our laying hens are for eating as meat; meat birds are another story, and a foray that we will make on occasion.