my babies

i was going to do a post with a simple introduction to my new chicken children and then a long list of coop designs i have been contemplating but i found myself so obsseed with every photo of them that i could barely edit down. so although this may seem like a whole lot of photos of 3 (very special might i add) chicks, you have to understand i really wanted to capture their personalities for you! clearly i have become like those mothers who can't stop snap snap snapping their camera away on photos of their human babies (although i already do this with my cats).

with all this said, its out, its public, i am a chicken mother! and a crazy one indeed! the story goes, my grandmother lent us some chickens for the dwell exhibit of designer coops, we also needed some teenage chicks to get that cute factor (not that big chickens aren't adorable). so my grandmother hooked it up. i took the little one's home every night. they would chat and gossip about the day SO LOUDLY in my car, then they would purr with sleepy noises. i fell in love. so in love. and now, i have chickens in my backyard.

there are 3. all hens (i think). i can't wait for the eggs and already am using the poop for the compost! each one is unique. i only know the breed of one of the chickens, so if you know what my other two are - name away! if you have any advice or tips or comments - share them too! i have been loving the blogs green frieda, root simple and poultry book store for all their chicken story telling.



alright, it is time. i introduce to you my baby chicks....

the big sister of the group, lucia. my grandmother named this little lady. she is the first reason i considered keeping the bunch. i held her and she fell asleep, purred. She is so pretty with her fancy long tail and always stays near me. i don't know her breed, but i know she is meant to stay relatively small. lucia made her first loud sound the other day and scared herself!


sinister steve, aka. stevie has become one of the most trusting of our chicks. She eats out of my hand, also stays close and is super noisy! she has kind of a sleepy eye from time to time, but it seems to be doing well now. i have really grown to see a whole other side of this little one. she really is a sweet chicken. but also very goofy! stevie has a pretty gold neck and black body. anyone know what kind of chick she is?


this name like the above was another doing of erick, my partner. part of the deal in keeping the chickens was that he got to name the two nameless little ones. he had all these punk rock names in mind (he still refers to lucia as juicy lucy), but somehow this little girl got the name fart face. rock n roll, huh. i say that her lady like name is fifi, but i admit, calling her fart face has stuck. she is the smallest of the bunch. the only breed i know the name of (plymouth rock). although she is close buddies with stevie, she is also known to be the most curious and wanders the farthest away (although she comes back running flapping her wings when she sees how far away she got). she also chases the other hens every now and then. i think fart face is just making up for being so little... now.



here she is running around far from the rest...


they love to run around in my yard free (started with the a metal gate first). erick plays guitar for them. they attract all kinds of other birds into the yard. they flap their wings around and jump as high as they can. soon i have to build them a proper coop. they currently reside in a LARGE dog kennel that is not exactly super great looking. by the way one of the other cool benefits of chickens, their diet. they eat so many leftovers! its fun to see what they are into and reject. two days ago they had yogurt. tasty but messy. they LOVE corn on the cob! and shrimp shells!