Do You Hear What I Hear?

           Because hens of the same breed often look too much alike to tell apart, we don't name all of our chickens. We named our first rooster (the one who got killed by the coyotes) Rudy. He was the only rooster, and a big Black/Lav split Ameraucana, so that was easy enough.

 

           Rudy's offspring were crossbreeds and very distinctive looking, so they got names. The hens became Penguin and Babs. His son (the rooster we just got rid of) was about nine different colors and patterns, so we had named him Pinto. There were two other roosters in that hatching. I traded them away for three Barred Rock hens.

          We got three chicks out of Pinto (at least he was good for something) that each have their own look. Two were hatched about sixteen weeks ago. There was a little black chick with a white mark on it's head that we named Ninette (after my wife Nina) since it was a small dark-haired girl with a yarmulke on. The other one was mostly grey, and very protective of Ninette when we brought in more chicks from the Davidson Farmers Co-op. Nina had suspicions that it might be a rooster, but we weren't sure, so we named it Izzy...izzy a rooster, or izzy a hen?

            Ninette has grown into a beautiful bird, with Rudy's coloring on most of her body and very striking black and white patterning on her head and neck. Izzy looks more and more like a Barred Rock everyday.
           The third chick that we got from Pinto was hatched seven weeks ago as a pure platinum blond, but has started taking on very cool brown markings that resemble those of Ameraucana chicks. We had named her Sabrina, although now we wonder about her gender since intricate patterning and coloring is often the sign of a rooster.
                           

         That's her on the far right in the picture.
         With the law of averages on our side, we figured that one of the three would be a rooster, thus replacing their jerk of a father. (Heck, with our luck, they would all three be roosters.) If not, there are always folks trying to get rid of roosters.
         We're expecting the young hens (not the youngest ones) to start laying in a couple more weeks.
         This morning, I unlocked the coop and let them out into the yard. Izzy looked at me, flapped HIS wings, and said "urt-da-urt-da-urrrr". Then he repeated himself to make sure I got the message that there's a new rooster in the barnyard now. Here's to hoping he's friendlier than his father...and that Ninette and Sabrina are girls.