We HAVE Chickens

Last week we had the pleasure of having Allan's sister Kathleen and her 5-year-old son Evan Michael visit. I think it was the nicest visit of all the ones we have had. Evan was delightful and I enjoyed him very much. Along with playing the Game of Life and a trip to the local thrift stores, he was a big help to me in finishing up the chicken house. Hurray for us!
That meant it was time to find some chickens, grown chickens, who are not too old but old enough to give me eggs. I checked Craigslist, and lo and behold, in my own community I found a family selling their young hens who have inundated them with more eggs than they could handle.
I studied out the needs and qualities of the Rhode Island Red and picked up some bedding and laying feed, and made the chicken house as homey as I could for a small group of Rhodies, as I will call them. Then I made the lovely drive out to Silverdale, toward Seabeck, and met my new feathered friends (pictures to post tomorrow).
The 3 girls look amazingly alike, although their sizes are slightly different. And they can run! The boy who raised them accidentally let one out of the cage and spent a few minutes chasing her around their acreage. I spent that time wondering if I would ever be able to catch one if it got away. I haven't needed to yet, thankfully.
I am toying with names. For a while I was going to go with Florence, Lucille, and Hilda after my great aunts, but I'm tired of those names now. (It's just what I did when naming my children.) Then I thought about Shirley, Millie, and Frieda after 3 neighbor ladies of my childhood. That's worn off, too. They're red, why not name them after some of my favorite redheads? Lucy, Pippi, Caddie, Anne. Silas has laid claim to naming one Agnes, and that's a good one, too, and happens to be my sister's middle and great-grandmother's first name. Then again, Rhodies make great eating, and maybe I shouldn't name these girls at all....