The chickens are now 16 weeks old!! I can’t believe how quickly the time has passed. They still seem like babies to me, although they have certainly grown quite a bit!
I’ve been wondering if they are going to continue to grow or if this is their full size. When people come to visit them they marvel at how big they are which makes me think they are full grown. But when I see pictures of full size hens I think, “my ladies can’t be full size, can they?”
Whether they will be bigger or not remains a mystery, and honestly I don’t notice how big or small they are anymore. There are only two hens that I still allow to perch on my lap and they can both fit fine so who cares how big they are!
On that note: there have been some changes around the coop. Nora and I used to visit the chickens everyday. We would sit in their run, they would sit on our laps, etc… Well, the weather has gotten colder, we are letting the ladies free range in the yard more often, and over time some of the ladies grew indifferent to being held and sitting on laps. Alice, the Speckled Sussex, will still sit on my lap for hours if I let her and Francis, the Dominique, is trained to jump up on my lap when I tap my knee. The others just kind of hang around, and although they are friendly, they do not enjoy sitting on laps or being held. We have graciously accepted this.
The girls LOVE to be out in the yard. We made them a fenced area to roam around in and they would stay out there and sun bathe all day if we let them. We generally, however, only let them roam around when we are home as we do have a neighborhood hawk and other birds of prey. The hardest part about this is getting them all back in the run when their time in the yard is over. As soon as you get a few in, you turn to go get the rest and the few you had in are out again!
I have come up with two strategies for getting the hens back in the run. The first strategy is: wait until the sun goes down. The ladies have trained themselves to go in the coop to roost at night. I find that often when I go to close them in at night they all stare at me from the roost as if to say, “it’s about time you came out and shut the door!”
The second strategy I learned from my in-laws. My mother in law told me that if you pick up the lead hen and put her in first then the others will follow. Well my immediate reaction was- we don’t really have a lead hen! But each day I would try this technique with a different hen and eventually on the day I got to Jane, sure enough all the other hens slowly followed her in. Fascinating!
Here are some pictures of each of our 16 week old hens:
Alice, Speckled Sussex.
Check out that crown and waddle! Alice is the loudest hen, she makes groaning noises every time we get near her, but she is also one of the sweetest. Totally content to sit on my lap for as long as I’ll have her : )
Francis, Dominique.
Love this lady! Francis has the cutest noises- a very low trilling, very distinct from all the others.
Lizzie, Delaware.
I once stayed away from Lizzie, (she has managed to peck both Nora and I in the eye twice!) but I have since started to enjoy her again. As long as I remember not to get too close to her she is quite pleasant. Always interested in knowing what’s going on, her curiosity is quite humorous.
Maggie, New Hampshire Red.
I don’t have many good photos of just Maggie (that's Maggie on the left). She is quite skittish and keeps with her companions. She really is a sweet hen.
Jane, Black Australorp.
This photo shows Jane in a most flattering fashion. She has the most beautiful irridescent sheen to her black feathers. Jane is definitely one of our biggest ladies- second in comb and waddle size to Alice.
