More about the chickens (meaning more chickens)

The 3 little blonde chicks we hatched here were just settling in to their new digs and enjoying being left alone back by the coop while the big girls and Roo were out wandering.

Then The Husband found a post on Craig's List for 5 free laying hens, so we celebrated the new year by going to pick them up yesterday.

They appear to be Black Stars, a very pretty mixed breed.

It is always difficult adding new chickens to the flock, even more so in winter when they spend more time "cooped up", but this was too good a deal to pass up.

My biggest worry is that they don't know where their home is and will wander off somewhere. We added a few hens a few years ago and all of them immediately went on a romp across the busy road to the horse farm. And they were not easily convinced to come back...

At least we still have a passable (literally) fence around the coop since the bobcat attack, so the girls are semi-contained for the moment. I did find 2 of them were working their way down the driveway toward the road when I went out today, but they recognized me enough to come running back.

For now, all are happily back inside the passable fence with the 3 littles and Big Roo. The 3 littles are not quite so happy because it seems they have been bumped back to the bottom of the pecking order, again, with the 5 new big girls in the house. Big Roo has already identified himself as lord and master of the new pretty ones. He is very proud to still be the big man on campus, and crowing about it to tell all the world!

I think peace will resume soon enough. At least it is a nice sunny day and all are outside rather than inside what is now a somewhat cramped coop.