Chicken Surprise!

This is Buttons the hen,
 and her husband, Sophie the rooster.
Sophie and Buttons were given to us this spring when our town friends realized that Sophie was indeed a rooster and his crowing would not be a welcome addition to their neighborhood.

Unfortunately, several weeks ago, we couldn’t locate Buttons. They had been flying out over the top of their enclosure, and although we thought we had mended the holes in the chicken wire, we assumed that Buttons had escaped once again and met a bloody end at the hand of one of the many predators here in the country who just LOVE a chicken dinner.

I was pretty irritated that our chance for eggs was gone and all we were left with was a somewhat annoying rooster. I had been searching for a cheap source of grown hens so I could perhaps get a half dozen in our coop before winter and have some of our own eggs once again.

 Imagine our surprise when this morning, Buttons not only turned up (still inside the chicken run, I might add!) but with a family of eight little chicks! She’d been brooding all this time and found a mighty good hiding spot for her nest! I had gone into the two houses and chicken yard myself to see if I could find her, and never did. I must have been looking with my Man Eyes.

These are Plymouth Rock chickens, or Barred Rock.The Plymouth Rock is a dual-purpose, cold-hardy bird and therefore makes a great breed for the small farm or backyard flock owner. The breed became popular very rapidly, and in fact, until World War II, no breed was ever kept and bred as extensively in the United States as the Barred Plymouth Rock. Its popularity came from its qualities as an outstanding farm chicken: hardiness, docility, broodiness, and excellent production of both eggs and meat.

In terms of temperament, both roosters and hens are calm and will get along well with people and other animals such as pets. The hens often will go broody if in the right environment, and are good mothers. (Thank you wikipedia)  I guess we provided the right environment!

Taking chick name suggestions.Please leave a comment with your entry for names for our eight little chicklets (but if you can’t think of eight names, just tell me as many great ideas as you have!)

5 thoughts on “Chicken Surprise!

  1. We have some Barred Rocks, and they really do have nicer personalities than our others (Red Sex Links). They're not nearly as bossy!

    How about…Doc, Sleepy, Grumpy, Sneezy, Bashful, Happy, Dopey and Snow White?

  2. How fun is that?! I do kind of hope that I'll have a hen or two go broody on me and end up with chicks. They are SO cute! Don't suppose you need to find hens anymore. There are some Barred Rocks down the street from me, $9 each and just starting to lay. Just pop on over and get some and stop in for tea while you're in the area. 😉

  3. Are you sure those are not Dominique chickens? Barred Rock chickens have a single comb. I LOVE my dominiques, so I hope that's what yours are. Btw- Hi, I'm Becky, a blog creeper… 😉

  4. i love your blog and almost went into withdrawal in sept.
    since you are looking for eight names i think the obvious are mike, carol, greg, marcia, peter, jan, bobby and cindy.

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