Friday, September 27, 2013

The Old Rangers

A few years ago I got 6 baby chicks from the local feed store, they were my first chickens which included 2 Easter Egger, 1 Red Star, 1 Silver Laced Wyandotte,  1 Black Australorp, and a fat ole Buff Orpington. Most of them are gone now (some sadly taken away by a fox), the rest that are still thriving I gave to a friend.
Here are some pictures of the flock when the were still in their golden years young and free, roaming into the neighbor's yards, and always running back home with wings spread out to balance themselves; they will always be my little rangers.

Flock Leader: Pine

Pine was a very independent chick and was a born leader, always braving the daring dangers of life and leading her friends into lands unknown.

 Easter Egger
Pine (in the far right) with the rest of the flock


Second in Command: Maple

An ambitious girl always following Pine, the two get along like sisters. Maple is mild mannered, though not as bold as Pine she tries to be. In the meantime she spends her hours eating watermelon scraps, fruits, insects, and various kinds of grasses.

 Easter Egger
Maple on the far left.


Puzzle R.I.P.

Sometimes strict, Puzzle also has a funny side and will sometimes as her name describes, get "puzzled" and bawk in a whining tone. She tends to stray a bit far from her friends but will come back to the coop at night. One day while I was away she never came back to the coop, and Puzzle was never seen again.

Silver Laced Wyandotte
Bossy Puzzle ( left) and Yeller (right).


Yeller R.I.P.

Proud and beautiful, Yeller loves strutting around in the sunlight showing of her gleaming black feathers to the other hens who cluck disapprovingly behind her back. Yeller is also one of the strictest members of the flock. One little move of disobedience from a lower ranked chicken and they will earn a peck on the comb.  She was taken away by a fox in broad daylight at a friend's yard who was taking care of my chickens.

Black Australorp
Yeller is the little black chick on the right.


Butter 

Edit: 10/16/13 Butter R.I.P. She was taken away by a fox recently.

Every few months in the spring and summer you will find fat ole Butter back in the nesting box broody again. Aside from her broodiness Butter is very irritable and cannot stand it when the other hens rudely eat before her plate of table scraps (one exception is Yeller who berates any flock member that eats without permission).

Buff Orpington

Sugar R.I.P.

As her name suggests, Sugar is as sweet as sugar. Her name originally came from a baby kitten I once named at a pet store Sugar because of its brown sugar colored coat. She laid an egg every day (except for when she took days off to rest and regenerate her color pigments for egg color) and would come running towards you when you called her name, many times she would decide to follow people instead of her flock. In her first year she got unlucky and a raccoon who passed by my yard decided to make a snack out of her toes.  She was snatched away by a fox along with Yeller while I was gone.

Red Star, also known as a Red Cross, Red Sex-link, Cinnamon Queen, Golden Comet, and etc.
This is Sugar before she had her toes bitten. 
Sleeping in the shade of a bush on a hot summer day.





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