Monday, August 8, 2011

Hens and Roosters



Are these roosters or hens?  Only time will tell...I am joining Shelia at Note Songs for her Roosters and Chickens  Party. 


My children have longed for chickens for quite some time  This year at the Melba, Idaho 4th of July celebration my children entered the chicken race.  Talley, our 10 year old, caught a chicken and was determined to keep it!  I just couldn't say no, even though I have never wanted chickens.  Corbyn, her little cousin from Idaho couldn't bring his chicken home on the plane to Arizona so we ended up with two chickens.  The kids carried them home for the 9 hour drive home in a box on their laps.

The children named their chickens Zach and Melba;  Melba was named after Melba, Idaho where we were visiting Aunt Dawnell and Jeff and their family.   Talley made a sign to hang on the chicken run.


Talley likes to play tricks with her chickens.


She likes to hold them.


We have been making a chicken coop as a family project this summer.  It's not finished yet, but it soon will be.  What color should we paint it?  We are leaning to red with white trim.  I am sure the pictures of the finished chicken coop will make their way to may blog.


Most the time they spend time in their chicken run, but they LOVE getting out and eating bugs -- we have a ton of grasshoppers that need to be eaten.  Unfortunately,


they wreak havoc on my husband's wildflowers as they hunt and peck for bugs-- they stamp on anything in their way.


I would have never thought that I could enjoy chickens, but it is because Talley loves them so.


We have gone chicken crazy and have watched the movie "The Egg and I" starring Fred MacMurray and Claudette Colbert.  It's a fun romp chronicling a city slicker married couple who on a whim buy a country home and start raising chickens for their eggs.


"Hey, are you lookin' at me?"  I sure hope you are a hen Zach!


Go visit Shelia at her Roosters and Chickens Party.  Most likely, there probably won't be many live chickens but lots of chicken accessories and chicken tablescapes.

24 comments:

Barbara F. said...

How cute are your kids AND these chickens!!! I envy those fresh eggs you will be enjoying. I think the names are very very cute. xo,

Karen thisoldhouse2.com said...

Your chickens are adorable! I have seven, this is our first chicken year, and I do love them. And they do love their cheerios and blueberries :-)

Julie Harward said...

Thats the way it all gets started...I just loved your post and the cute little gals too! Have fun with them! ;D

Lynn said...

Well you surely did surprise me Joni! I wasn't expecting live chicks-how neat! Looks like everyone is having fun and I truly hope that Zach is a girl too-enjoy:@)

Bonnie said...

Perfect post for Shelia's party. Yours is unique! How sweet the kids love the chickens. I think that is a great family project. I had little banty (not sure of spelling) hens as a child and I enjoyed them. I loved the tiny eggs but I was under six so it is somewhat of a blur in my memory.

Babs said...

Real chickens! They are so neat and catch lots of bugs in the yard. We had banty chickens many years ago and they were so much fun.
Cute post.
Babs

Mid-Atlantic Martha said...

Love your Real Live Chickens! The rest of us only have "fakes"! Thanks for your visit to my "roost".

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

I've seen that old movie...on the Turner Classic movie channel! Love all of your real live chickens! The real one I saw was at a State Park...don't know how it got there but it was almost in camo so that I missed it! ♥

The Quintessential Magpie said...

This is just a super fun post! I adored seeing these chickens and your precious little ones enjoying them. Love, love, love this! Thanks so much for sharing with us and thank you so very much for coming by to visit. I appreciated your sweet words so much.

Have a Cockadoodledoday! ;-)

XO,

Sheila :-)

Marianne said...

Your real chickens are adorable. I just love them. I have a few friends with chicken farms but I just have the fake ones! Your children look like they have so much fun with them.
Marianne :)

Kathleen said...

I like the real ones better than the faux. The latter collect dust, the former you can collect eggs! :)
Kids are beautiful! God bless them!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful children!

Our grandchildren have 22 hens and lots of eggs...

As to the gender of the two you asked about...do they have pink eyes or blue eyes? Guess that doesn't work, does it?

Betty @ Country Charm (Thanks for the Visit)

Anonymous said...

Hi Joni! Oh, what cute Roo or Chick bottoms! :)
Now this is just the sweetest post about how you acquired those chickens. Little Talley is adorable and I can tell by her cute little face how she loves her chickens! ;) My vote is red for the chicken coop! :)
Thank you so much for coming to my party!
You are the sweetie,
Shelia ;)

Jacqueline said...

Fun for you! I am voting red for the coop too. Our neighbors have 6 chickens and they give us eggs once in a while. They are really noisy, I am surprised! Have fun with those girls.

Olga Poltava said...

How cute those chickens are!

Debbie said...

I love that movie! We have it on video. I can't believe that they carried chickens on their laps for a nine hour drive. That's definitely commitment.

Just so you know, this has been my favorite rooster/chicken post so far.I wasn't expecting it.

Anonymous said...

OH my goodness this is a favorite post,LIVE roo's/chickens,I love 'em,I want some too.
~JO

Sarah said...

The real deal here! What precious photos of Talley and her chickens. I vote red for the coop to go with the red couch, you know. What a fun summer project.

Cathy at Wives with Knives said...

Love your post about chickens, Joni. I would love to have a place to build a little coop in my backyard but my Homeowner's Ass'n would probably have a heart attack...LOL.

Marlis said...

So sweet of you to let them come home with you.. I have always wanted chickens but have no room to keep them :(... Good luck with the garden, remember how good they fertilize! xo marlis

Pattie @ Olla-Podrida said...

How precious these pictures are! Like your children, I, too, have wanted chickens for years. Enjoyed this post.

Mimi said...

Just for the record, I'm jealous you have chickens. I keep asking Mr. Mimi if I can have a small flock, but so far he has resisted the idea. Maybe some day.
Enjoy your chickens!
Mimi

Susanne said...

Great pictures - thanks for sharing. Love the real chickens for a change of pace. And those children are adorable.

Unknown said...

Joni -- such great chickens -- I'm betting hens :)

Blessings!
Gail

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