On Friday, Kyle and I got baby chicks. We bought two little chickens, a Rhode Island Red named Lucy (after Lucille Ball, another comical red head) and a Silver Laced Wyandotte named Penelope, or Penny for short.
We brought them home on Friday and are keeping them in a chicken brooder we made from an old bathroom cabinet. In three days, they have already grown about a half inch and are developing pin feathers on the tips of their wings. We’ll keep them inside the house until they have full feathers and then we will put them outside in their chicken coop.
Lucy is the smarter of the two of them and has a quirky little personality. The first day, she was trying to leave her pen by reasoning that she could jump on top of the water bottle and then out of the the brooder. She wasn’t able to accomplish that, but I had heard so much about how stupid chickens are that I was surprised to see her plotting her escape.
She is also very sweet. The first day, she fell asleep in everyone’s hands when she was picked up.
Rhode Island Reds were developed in Rhode Island (duh) in the 1880s. They can produce 250 to 300 eggs per year and begin laying as early as six months of age. Their eggs are brown. Here is a picture of a Rhode Island Red from Wikipedia:
Then there is Penelope.
She is more adventurous and aggressive than Lucy. She tries to fly all the time, which may be a sign of future trouble. But she is also very sweet and likes to fluff out and nest. When you pick her up, she gets quiet and likes her back stroked. She also fell asleep in my hands the first day we got her.
She is growing faster than Lucy and has already developed little wings and the starts of tail feathers. If all goes well, she should be a very pretty chicken. Here is a picture of a Silver Laced Wyandotte from My Pet Chicken:
Silver Laced Wyandottes have been around since the 1870s and were the most popular breed of chicken before World War II. They lay about 200 brown eggs a year.
Yeah… so do the math. 200 + 250 = we’re going to have a lot of eggs around here.