The Penny, Piper, Poppy Problem

   Once I ordered the chicks and I could stop obsessing about what breeds to get, I had find something else to obsess about. The chicks' names was what I settled on. A lot of thinking went into some of the names and here are the reasons for them.

Sleepy (Penny):

   Sleepy's original name, Penny, was about her coloring (when she grew up). She is a Double Laced Barnevelder so she will grow up to be a shiny black and brown.

   However, when we got her she was falling asleep on her feet. I wasn't able to identify to identify her breed right away, so we started calling her Sleepy as a name place holder. And well... the name stuck!

Nutmeg:
   Nutmeg's name is also about her grown-up coloring. She is a Welsummer so she will be varying shades of brown.

Raven:

   This name has two reasons. The first is the obvious. Color. She is an Australorp, so entirely black.

   The second reason comes from a movie. "X-Men: Days of Future Past" to be exact. I saw it close to the time I got the chicks and I loved Jennifer Lawrence's character, Raven.
   Before I saw the movie I was going to name this chick Poppy. A black body and a red comb, the same colors as the flower.
   This brings up the Penny, Piper, Poppy Problem. I loved these three names, but I didn't want so many names starting with the letter "P". As I said before, I ended up ruling out Poppy for Raven. I think it suites her better anyway!

Daisy:

   Our Orpington's name, Daisy, comes from a illustrated children's book. The book is Jan Brett's, Daisy Comes Home. Jan Brett one of my favorite authors. This particular book follows a brave hen in China, whose name is, you guessed it, Daisy. It is an adorable book with amazing illustrations and I am glad I can remember it through my Daisy.
   I thought the chicken in the book looked most like an Orpington, so that is why this chick got this name.

Olive:

   Olive is the same breed as my late Hazel. This name is in remembrance of her. Both green names, both red birds.

 

Olive

Olive

Olive

Hazel

Piper:

   This name came from a book. The Lost Hero, by Rick Riordan. I loved one of the characters, Piper. Also, for some reason the name suites her puffy cheeks.

Lizzie:

   This is yet another book name. This comes from the Gregor The Overlander series by Suzanne Collins. Lizzie is the main character's sister and reminds me of myself in some ways.

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Speckles:

   This name is color, color, color. She is a Speckled Sussex. Speckled. Her feathers are going to be dark brown with white tips.

This is where Speckles stepped on my camera. (Sigh).

   Hope to see you next week! Bye!

Our Chickens: How It Began

Our adventure with chickens began in 2010.

My Dad's work friend (I'll call her D) had a small flock and was interested in getting some chicks.  Fortunately for my family D asked us to raise them for her (my Dad was always talking to her about her chickens).  The original plan was to give them back once they grew up, but my whole family fell in love with the little puffballs and she let us keep them.

I am still so grateful for that.

So one day, D pulled into our driveway with chicks and supplies in tow.  She had brought a wire enclosure for the chicks to go outside in, so we set it up in our yard.

D then unlatched the door to a pet carrier and four of the cutest, fluffiest things I have ever seen peered through the door at the new world.

My sister and I quickly chose naming rights. I named the two yellow ones, she named the two black and white ones.

And so that is how Hazel (a Red Star), Sunny (a Buff Orpington), Julie (a Silver Laced Wyandotte), and Ceci (a Silver Speckled Hamburg) came into my life and changed it forever.

From left to right, Sunny, Hazel, Julie, and Ceci