Hazel

   Hazel has always been my favorite chicken in our flock (but don't you dare tell the rest that). It has been that way since day one when she fell asleep on my lap.

   I named Hazel and she is a Red Star. When she was growing up she always had had the funniest "fluffy neck feathers" (as I called them at the time). She is the scruffy orange and white one in the pictures.

   Hazel loves food. If she was the top girl in the pecking order, the other chickens wouldn't get any treats at all.

   Hazel is always so curious.She is constantly picking at tags, zippers, buttons, nail polish... Anything out of the normal (in Hazel's mind at least)! I love Hazel so much!

Old Coop

   Back in 2010 the first set of chicks were growing up fast and they needed a home. So, we hired someone to build us a chicken coop.

The inside.

   We painted it ourselves. We kind of regret the colors now but back then it seemed like the obvious choice. I wanted my chickens to live in something that looked like a barn. If not in shape, then in color.

   It was done in two days (a big advantage to having someone built a coop for you). The chicks moved in the day it was done. They were a little confused at first...

But, chickens are not picky and they soon got settled into their new home...

Solutions

   So, on November 25, 2013 I ordered our new chicks! I ordered from My Pet Chicken. I chose this place because they could send as little as three chicks. Also they don't send "extra" chicks for warmth.

   I am getting five more chicks. One Australorp, one Easter Egger,  one Barnevelder, one Barred Rock, and one Welsummer.

   The hatch date is June 23, 2014. (Yes I know I ordered early. I just wanted to be positive I got the breeds I wanted on the date I wanted.) I chose a date this late so that I would be out of school and I could spend as much time as possible with the new fluff balls.

   However, the obstacles I discussed in my last post were still there. Here are the answers I found for them...

1. Space
We build a new coop! Or I should say my parents built a new coop. I hammered a few nails and painted a few things, but they did everything else! It is not finished yet but here are some pictures of it in construction.

                                                 
Don't worry our chickens are not as spoiled as it looks. They are only getting half of the building in the picture. The little red square in the bottom left is our old coop.

2. Pecking Order
I did some research on ways to integrate the new chickens into the old. There is not much I can do for this one but hopefully these tricks should help.

3. Roosters
We ordered sexed chicks. This is not a one hundred percent guarantee, but it should help our chances. 

   I can barely wait!                                                                       
                                                                                                                  

Obstacles

   Ever since my first set of chicks grew up, I have always fantasized about getting more. More cuteness, more fun, more eggs... but some things have always stood in the way.

1. Space
Our current coop is great. It gets the job done and it has all the basics. What it does not have, is space for more chickens.

2. Pecking Order
I am very worried about upsetting the balance in my flock. I know the pecking order does happen and must happen, but it just makes me sad. I just want them all to be friends (even if this is realistic or not).

3. Roosters
I am technically allowed to have roosters in my area. However, I do not think my neighbors would love a rooster as much as I would. Also, I am afraid of getting an aggressive roo.

   I am a rational person and have been able to keep my chick dreams down because of these reasons. But, then my Dad says something like "But remember the first chicks?". And of course I do remember and then... unexpected things happen.

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