The size difference is amazing. Meat birds grow so quickly!
Evie has also decided to let this broody hen hatch out some eggs. Her name is Strawberry and she is the daughter of Kenny, our first rooster.
We know this because she is the meanest hen in the flock and Kenny was the meanest rooster we've ever had. Evie decided to let her brood the eggs because it was easier than trying to get the eggs from her! She pecks us really hard when we try to get too close. Unfortunately for the chicks, she will only let two chicks hatch before she starts kicking the other newly-hatched chicks out of the nest. When our old Rhode Island Red (who might even be Strawberry's mother) goes broody, which she will, we will give her the rest of the chicks.
The chicken above, who I call Naked Neck, has quite the story. Mark and I had to use our CSI skills to figure out what happened to her. One morning, about a month ago, Ian found her next to the chicken coop covered in blood. He put her on our "quarantine" side of the chicken coop until he received further instruction. I heard him mention to Mark that we had a bloody chicken out there and he separated her and gave her food and water. He didn't sound too worried, and I rarely go out to the coop, so I didn't bother following up on the bloody chicken. A week passed and the chores rotated. Shane saw this hen and noticed she was doing just fine (including laying eggs) and let her go back with the flock. When I finally got out there, I saw for myself what had happened. The skin on her neck had been completely ripped off, all the way down to muscle, and was hanging down her front. She stepped on it whenever she scratched and pecked, so it was all muddy. It was so gross. Here is the CSI version of her story: She and some fellow coop mates decided to stay out all night and roost on some shelves in the carport. They have done this before and it gets really messy, so Mark added some field fencing to the shelves to deter them. The fencing was only propped against the shelves and not secure and the chickens just went around the side. One night, a racoon reached through the fencing, grabbed the chicken by the neck, tried to pull it through the fencing. During the struggle, the chicken was injured and the unattached fencing fell down, scaring the racoon. I'm surprised she lived through this ordeal!
