The Chickens of ImaginAcres

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Yesterday I spent an hour hanging out with my chickens in the backyard. I watched them frolic through the tall grass, and chase each other around the garden. I took the opportunity to practice using my new camera to capture their little personalities and quirks.

I’d like to introduce you to our flock of insanity here at ImaginAcres.

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These little guys are Easter Eggers, we picked them up about four weeks ago and they’re being raised by two momma hens. Right now they’re at the peak of their ugly teenager phase. The last of their fuzzy baby feathers are on their way out (SOB) and their sleek grown up feathers are coming in. Although they’re starting to look like adult birds, they certainly aren’t acting like it.

They rebelliously sneak through the holes in the fence to free range in the neighbor’s yard every chance they get. They’re also small enough to fit through the cracks in the garden fence, and love to stand in there, nibbling on cherry tomatoes while the adult birds jealously glare at them through the fence.

They’ve really mastered that innocent look!

Our Buff Orpington followed me everywhere I went in the yard yesterday. Ever since I bought a bag of black oil sunflower as snacks for the ladies, this voluptuous hen has been my little shadow. She must think I have treats billowing out of my pockets every second of the day. She was sorely disappointed that all I had for her was a camera clicking in her general direction, so she decided to munch some grass instead.

I can’t even tell you how difficult it is to get photos of the chicks. They are experts at evasion. If I was taking photos of them on the patio, they would all bounce and stampede and fly their way to the back of the yard. I would follow, and they would start scratching in the grass and eating bugs.

Then, just as I would sit down and start snapping photos, they would look at each other, smirk, and start flouncing and skipping and hopping their way up to the coop. I would get back up, follow them up to the coop, take a seat on the steps and start shooting again, only for them to decide that the very best place for them at that moment was back in the back of the yard.

And this is how it went, for an hour. I’m feeling pretty lucky I even got these shots with all of that energy and movement!

This is Rosie. Those of you who know her from past posts may not even recognize her. When she went through a molt this summer, she shed a lot of her beautiful ginger feathers and grew back blonde feathers instead. I guess Rosie decided she needed a new fall look, so she’s a strawberry blonde now.

Dee Dee is my second shadow. If I find myself tripping while trying to walk through the backyard, you can bet Dee Dee is right underfoot, looking up at me and ba-gocking with requests for treats and love. She looks so much like a dinosaur in this photo and I just love it.

You know you live in the city when… your chicken pictures have your neighbor’s cozy coupe in the background. Our neighbor’s little boy is in love with the chickens, he’s just a little toddler, but loves to stand at the fence and babble at the flock as they free range in the yard.

Our Leghorn is the most photogenic chicken in the bunch. It’s almost as if she wants me to take pictures of her. Every time I’m sitting in the yard she wanders over and stands next to me, throwing out poses here and there and actually holding them for long enough for me to snap a photo. She’s a little Diva! Now if she would just stop eating dirt, she could really be a star.

It’s hard to believe our Easter Egger from Mokey’s bunch is already grown. She’s a feisty one, she only has one friend, her sister Penelope, and won’t let any of us human folk anywhere near her. Like any sisters, she and Penelope fight and argue all day long, they’re constantly chasing each other around the yard.

We just decided on a name for this little lady, and being the total nerds that we are, settled on Gandalf the Gray. I mean, how could we not? Look at that beard!

Here’s Penelope, our beautiful Wyandotte. We call her Penny. She was the second surviving member of Mokey’s Bunch, and sister to Gandalf the Gray. Unlike Gandalf, Penny is sweet and adoring of her human companions.

I’ll leave you today with a picture of the last member of the flock, one that spends every day with them and works hard to protect the little ladies. She scares away squirrels, crows, rats, cats, and the dreaded sparrows from the yard as if her life depends on it. Nico, our honorary chicken, is a proud member of the chickens of ImaginAcres.

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