Eggs-ceptionally cool!

Let me welcome the newest member of our menagerie! JM wants to name her Lizzie.

Lizzie is a Black Australorp. She will lay brown eggs. In the sunshine her feathers will have a very black/blue hue and will seem translucent. That is very typical of this breed.

Let me tell you the adventure of getting Lizzie. It was a mess today!

I posted on craigslist I had a home for a hen. A woman emails me saying she is moving off her mountainous property, needs a home for her hen and rooster. I tell her I would take her hen, she can keep the rooster. We set it up today for her brother in law (BIL) to meet me there, up in the sticks, so he can hold down the aggressive rooster while I capture the hen. Roosters are aggressive, especially when protecting their ladies.

I drive a long ways to a very scenic and beautiful cabin on a mountain top. It is bliss! BIL meets me and tells me he needs to check the barn and start looking for them. In my mind, I am thinking, where is the coop? Or is it in the barn? Come to find out, the chickens are kept in a fairly open horse stall with little shelter. Chickens can easily flap out, and they do, I am told. I am told to look on the roofs of buildings and we'll find them. We search all over for them. Gone.

I start asking questions. What kind of wildlife is around here? Do you see coyotes or mountain lions? Yes. Do the chickens go to the roof to stay away from said wildlife? Yes. Also, I am told you generally can't go for more then five minutes without hearing the rooster crow. Well, thirty minutes has gone by, crickets--literally.

I tell the guy I have a bad feeling about this. Chickens can't easily defend themselves and they really need a covered and protected coop. He agrees with me and apologizes that I came so far. Promises me that when he finds her, he'll bring her to me. I tell him, I just have a feeling she is gone, but let me know.

I get home and have an email from the lady--we are all so shocked that we can't seem to find these chickens. What could be the problem? I am beyond amazed that they don't see the obvious--there are coyotes out there sleeping it off!

Sure enough, two hours later, I get another email. A caretaker has found "evidence". I am in a weird spot where I feel bad for this family because they have lost their pets in a most sad way. Yet on the other hand I want to put my index finger and my thumb in the shape of an L on my forehead and say, "What do you expect?" What a nightmare!

Anyway, another email from somebody else gave us Lizzie. They were even kind enough to bring her over tonight. After the travels I have had today, that was incredibly nice.

We put them in the covered coop and I closed the door and it sounded like a boxing match. Yep, there is some posturing and territorial lines being drawn right now. I hung out with them for awhile until the thumping calmed down. I think they will be fine. Lizzie is chilling out. My other two odd balls are chilling out too.