BarleysList: Three Chickens Are Better Than One

Yep it's true. We adopted two more hens to keep Ruby company. I have come to the conclusion that one hen by herself was too lonely. So we now have three. I have come to accept that Ruby is too old for making eggs and perhaps that is why her previous owners decided they no longer wanted her. It makes me sad but happy that we found her. She lives the life of Queen Hen and gets to boss the other two youngsters around. The picture to the left is Betty. She is a 3 month old Buff Orpington. She is as big as Ruby already! And Ruby is a big bird.

The picture below is Helen. She was acquired from a friend who had three hens, but preferred two, so we took her in. My friend lives nearby so they can come to visit her. She should start egg laying in the next month or so. My guess is she is a Rhode Island Red. She's still small at four months,

but boy is she fast. She doesn't like to be picked up as much, but we've been working with her. When we first brought her home, Ruby would peck at her. It took several days of isolating them to help reset the pecking order. I did quite a bit of on line research and feel confident enough now to prevent any further battles. Please feel free to email me if you have any problems at admin@BarleysList.org

Below you can see Helen and Betty hanging out together. They really have become buddies. They even nest together at night and Big ol' Ruby takes her own private nesting box!