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 Tina Turner and Siouxsie
Polish Crested hens have outrageous bouffant hairdos, and personalities to match. They are active, curious, and ditzy. When they do lay (they are not consistent producers) the eggs are long and white. Tina and Siouxsie came to us from a coop that was too crowded. The other hens pecked at their white poufs (irresistible!). Here at Little Pond Farm, they are no longer on the bottom of the pecking order. In the winter, I'll keep the top feathers trimmed so that they don't get wet and freeze. Polish Crested are not low maintenance birds!
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 Agnes and Philomena In this picture these two girls are twenty weeks of age (hatched January 2009.) They are "sex-link" hybrids, which means that they are a cross between a brown rooster (probably a Rhode Island Red) and a white hen (a Leghorn), so that the resulting boy chicks are white and the girls are brown, with fluffy white bottoms. Each hatchery breeds their own line of hybrids and you'll find different names. These are Golden Comets. They have docile temperaments and are good layers of brown eggs. |
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Coco
Coco's full name is Coconut, because she is snowy white like flaked coconut, but will surely get as dirty brown as the outside of a coconut soon enough. She was hatched in March 2008 and had an illustrious show career before I got her.
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 Mazie
Mazie is a silver-laced Wyandotte, which is an old American breed. The Wyandotte was a useful bird for homesteaders because it was both a prolific layer of brown eggs and good for meat. Like many breeds of chickens, this one has color and style variations. Mazie hatched in May of 2007. She spent her first summer in an educational program that introduced city kids to farm animals, but lost her job when winter came, and so joined my flock. |
 LuLu LuLu is a Sussex. She was hatched in the spring of 2007 and spent her first year being oohhed and ahhed over by children in an educational program, so she is well-socialized to people. She is outgoing, curious and loves attention. |
 Betsy Ross
Snowball was such a wonderful character that I decided to get more bantam White Leghorns. Betsy is a tad more shy than Snowball was, but she does like to go to story times and play the role of "Tillie." |
 Buffy
This beautiful Buff Orpington was part of a small backyard flock but she was at the bottom of the pecking order and had wounds to prove it. So, Buffy came to live with our hens who chase her away from the finest tidbits, but otherwise leave her in peace. Sometimes she even manages to sneak a crumb away from the bossier girls! |
 Edwina and Eleanor
These two Barred Rocks are hard to tell apart, though side-by-side you can see that Eleanor has a thicker tail. They are consistent layers of brown, slightly speckled eggs. |
 Petunia
Petunia, a New Hampshire Red, hatched in October of 2004. She's one of the oldest hens here. For years, Petunia was a very good layer, but she's now in retirement. She is friendly, busy and calm. |
 Twinkydink and Blackie
These two look-alkies are Australorps. Their black feathers shimmer with greens and rust colors; they are especially beautiful on sunny days. They are classic big laying hens. |
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 Candy
Candy is a lop-eared rabbit who lives in a hutch in the chicken run. She gets out every day for a "hop-around" and her favorite activity is teasing the hens.
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 Pip and Caper
Pip and Caper are twin brothers, born on April 26, 2009. Their mother and sire are registered Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats who live at Village Haven Farm in Maine. Pip and Caper are pets. They're gelded males, and their only job is to delight and amuse - which they do very well! They also help to keep the back meadow free of briars and poison ivy.
Caper, on the left, is the goat with the darker splotches. Pip has the caramel-colored markings.
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 Lily and Scooter
Both of these dogs came from rescue organizations. Lily's mother was probably a border collie, but there's a lot of rat terrier in her. She's smart and has a high prey drive. She's a good farm dog - she chases hawks out of the sky and keeps raccoons away.
Scooter's mom was a mixed-breed stray, and dad was obviously a chihuahua. Scooter's job is to be a pest to Lily to keep her busy (he gets her to play by biting her toes). They are Little Pond Farm's comedy duo.
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The Beast
The Beast arrived at Little Pond Farm in 2003 when she was a little fish, no longer than two inches. She looked pretty, all white, with a big black spot on her head. But as this koi grew, the spot didn't and now she is a peachy-white color. The Beast lives year-round in the water feature that we call a "pond." There's a big rock, with a fish cave under it, where this huge, savvy old fish stays safe from Great Blue Herons, and hibernates in the winter.
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Loved and Remembered
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 Eggers
Eggers was a bantam White Leghorn that visited many schools and libraries in her role as "Tillie."
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 Ginger
This big hen was a Black Star. She laid large brown eggs that sometimes had double yolks. She liked to be in the thick of things and was the first one to eyeball something new. |
 Perrie
This hen had hawk-like markings, and so named Perrie for a Peregrine Falcon. She was an Ameraucana cross-breed and laid blue-green eggs. Like a hawk, she was always watchful. |
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 Snowball
Snowball, AKA Snowboss, was a bantam White Leghorn. She proved that it is personality, not size, that matters in the hen house. Snowball was on the top of the pecking order. She was also the fastest to the fence when I said, "I have a juicy bug for one of you hens!" Snowball liked to be held, and if she was in the garden with you, she'd either be underfoot or in your arms. She was clicker-trained to pose for the camera and had a wonderful time as the star of the children's book, Tillie Lays an Egg (Scholastic Press 2009). Snowball was an exceptional chicken and as much a part of the family as a pet dog.
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 Prudence
Prudence was a Rhode Island Red, a breed known to be prolific layers of big brown eggs. She was friendly and gentle.
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 Tweedledum
Tweedledum was a Silkie, which is a breed that looks as if it has hair. Gentle and placid, Silkies make wonderful pets for young children. Tweedledum's other name was "Queen Victoria" because she looked as if she was wearing a fussy Victorian gown and because Tweedledum stayed away from the other hens, as if the riff raff were below her.
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| Also missed: Alma, a Wyandotte. Marge, a NH Red, the most talkative chicken ever. |
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