The chickens are sure growing up quickly. It’s my first attempt at having chickens and so far it’s been a lot of fun. They have such unique personalities and I really didn’t expect that.

Here are the ladies, hanging out in the barn. We have a new chicken coop but it’s not quite ready for them to live in yet. We live next to an animal rehab place and one block from a Nature Preserve, so we have so many critters wandering about. I get worried about my chickens becoming dinner for a fox, raccoon, or other nocturnal creature. So securing the coop is of utmost importance to me. My husband woke me up at the crack of dawn earlier this week and said “look over there” towards the barn. I didn’t see anything. He said a fox was just there a second before right under the window where the chickens are sleeping in the barn stall. He knocked on the window, and said the fox just looked at him and sauntered away. Ordinarily, we love having beautiful foxes roaming the property. I’m not so crazy about it now, and just have to make sure the coop and surrounding area is predator proof.

So this is Lady Gaga. She is my prettiest chicken. Her colors go from warm coffee colors to cool grays all woven like a quilt all over her. She is sweet, quirky, and loves to look at herself in my iPhone!

So above are a couple of my chickens. I was going to say “our” chickens, but nobody else here (except for Mason, my grandson) has taken a liking to them as much as I have. Shannon likes to hold them, and sometimes help water and feed them. They love it when Shannon and Mason go into the barn with me, and are endlessly curious about our shoes, and love to peck them to say hello. Mason’s light up Spiderman shoes are always a big hit with the chickens!