Meet Scarlett

Five years ago, I was a real skeptic about getting chickens. I was concerned about getting stuck with one more chore to do because I knew the novelty of finding the eggs would wear off with my kids, which it did eventually.

My husband kept bringing up the idea until I finally caved in and our kids were offered five free chickens from a neighbor. In 2005 our family got our first set of chickens, and even though I do the chicken chores most of the time, I’ve reformed my thinking. I’ve become very dependent upon our farm fresh eggs.

Last fall, my husband gathered up five young hens that had been abandoned at a neighboring home when some renters skipped town.  A few days later, he went back and gathered up the chickens and brought them home.

 

This is one of them and she’s the only red one we have.

All of our chickens behave the same way and scatter off when we try to catch them, but this one is different. She has a personality that stands out.

When we first got them, I also noticed this one would greet me at the door when I brought up water and chicken scraps and peck or jump up at the scrap bucket as if to say, “What’s in the bucket?”

I’ve since become attached to her.

Of all the chickens we’ve had, she’s the only one that we can approach and pick up easily or catch without the chicken catcher.

She’ll stand still when someone reaches down to touch her.

One time, my son went to gather the eggs and couldn’t find the red hen until he noticed the ceiling moving. The chicken coop’s ceiling is chicken wire stretched across the rafters and covered with straw. Our little red hen had found a hole to get through and was laying her eggs up there.

I’m not in the habit of naming chickens, but my daughter and I decided we needed to name our red-feathered beauty and decided to call her Scarlett.  Scarlett makes poultry look good.