Dawn

I woke at 4:30 this morning to the sound of a rooster crowing.  Not loudly.  I don't think neighbours hear it yet.  It reminds me of how a mother can hear her baby cry earlier than anyone else.

I hope.

In any case, I think we have to take some action right away.  This is is surprisingly soon because I thought we'd get to enjoy them for 4 months before the crowing would start. 

Sukie

This is Sukie, who is definitely crowing.  S/he's beautiful and small, so I'd like to make an appeal to my country friend.  Are you interested in a rooster?  He's' a mixed breed, but looks predominantly like his Lakenvelder side.  Not much for the stewpot, no value in terms of eggs, but pretty to look at and maybe to breed.  Any takers?  I do have to act in the next few days.  I still have the option to sequester him in the garage coop to muffle the sound a bit. 

Laura cries quietly everytime she hears him crow because he's her favourite. 

Sukie and Calendula

In contrast to Sukie, this is him with Calendula, his sibling.  I'm hoping that the smaller comb means we'll see eggs instead of crowing. 

But then again, here's Calendula with another sibling, showing more of the Amauracana lineage. The white Laurelai is a more definite keeper.  She has hardly any comb right now. 

Calendula and Laurelai

The black guy (below) is the real reason I woke up this morning.  Crow (named because we rightly suspected very early on) is an Amauracana chicken and big enough to eat.  I suspect we'll be doing that this week.

Crow and Velvet

With him is his sister, Velvet.  She's actually my favourite in terms of colouring.  She looks like an eagle and a definite keeper.

Velvet

Donald is also an Amauracana, although not purebred.  I'm expecting a crow out of him/her soon too because s/he's got a pretty developed comb and wattle, especially compared to Velvet.

Donald (or Donalda)

And this is Spitzy.  We have no idea what's hiding under that mop of feathers, but there's no wattle to speak of yet.  Hopefully that means s/he's an egg layer. 

Spitzy

On the whole, that looks like the odds were against us.  7 chickens and maybe only three hens.  We knew the risks with getting non-sexed chicks though and thought that the heritage breeds were worth it.  We'll have to introduce some ready-layers later in the summer to make up the 5-6 we'd like to have.