Meet the Chickens - The Young Girls

The last installment of "Meet the Chickens" introduced the Old Girls.  This one introduces the Young Girls.  These are the chickens we got in the Spring of 2014.  They are now in their prime egg-laying years and are fat and sassy.  These hens are Rhode Island Reds, or RIRs as they are often referred to.  They are a deep dark red, as you can see below.  This one is named Bossy.

She got that name because she has always been very vocal, even from the time she was very young.  She clucks and fusses at us as if she is bossing us around.  Bossy is the only RIR in our flock that has a "stand-up" type comb, as opposed to a "rose" comb, as shown below.

Next is Matilda.  See the difference between her comb and Bossy's?

Also, notice that she has a growth over her right eye.  She has had this for most of her life.  It does not seem to bother her, but it makes her easy for us to identify.  The problem with pure bred chickens, like RIRs, is they all look alike and are sometimes difficult to tell apart. 

Next, we have Big Bertha.

She and Little Bertha are very difficult to tell apart unless you see them together.  Big Bertha is slightly larger than Little Bertha.  In the blog article Incarcerated Chicken, I misidentified the hen who became "broody" and wanted to set on the clutch of eggs as Big Bertha.  As it turns out, that chicken was Little Bertha below.

Notice she has an orange tie on her leg.  I put that on her when I realized that I had confused the two chickens in the blog article.  Hopefully, I won't make that mistake again!