Here's a little recap (those who followed our blog Aug '08-Aug'09 will remember many of these tales :-) ):
--March '09 We bought 2 Barred Plymoth Rock Chicks and hand raised them with the utmost care -- Named "Speckles" & "Dot"
--Arpil '09 We noticed the neighborhood hen, "Henny Penny" had 7 sweet little chicks following her around our yard and the neighborhood
--We adopted 5 of Henny's babies (genders unknown)--Later we discovered we had 2 roosters "Midnight"& "Rocky" and three hens "Sunshine" , "Fluff" & "Puff"
--Later the other 2 wild raised chickens with Henny Penny frequented our yard during feeding times. We named them "Rose" and "Solomon" (yes, he definately proved to attract the hens and defend his position as the head rooster.)
After many hard rains and a few attempts to erect a reliable coop, we finally got tired of rounding up the chickens for the "chicken chase," every day. We allowed them to free range, which is not uncommon in our neighborhood.
Needless, to say we're down to 3 hens and lots of lessons learned. Between a few confirmed dog attacks and suspected kidnappings, our chicken adventures have been far from boring. We haven't given up on raising more egg layers, but we have gained a little wisdom on how to be more prepared!