Last Chicken In - Is a Rotten Egg!

We are at the end of our stint of being 'chicken sitters'. Lots of fun, watching and playing with them. The trickiest part was keeping the roosters out of the laying hen pen at night when we put them away...they went into the chicken house and to chase them out was like separating out a fish in a tank full of guppies!











Two of the big bad roosters, below. They remind me of the "Jets" in West Side Story! I hear that song, yah, "here come the jets.." in my head as they strut around the barnyard.

Click to enlarge photos.

Where I Stand Sunday

Bard Rock and Rhode Island Red,
make good names for colors in my paintbox.
Buff Orpington and Maran,
and Araucana's bluish eggshells,
a mixture of sounds from the chicken coop,
welling up into the damp morning breeze.
The pullet-zer prize goes to these future 'layers',
as I accommodate the barnyard pecking order.

Being a farmer means up with the rooster, you know. That is sometimes difficult for me. Another 2 1/2 inches of rain last night. Horses seemed stranded on a dry little island, but moved themselves across the waterway created in the flash flood. Just like we do, they try to find tufts of grass and weeds to step on as they glide across the mucky and slimy mud.
These chickens are the pullets, not ready to lay yet. They are my neighbors chickens, I guess that makes us "chicken sitters" (careful how you read that). They still "peep" and are more than friendly. Guess they were raised in their "chick" days by children. You can see one standing on my foot. They let you pet them and hold them. It's more than fun!
Older hens are in another pen, their feathers plucked out by the mean and nasty roosters, who don't get to stay in the enclosure with them anymore.
Those hens are not very pretty, but good layers all the same. My favorite pullet is a little Araucana, she is the white one in this picture, sort of a runt and kind of picked on by the others. We give her special attention.

If the work inside the house slows down,

I may steal away to paint another chicken painting
within the next few days,
as I took lots of good source photos this morning.
although I AM painting (walls), I miss the "done on canvas" kind!!!!
In the meantime,
I get close to the idea of my own chickens, for next year.
The benefits are large...weed and pest control, plus eggs..and entertainment!

The Gentlemen's Club

"The Gentlemen's Club" - pastel on Strathmore, 11" x 14" matted

See, I took those great animal photos yesterday and just had to play around a little with a few of the roosters. Gentlemen? They aren't!
It is a quick one, done in pastel on Strathmore. I am getting so I don't enjoy using pastel papers with "tooth". I am just too accustomed to Wallis sanded pastel paper.