Monday, August 26, 2013

Great Expectations

For me the biggest lesson that The Ladies have brought me is patience with waiting to see how the unknowns turn out.  Yup - I guess I like to be in control.  I had in my head a flock of different breeds.  So I controlled that.  I carefully selected our breeds to all look different while still being cold hardy, friendly and good egg layers.  That's about all I've been able to control.

Here's where it gets more complicated.  I know we can't have a rooster in our neighborhood, so I ordered only pullets (less than 1 year old hens).  But there is only a 90 % guarantee on gender of your chicks.  They have small "parts" you know!  So as time has gone by I find myself always analyzing them.  Is this one going to be a rooster?   What about that one?  I've laughingly done all these old wives tale tricks to "check."  All the tricks said 4 are girls and 1 is bisexual!  But ultimately I don't have control of that one.  If Ebony (or Jiji, or Luna, or Bella, or Hedwig) is a rooster, then that's the way it is.  The tough part is we won't know for many more weeks.  Waiting....  Meanwhile I remind myself - what will be will be.

And then there is the whole survival thing.  The original three Ladies (Emma calls them "The Big Three) are three weeks old today. 

The newer two will be three weeks old in two days.  As we pass each week, I feel more comfortable that we are getting closer to being out of the woods.  But again, other than taking good care of them, there really isn't anything I can do to control whether we lose any more chicks.  That's probably the hardest to remind myself - what will be will be.

Every once in a while I get a funny reminder that I am not the one in charge here.  From day one, we "knew" Luna was the Buff Orpington and that little Rosey, who died, was a Gold Sex Link (also known as a Cinnamon Queen).  This week Luna surprised us all with sprouting the dark russet feathers you can see in the picture.  Turns out she is the Gold Sex Link and Rosey was the Buff Orpington!   We all got a good laugh out of that.  Emma insisted that we tell Luna about our mistake and was relieved that Luna was not upset by this news.  (On a side note - because Luna is the Gold Sex Link, she is also the only one we are 100% sure is a pullet).

The most enjoyable great expectation is managing my curiosity and excitement over knowing what our two younger chicks (Hedwig and Bella the English Orpingtons) will look like.  We know in general but there is a lot of variation that is possible in the coloring.  And just like the hen or rooster question - there is nothing to do but wait.

I've never been good at waiting.  Maybe The Ladies will help me with that!

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