I know, I know we’re really cheating on the whole “post per week” thing, but turns out chicks are super cute, then kinda boring until they get their full set of feathers in. They mostly just eat, poop (and poop and poop!) and practice doing chick things. I will say “teenagers” do excel at looking incredibly awkward (and pooping. Did I mention that?)
As I mentioned before many of the chicks had started in on the dust bathing. We did remove their pan of dust because most of them seemed to be more interested in eating it or kicking it out of the tin instead of actually dust bathing. Most would wiggle their way down into the bedding instead and fling it up over their heads/backs. It was hilarious to watch and such an odd behavior to witness!
It’s impressive how fast they grow. Every time we saw pictures of baby chicks online or at the feed store it’s crazy to think our ladies once came from that. Here’s a nice photo progression of the ladies through these 9 weeks! They grow so crazy FAST!
Week 3 
Week 4 
Week 5 
Week 6 
Week 7 
Week 8 
Week 9 – And their first night in the “big” coop!
Another big milestone is that with incoming feathers (and great personalities), it was becoming easier to tell the chicks apart. So it was time to name them! We got some “great” suggestions from family and friends who wanted “clever” names like:
- Princess Laya
- Hen Solo
- Chew-bock-a
Eventually though we did get a good theme suggestion out of the mix: Greek & Roman goddesses! So we sent about making a list, Googling around for all sorts of cool ancient deities to name out ladies after. We decided to branch out too, looking at other cultures too including Native American, Chinese & Celtic.
So without further ado, we’d like to go ahead a formally introduce you to our 9 hen flock!
Freya
Pronunciation:”fray-ya”
Breed: Silver Laced Wyandotte
Culture: Norse
Meaning: Goddess of Love, literal meaning is “Lady”
Reason: Freya has super beautiful feathers and a super sweet personality.
Sol
Pronunciation: “soul”
Breed: Ameraucana
Culture: Norse
Meaning: Goddess of the Sun
Reason: Ameraucana’s are known for their poofy cheeks! Sol is the brighter headed of the two our Ameraucana’s compared to her Sister Styx. She’s a fairly flight bird and isn’t a huge fan of being handled.
Styx
Pronunciation: “sticks”
Breed: Ameraucana
Culture: Greek
Meaning: Goddess of the Underworld & River Styx
Reason: She has an amazing body shape (compared to the other breeds) and pitch black head. She also the most flighty of our hens.
Gwynn (or Glen :stare:)
Pronunciation: “g-wen”
Breed: Cuckoo Maran
Culture: Welsh
Meaning: Goddess of the Hunt
Reason: Gwynn is kinda a jerk (tbh), always on the move, always checking things out & looking at stuff. But if she does turn out to be a Glen, she’ll make an excellent protector of the flock. (ALSO LOOK HOW HUGE HER LEGS ARE O.o)
Hathor
Pronunciation: “hath-OR”
Breed: Dominique
Culture: Egyptian
Meaning: Sky goddess of femininity, dance & music.
Reason: Hathor would definitely be my favorite (if I have one….). Super sweet & friendly. Always eager to check things out and shoulder surf.
Athena
Pronunciation: “A-thean-A”
Breed: Black Star (sex link)
Culture: Greek
Meaning: Goddess of War
Reason: This lady is the star of the show, almost always the first lady to check new things out and still very friendly!
Ceres
Pronunciation: “Series”
Breed: Red Series (sex link)
Culture: Roman
Meaning: Goddess of Agricultural & Grain crops
Reason: Ceres likes food and treats. A LOT.
Juno
Pronunciation: “Jew-No”
Breed: Red Star (sex link)
Culture: Roman
Meaning: Goddess of Wisdom
Reason: Juno is another brave lady like Athena. Super enjoys checking out new things.
Aurora
Pronunciation: “A-roar-A”
Breed: Golden Laced Wyandotte
Culture: Roman
Meaning: Goddess of the Dawn
Reason: Aurora is going to be a beautiful lady. Her feather pattern reminds us both of the sun at dawn.
We’re super excited to get them to their new coop. They’re not fully feathered until around 8 weeks, but we ended up keeping them inside a week longer. Both because assembling the coop was WAY harder and time consuming than we expected AND Iowa weather has been pretty poopy lately. Extra rainy, making it hard to paint, and extra cold, risking a shock to our ladies if temps dip to low. It’s June and we had temps in the low 40s, what is that?
Stay turn for next blog post will be on the arduous quest to build out the coop and getting these ladies out to their chicken McMansion!