Just a few weeks before 4 of the chickens were killed by a Great Horned Owl, we met a new friend coming through Galena, Mark Swenson. He is a missionary pilot flying kids to and from bible camp this summer. Yes, you heard right, in AK lots of kids fly to and from bible camp escpecially here in the bush. Mark stayed overnight with us and he shared with us how his family has chickens too. They have a much larger operation than we do and it was interesting to hear all about it. We said our good-byes the next day and wished them safe travels along the way. Well, after we lost the 4 chickens he was the first person who came to mind as we considered how we could get some replacement chickens. We called to find out if they even had any available and at the end of the phone call Chris and Mark had it all figured out how to get our 4 new chickens from Soldotna to Galena. He would be flying kids home from camp and possibly refueling in Galena, or he'd be able to pass the birds to someone else stopping in Galena. Wow! How amazing is that? The chickens actually arrived the same day as the barge. What an exciting day!!!
We have finally decided on names for all the chickens. The first bird at the top was Sylvia. She is a Rhode Island Red chicken. Sylvia is very calm and lets anyone hold her. This striped chicken is Zebra (Zeb-ruh) and she is a Plymouth Barred Rock Chicken. She is friendly but doesn't like the kids to hold her much. Sylvia and zebra are about a year and a half old and laying eggs already. Fresh eggs are pretty exciting. They've adjusted well moving in with the surviving twins which we named Rosie and Roux. We made an upgrade to the outdoor enclosure adding a net over the top to keep out any future flying predators. I guess we need to call it the Kopp Bird Sanctuary now.
This little black chicken is the youngest. We named her Mary Jane and she is a cross between a Black Copper Maran and an Ameraucana. She is such a cutie and probably the kids favorite. The other chicken in the pic below is Alice. She is really pretty and called a Norwegian Jaerhorn. They have been living in the laundry room and will be moving outside soon to their own separate enclosure til they are bigger. We don't want the bigger chickens picking on them.
Yep, you guessed it. Preston with our first fresh egg.
2 comments:
That is great. Did you make scrambled eggs and share them with the first eggs you got?
I love Preston's hair cut by the way. I see ya'll decided on a length you all like? I know he is loving having the eggs to help you get. Glad you are now in the business and getting eggs. So did you end up with any roosters? Enjoy! Glad to get the update on them.
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