Becky came from Blacksmith's Corner, which is a good-sized feed store in Bellflower, a city near Long Beach. We got her on Sunday on our way back from Sunset Beach. The feed store had a pretty good selection of very cute baby chicks, but we wanted to get a chicken that was a bit older so she could hold her own with Jackie and Lisa. I am guessing Becky is between 2 and 3 months old. She's fully feathered, but still pretty small.
As I mentioned in the previous post, Becky is a black sex link. The benefits of sex links are (a) they are supposed to be hardier and (b) you can tell their sex at birth because pullets and roosters have different coloring. Becky has very pretty feathers. She's black with a gold chest, and she has nice black legs as well. It's nice to have a different-looking chicken, just to mix it up a bit. Sex link hens are also known as excellent egg-layers and tend to have lovely personalities. Hopefully, Becky will live up to her genetics.
Unfortunately, Becky can't hang out with her new sisters just yet. She has to stay in quarantine for at least four weeks. This is to make sure she didn't contract any chicken diseases at the feed store. If she is sick, we don't want her infecting Jackie and Lisa. For now, she's living in a stylish chicken tractor, designed and built by well-known chicken architect, Dakota. She stays in the tractor during the day, and at night she sleeps in Jackie and Lisa's old brooder box.
Now, I know what you're thinking: You've told us all about Becky's breed and living situation, but what's she like, you know, as a chicken? Well, so far, she's pretty low key. She still peeps, like a chick, and she's fairly docile--except when you pick her up. She'll get used to being held after a while, I'm sure. I'm excited to watch her grow up and to see what her personality turns out like.
That is an excellent chicken tractor!
My chickens don't like for me to catch them, but they seem to enjoy being held and carried about. They do all come running at top speed when they see me coming, but I suspect they are hoping for treats more than showing their undying affection.