I started with 7 sweet hens, well 6 sweet, one little pecker. Update - we lost Bells in Jan 2017 to a hawk. So we now just have 6 sweet little hens. I was very sad, felt terrible about it, but if there was a chicken to lose, Bells would be my pick. The little flock is very mellow now. I asked them if they actually put out hit on Bells and paid off the hawk as she was a bit aggressive with the other chickens. It took a while before the girls would go back out into the garden and they stopped laying eggs for a while. In April we added netting over the garden area and now the girls can free range happily again.
I picked them up them in Mach 2016 from Shiptons Big R. Its my first time with chickens and I have been surprised by how social they are and how much personality they each have. Here are some pics of the girls.
To learn more about the Rustic Roost please go to my coop page at: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/sweet-peas-rustic-roost
Harvest 2017 Pictures:
Ginger - Easter Egger - green eggs
Ginger is my sweetest girl. As a chick she was the most elusive, but as a chicken she is the first to want to be rubbed and held.
Pumpkin - Easter Egger - green eggs
Slightly more elusive than her sister, but adventurous, she follows me wherever I go. As a chick she pecked very hard when hand fed. I named her pumpkin because the vine is very prickly.
Pumpkin was very proud to perch on the top of the garden fencing
Pumpkins first egg
Playing in the compost pileBells - a.k.a. Shamu - Barred Rock - brown eggs - lost to a hawk attack Jan 2017.
Bells is at the top of the pecking order, has been from the moment we brought her home. She is my little pecker. Constantly pecking my leg when I am out with them. She follows everyone looking for snacks and jumps for her food, hence her nickname of Shamu. She has done this since she was a chick. She is best friends with our dog and follows her as well, which the dog does not really enjoy, but Bells knows that the dog gets snacks too and will steal an apple slice if given a chance.
Bells was always the first to roost, first to try new things and the first to lay an egg.
Bells and Sweet Pea enjoying a jack o lantern
Bells following Bailey around the yard.
Bells trying out the new chicken swing, and hating it.Sweet Pea - Barred Rock - brown eggs
Sweet Pea was the easiest chick to catch, she actually would run to us for cuddles and would sit on my shoulder. Later we found out that she is partially blind so i hand feed her treats to make sure she gets some. She still runs straight to us when we go out and typically roost on my feet while I garden. Of course because she doesn't see so well she usually runs into our legs.
First day in the new coop, Sweet Pea's Rustic Roost.
Daisy - Australorp - brown speckled eggs
Daisy is the only Australorp. She is a great chicken, she is the mediator of the group, she is the only one that Bells will not peck and she does not peck anyone. She is also the hardest to catch. She follows me put if I try to touch her she runs all the way back into the coop, not just a few feet away, she commits to run all the way back every time. She is the only one of my girls to molt this year, poor thing looked awful for a while.
molting pics. Poor girl.
Checking herself out in the new mirror.Lily - Buff Orpington - Pinkish brown eggs
Lily moved straight up to the top of the pecking order from the bottom when we lost Bells. She is very independent and broody more often than she isn't. She was the first one to walk all the way from the coop and garden area over to the front door of the house. She often leads the other out to free range out of the garden. She was the last one to start laying eggs and insisted on not using the nest boxes. I built her a new box more to her liking based on her hang out spots and she finally began using them.
Lily cursing up to the front door of the house. She sat on the welcome mat for a while, but she never did knock. 
Sunbathing
Hanging out with mom. Sweet girl.
Rosie - Buff Orpington - Pinkish brown eggs
Rosie is my second biggest pecker and really hates being handled and runs away if you try to rub her. But she has always loved the camera so I have gotten some funny pics of her.
Playing in the compost Thinking better of playing in the snow
Ahh dust baths, thats the stuff.
Cute chic pics
The last three pics are in the temp coop I built in a corner of the garage after they out grew their brooder. The middle pic is Sweet Pea meeting our dog nose to nose for the first time. She pecked her.
