Bradley’s Chicken Coop

Bradley’s chickens arrived by special delivery in time to spend the Fourth of July in Oysterville. As Farmer Bradley explained to the Vespers crowd during his “Oysterville Moment” on Sunday, he was ready for them. The old coop behind the Andrews Garage had been rehabbed; there was bedding in the next boxes; the water and food supplies were operable; a secure outdoor run had been put in place. Twelve (or maybe thirteen) pullets were expected. But only six arrived.

Not only that. Bradley had been counting on the twelve (or maybe thirteen) pullets to grow into fine egg-laying hens and was hoping for a dozen eggs a day during the season of peak production. It immediately became clear, however, that two of the six pullets have bigger combs, bigger wattle, and a lot of attitude. Roosters for sure. Make that four eggs, max.

Chicken in the Doorway

The chickens, late of Bradley’s sister’s flock, came from Portland. She had twenty-three chickens in her backyard flock and offered Bradley half. Hence the confusion as to the expected twelve (or maybe thirteen). Also, apparently, Bradley had expected more-or-less ordinary, run-of-the-mill chickens. Je said his sister told him the names and then, before he had a chance to take in all that esoteric information, she had to rush back to the city.

Four out of Six

Nyel and I went over to take a look. We admired the coop and the run and waited patiently while the chickens took turns peeking at us through their little fowl-sized door. Finally, they came out into the run and let us look them over. We immediately saw the one Bradley had described as the “big gray ball” and we easily identified the two roosters. We also picked out one that looked like a Rhode Island Red (a great layer from our experience.) But otherwise, we didn’t have a clue.

They were certainly different from other chickens we’ve seen and most were different from one another as well. I especially liked the two (male and female) yellow ones with the fluffy, feathery feet. And there are two black and whites who are already quite striking. They all seemed well aware of their distinctive looks. Talk about struttin’ their stuff!

How fun! And how perfect for Bradley to have designer chickens. They are a definite plus for the village – eggs or no eggs.