Bruce or Caitlyn?

Big Bird July 13 @ 14.5 Weeks Old

You all remember the pretty yellow chick? The only one we weren't sure on its gender? Originally that chicken's name was simply "yellow bird" that morphed into Big Bird. But for awhile, Farmer Chris contemplated calling her Bruce / Caitlyn since we were not sure of the gender (reference: Bruce Jenner). My friend, Caroline (the woman, not the dog) refers to this bird as Gertrude.

The Red Ranger breed of chicken was selected by my son. Because he wanted a yellow chicken, not the black ones Mom was picking out! The Black Stars are genetically modified (is that the right word?) so that at hatch, the female chicks are solid and the male birds have a black dot / star on their head. Saves those chicken sexers some extra work and saves those that do not want roosters from getting cockerels.

5 days old, she didn't have a name yet!

So for nearly 23 weeks, we watched. We wondered. We waited. Was Big Bird a boy or a girl? (What about on Sesame Street, I'm not sure that Big Bird was gender specific either, was he / she / it? Hm. Anyway!) So now whatever name you want to call this big, beautiful, size of turkey, can-imagine-it-fried, docile friendly bird...you can call her "ma'am" as I literally saw an egg coming out of her body!

Big Bird at 16 weeks, July 15

And let me tell y'all, about every third egg she lays is HUGE. The egg from yesterday barely fit in the egg carton with the lid closed. My seven-year-old must hold this super egg in two hands! She's given us one double-yoker already and I have a feeling that jumbo egg from yesterday has more than one yolk in it too. I'll find out this afternoon. My son (the junior farmhand / chief ditch digger around here) declared that he wants to eat that egg for snack after school. It's his chicken, he said, he is gonna be the one to eat her eggs. How's that for a pretty awesome pet?!

Big Bird starred in her own little show that depicted this chick's faster growth from week old baby to a teenage pullet. You can check out that fun little minute-long clip here. I know, I'm personally a little obsessed with these awesome little cute feathery food producers but if you wanna see all the chickens in all their glory, be sure to visit our Facebook page for all the fun photo albums. I even have an album just for the chicken cottage construction photos too. :) Enjoy!

My personal note for today:

You can either curse the rain or search for rainbows! ~Ramsey Penegar

Make the most of what you have & love with all your heart!

Cheers,
Ramsey