Additions

It's come to pass, just as I suspected- we are now indeed the Abandoned Hens Haven.

Shall I [TM] that? Everyone together now, "AHH, ahhhh."
Just as it began, another of CAM's co-workers (actually her sister, she's just the go-between) has relinquished their remaining 2 birds to make way for a new flock of adorable and teeny Cochins.
So what was in the prize package this time around?
Another Ameraucana and a Jersey Giant pre-named Coco and Pepper, which I immediately decided were beyond stupid and trite and I don't care that pre-schoolers chose them.
Allowing time for their new monikers to present themselves through personality traits seemed reasonable, but that took >24 hrs.
Introducing Queen Latifah and The Other One (TOO).
YES! Of course that's a Grateful Dead reference and was meant to be a temporary tongue in cheek designation, but I keel myself with the funny, so I think it's going to stick. (Tu-tu? She's got some rather large ear tufts resembling a ballerina skirt.)
They've been living at Chez StanMinn for just over a week and seem to be settling in.
We know now (thanks to the Chix Chick) that you are supposed to quarantine new additions prior to integrating them into your residents birds' environs lest disease rear its ugly head and do them all in.
So not too long ago, CAM fixed up what had been the original housing before those lucky ladies moved to their luxurious accommodations into the transitional home/Hen Hospital Hutch.
I'll be honest, it's not ideal.
Especially right now as I sit warm and dry inside knowing they are just getting pelted by this precipitation that will.not.quit.enough.already!
However, it is an upgrade from the tiny urban mud pit from whence they came, and again, only for a short period of time until they get the all clear to tear the hell out of the grander land mass we try to call a back yard.
There's a double perimeter fence for extra protection and we even have to change out our footwear and clothing between coops so as not to transmit any potential ick.
They are laying, but it was evident their need for supplements of calcium, protein and 'salad' (grass and worms.)
TOO still has some problematic shells, but that's quickly being remedied.
As with all chickens, they've made a muck of the space in no time, thus necessitating the first of many straw layers.
Fancy scratch and cantaloupe scraps had them clucking happy sounds, but it also brought out the beast in QL; she scary!
Also, Huge.
She will dwarf Large Marge and I'm anxious to see how the pecking order all plays out.
These two have only known one another and lived with the other for the last year b/c a nasty city coon got to their 2 sisters, but as I've witnessed, that doesn't count for much when there are treats at stake.
The only time my 4 care about what's happening on that side of the yard is when we are there attending to them.
Of course! Every living creature here presents jealousy- why not the chickens?
And the newbies don't seem to particularly notice them either, which is why integration is making me nervous.
But I've got 3 more weeks until then. So in the mean time, Welcome to The Sticks!