Melvin PeepPeep Speck Spike

My new baby...Ooops! Shakira's new baby is such a cutey! He stays right beside Shakira. They spent hours kicking up hay and pecking bugs! Yum! While they were snacking, I took the opportunity to remove the other 6 eggs that didn't hatch. She didn't seem bothered by this.

Later in the day, I stumbled across a pile of eggs in the bushes. I think Chrissy and Ruby had been stockpiling their eggs together. I moved the pile of eggs to the henhouse...19 in all.

Cora Bell has no desire to be a mother.

Tonight, when I went back to the henhouse to make sure everyone was tucked in and safe, I found Miss Shakira perched on top of that pile of 19 eggs. Melvin PeepPeep Speck Spike was snuggled beside her peeping happily.

Ruby is the smallest but the toughest!

Several of you asked how Shakira got her name. When I first got chickens, I waited until they were older to name them. That way, I knew if they were boys or girls and knew a little about their personalities. Cora Bell was a dingy chick from the get-go. She was named after a girl I knew in high school. Ruby got her name because of her red feathers. Plus, she's a spitfire! If she could have a sex change, she'd be completely happy as a rooster! The song by Shakira was out at the time. We were singing it all the time. I imagined Shakira as being somewhat aloof and unflappable. Hence, Shakira got her name.

Shakira is a gorgeous black with green highlights!