My Third Chicken Painting

 

Lydia and some friends jumped at the opportunity to attend a "Paint Your Pet"

art workshop on Wednesday evening. It was a full class of 20 people.

Lydia chose a selfie photo to paint a portrait of Chickadee who died in

February 2020. Chickadee was a beautiful big Rhode Island Red hen.

Lydia chose to draw the outline of her painting on canvas using the grid method.

Two coats of background acrylic paint was applied to the canvas.

The first layers of colour was painted on the chicken outline.

Tools of a budding artist: the paint pallet, brushes and water. 

More layers of painted detail develop.

More shading was applied to the Chickadee painting. Lydia found the

hen's wattle and beak the hardest to paint, so the teacher helped out.

Lydia was proud of her painting efforts after a few hours of tuition.

The final painting. Chickadee's iris in her eye

was outlined using a black fine liner pen.

Lexi on the Log

From left to right: Bianco, Lexi on the log, Coco and Speckles

hang out in the pen. Bianco looks so small compared to Lexi

because Bianco is a bantam leghorn breed.

Lexi stands tall on the log with Coco and Speckles below.

There's a lot of feathers and fluff on the ground due to recent moulting.

Speckles is the boss of the flock.

Half sisters Speckles and Frenchy have been our pets for 4 years.

Speckles' comb is bright red as she's still a laying hen.

Frenchy looks old. She's still slowly moulting and off the lay.

Lexi stands on the log in a relaxed fat pose.

Lexi stands on one leg.

Lexi looks to the side.

Lovely leghorn Lexi on the log.

(That sounds like a tongue twister!)

Lexi's comb is extra floppy due to the cold winter weather.

The spikes on her head and neck are where she's growing new feathers.

Easter Antics

The girls hang out at Easter, except for Frenchy who's nowhere to be seen.

From left to right: Speckles, Lexi, Coco and Bianco.

Frenchy stands under a tree with three of the flock in the background.

On Good Friday, Coco only had four tail feathers left because of moulting.

Coco lost all her tail feathers by Easter Sunday.

Coco looks scruffy during the moulting process.

Lexi and Bianco hang out.

Big chicken and little chicken, both white leghorn hens.

Lexi's lovely new feathers are growing quickly.

She's half grown a new tail.

Lexi is growing tiny new feathers on her face.

Lexi, Frenchy and Speckles relax under the outdoor wooden table.

Happy Easter from the Happy Hens!

Lexi's Big Moult

Lexi started moulting in mid-March and quickly lost a lot of feathers.

We've never had a hen do moulting so bad!

The yard is covered in white feathers and it looks

like someone has had a pillow fight outside!

You can see the new feather spikes on Lexi.

Lexi is uncomfortable sitting down with all her new feather spikes.

Lexi stands under the outdoor wooden table.

Bianco pokes her head around the table leg in the background.

Lexi finds it hard to get into the Taj Mahal coop with minimal wing feathers

to help her balance up the coop ramp. Instead, Lexi sometimes chooses

to sleep in the A-frame tractor coop which is closer to the ground.

Coco watches Lexi who prepares to sleep solo.

Lexi's spikes look like mini paint brushes as they grow into new feathers.

Lexi Starts Moulting

Lexi started moulting at the beginning of autumn.

Lexi dropped white feathers all over the yard.

Lexi is getting a bald batch on her breast.

Lexi looks scruffy with her loose feathers sticking out.

Lexi loses energy when she moults.

A nesting box full of Lexi's moulted feathers.

The Flock

The five hens sit close together.

Pictured from front to back: Frenchy, Lexi,

Bianco (on left), Speckles (on right) and Coco.

The girls hang out in the corner.

The hens chill out and Lexi takes a nap with her head under her wing.

Sleepy time.

The fab four. Bianco, Frenchy, Coco and Lexi in the grass.

Speckles is not in the photo because she's in the coop laying an egg.

Frenchy takes the lead in the procession, with Coco close by,

followed by Speckles and Bianco. Where's Lexi?!

The Pecking Order

Speckles, with her characteristic fluffy face, is 'the boss'.

Speckles became the 'top hen' after Chickadee died in March 2020.

On 16/10/2021, Speckles and Coco fought for top spot in the pecking order.

Coco came off second best, even though she'd prefer to be the boss!

Lovely and large Lexi is a calm, cruisy hen in third place in the pecking order.

Lexi is quite independent and she doesn't like fuss and bother amongst the flock.

Frenchy has gone down two runs in the pecking order since

Lexi and Coco arrived. Frenchy is fourth in the pecking order.

Little, timid Bianco, who scares herself sometimes

she's that nervous, is at the bottom of the pecking order.