Chicken owners know how utterly charming chickens can be. Others may not realize this. While most chickens initially become part of the family in order to contribute to the home larders in one way or another, they can blithely charm their owners with their quirky and winsome ways. No one was more surprised by this than my husband and I.
If I'd read Lauren Scheuer's Once Upon a Flock: Life With My Soulful Chickens before we got our hens two years ago, I would have known just how wonderful their personalities can be. If my husband had read it, it wouldn't have taken three years to convince him to get chickens. But this delightful romp through Lauren's backyard has only just now hit the bookstore shelves.
If you're contemplating adding backyard chickens to your life, this will make your decision easier. If you already have them, you'll certainly relate to the tales of Lucy, Lil' White, Hatsy, and Pigeon, as well as the family terrier, Marky, who is fiercely protective of the flock. There's plenty of drama, because...well...with animals, there's always drama, right?
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| Lauren Scheuer and Lil' White |
Here's Violet, one of our Silver Laced Wyandottes, and the most friendly member of our own flock. She comes when I call her, she squats in submission for me to pick her up, and she's content to sit on my shoulder. And, for all the times I've held her and been her perch, she's never ever made a "mess" on me. Such a good girl.
As part of the official blog tour for Lauren's new book, I received a complimentary review copy of Once Upon a Flock and her publisher is making a copy available to one of my readers! All you need to do is leave a comment to this blog post, telling me what names you'd give your chickens if you had them, or if you already have chickens, what their names are. Remember, I'll need to contact you if you're the randomly selected winner, so be sure I've got a way to do so.
Be sure to comment by midnight, Friday, March 29th (that's Good Friday), and I'll use Random.org to select a winner from all eligible entries. Giveaway is only for US residents. (Sorry!)
Here are the other stops on the blog tour, where you can have another chance to win a copy of the book:
March 25 Lessons Learned from the Flock
And for the continuing adventures of Lauren's flock, as well as the occasional "Where's Marky?" hide and seek fun, visit Lauren's blog, Scratch and Peck.
I've sent an email your way and need for you to send your mailing address so that your copy of Once Upon a Flock can be mailed! Congratulations! And thanks to everyone who entered! Special thanks to Lauren for her beautiful drawing of Violet and for asking me to be on her Virtual Book Tour!
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The publisher, Atria Books, provided me with a review copy of Once Upon a Flock. The opinions expressed here are my own. There were 47 eligible entries after removing a second comment left by the same commenter and Lauren's initial comment.
"Bejeweled"
49 comments:
Kylee, you've got a lovely way with words. Thank you for being part of my blog tour!
I've ordered Indoor Plant Decor -- can't wait for it to arrive!
The first two chickens I had were a hen and a rooster. The hen was named Pot Pie and the rooster was named Cordon Bleu. After that, I had so many I quit naming them.
Getting the urge to have chickens and bees again, but we don't know if we want to be tied down by the critters.
I love Lauren's blog, I've been reading it for over a year, and I just love all of her illustrations. I would love to win this book! We have 9 ladies, Lacey, Lilly, Maizie, Molly, Juliet, Delilah, Olivia, Sylvia, and Lucy. Thank you!
I am in Australia so don t count me but I have been following the book hop. We are four months new to chickens but love them dearly. The originals were Washington and Breanna. Then one of our movers gave us his rooster and hen - now Silver MacGregor and Obama. Then after the death of Coolie we got Bluey. Our latest younglings are Roosevelt and Freckles Kennedy.
I can't wait to get my hands on this book! I just love Lil White and the gang!! :)
I grew up with chickens and also had a hard time convincing my husband. He now wonders what took him so long!
Right now, we have two coops: The bantams are roo Kip, and ladies Tina, and Sasha. The standards are roo Drumstick (which we lovingly refer to as "Stupid"), and his girls Lacey, Lucy, Ethel, Kung Pao, and Dumpling.
Dumpling will do anything for a bite of your sandwich. :)
When I retire to Idaho I plan on getting some chickens. I would like to start with 4. Theirs names would be: Bluebell, Miss Daisy, Shasta and Miss Nancy(for my mom).
I've just been introduced to your blog and have been truly enjoying it!
Our chickens names are Jilly, Alfie, Whitney and Pippa! We are hoping to add to our flock this year!
I can't wait to see Lauren's new book and chuckle my way through it! :D
Please email me at donnacrystal24@gmail.com or call me at 860-836-6208 when I win! :D thank you! :D
We've got 7, we are adding 28 in about one week...yay! My favorite name right now is Cochi which is what my son calls our beautiful Cochin/Silkie cross. She's the most friendly and loving (and patient with a 4 year old carrying her everywhere he hits) little hen.
When I first got my batch of chickens I was reading "The Help" so my chickens got the names of all the characters from the book. Imagine a chicken named Pascagoula.
I love the portrait of your chicken!
I don't have chickens yet but someday I'd love to!
Chicken Little would be my first chicken - I'd love to read the book!
I have been begging for chickens for three years. I am hoping for a coop this May!
What a nice question to ask! Most chicken lovers gladly share the names of their flock and the reasons. My oldest, a 7 yr old white Silkie is Tessa de Fluff. My two specked sussex are Dash and Dot - hard to tell apart except that Dash used to sport a single white wing feather. My Welsummer is Penelope - definitely "Penny!"
- Susanne (prokscha@alum.mit.edu)
My then 5 year old named our hens Sparkles, Pinky, Cupcakes, Brownie, and Sassy. We are hoping to get more this spring and I can't wait to see which names she will come up with:)
My daughter has had fun naming her chickens other animal names. We have had Turtle, Fish, Cat, Dog, and Penguin.
Love your blog! We have 4 girlz...Jaqueline, Josephine, Lucille & Henny Penny. (Henrietta passed away last summer)
I truly love my girlz...and I am their "treat goddess"!!
...sorry, I forgot to add my email address!
spinnerknitter@aol.com
I have wanted laying hens for a couple years, but haven't convinced the husband yet. I think I would go with flower names--Daisy, Lily, Sunflower, Rose, Zinnia, etc.
Right now we have 3 Speckled Sussexes and 7 mutt red hens. The ones who are named are Chicken Joe (the lone rooster - he is beautiful, and a real sweetie, if you can believe that!), Nilla, Snowy, and Henny Penny.
In the past we had an Allegheny, Cinnamon, Coconut, and Ella Fitzgerald :)
I think I'd name my flock after music. Like, a few names would be Rocky, Country, Jazzy, Rapper, Reggae, Hip Hop, Indie, Classy, Bluesy, Grungie, Techno, etc. :-) Still learning about the whole world of raising chickens, though....so this book would be very welcome!! Love your blog!!!
Our elderly silver-laced Polish hens are Devalia and Darwingia. With 60 birds, not all have names, but the Polish have always managed to stand out. --Gina Covina, gina@laughingfrogfarm.net
Would SO love a copy. Chicken names: Parsley, Olive, Erma, Blueberry, & Beatrix. Best to you!
Kylee and Lauren, I love both your blogs. I love to see our hens get the tributes they deserve. Non-chicken keepers don't know what they're missing. My flock leader is Pickles, her sister is Buffy, and their junior sorority members are Olivia, Ophelia, Grace, Alice and Mimzy. I love them all - and they of course love the treats I bring them.
My husband wasn't the hold out, I was. Then when time came to get chicks ordered, we flipped. Now we have 36 big chickens and an unknown large number of chicks. I can't wait to get my hands on this book, I love reading about other peoples lives with chickens.
My little ladies are 13wks & I have 4 RIR: Charlotte, Ruby, Penny and Rose; 3 Easter Eggers: Caroline, Petunia & Cinnamon; 2 Black Sex-links; Annie & Meg and finally my favorite little darling Maggie. She's a Plymouth Barred Rock.
I love your blog!
You can reach me at fivekidsand3labs@hotmail.com
should be getting my chickens in the next week or so. So excited!
I'm so happy to be introduced to your blog. I'll be back for more chicken love!
Our two Rhode Island Reds are Mickey and Minnie (both hens), and our Ameracauna is Daisy. Yes, my kids had a hand in naming them! They're almost a year old and so much fun.
I have several chickens. My favorites are Chicken Noodle which is a bany turnen. I have Lily, Abigail, Vivian, and Audrey that are my Buffs.
Love reading your blog and this book sounds wonderful!
My girls are: Emma (Buff Orp), Penelope (Ameraucana and ruler of the coop), Pearl (white rock), and Josephine (stately Australorp queen). Next week, nine new chicks arrive!!
Hi Kylee! Chickens really do capture your heart, don't they? We call ours The Spice Girls--Ginger, Nutmeg and Baby Huey (my husband named her!). Thanks for a fun giveaway!
Carolyn
http://www.cowlickcottagefarm.com
I would love to have chickens but I'm torn. I'm not sure I'm ready for another hobby, but I think it would be great. Maybe this book would help make the decision easier (and help convince my hubby). :-) I haven't thought about what I would name them, but I'd probably do some kind of theme. Like names from a show or movie I love.
Amy
Love Lauren's work. My girls were named after my husband and my grandmothers, Ruth, Edith, Pedie and Mildred. Sadly, we lost Ruthie in January. She passed away far too young, just like her namesake.
Very nice blog. I would love to read this book. However, one of my dogs has a strong hunting instinct. If we got chickens I fear their names would be breakfast, brunch, lunch, supper, dinner & snacktime. Luckily I recently discovered a nearby neighbor who has an abundance of chickens & am looking forward to this new source of fresh eggs!
We're getting our first chicks in April and my 4 year old plans on naming them: Emma, Bella, Maggie, Abbie, Hannah and Ava :)
I have one called
Floppy for the comb on her head flops over. But must of mine do not have names thou
here in Cleveland we are allowed chickens but sadly my yard is too small. I'm trying to encourage my neighbour to get a few, though. i had a chicken friend named biscuit when aged three!
I'm looking forward to having my own small flock soon, this book and the illustrations look wonderful! Very glad to have "met you" via the blog tour hop!
Jolene, Mary Alice, Georgia Mae, Ginny Jo, Daisy Belle, Gracie Lou, Pearl Libka, Sister Brigid (patron saint of chickens), Gwyneth Poultry, Napoltreon Bonaparte and Raekwon (these last two are compliments of my college-aged boys who don't care that hens are girls and felt free to use creative "boy" names.). Oh, and Minnie, Omelette and Constance. Our entire neighborhood got to pick names. ;-)
Hi Kylee! Ah yes, chickens! We have had them several times over the years, mostly when the girls were younger. They would start their life in our basement in the spring, when the weather warmed up they moved outdoors. By the time the middle to late summer arrived, they moved into our freezer! Now, if we had chickens, I would name one Georgia, another Queen Latifa, another Percy. We have kept bees also. Even extracted the honey. What a sweet mess.
Love meeting everyone on this blog tour!
The picture of your Violet is amazing! She is so pretty!
I don't have chickens now, but my uncle does and i help him sometimes with his.
I tend to have to see the animal before I name it. Sometimes I go with a theme, or flowers or even gemstones.
I would really enjoy winning a copy of the book, it sounds great!
You have a very nice blog.
cjay (at) iavalley (dot) edu
Pollo, Lu Lu, Izzy, Betty, and Cerise ! Have wanted chickens for a long time...maybe if I win this book it's a sign to finally get them! Thanks and love your blog!
Great info....
I have 6 hens and 1 rooster and looking to expand!!
I started my flock last Spring with four chickens, two Plymouth Rocks (Dixie Chick and Queen Beatrice) and two Red Sextons (Lucky and Rosie). I just finished enlarging their yard and hope to get a few more to add to my flock this year.
I have four hens-Dorothy, Rosie, Jackie, and Goldie! We have had them for exactly a year now.
We live in a complicated world - look at the news. Arrgh.
But when I think about chickens, my heart melts and I am floating on a love cloud, free from stress and in the moment. Keeping chickens is like reading an engrossing book or a bit like watching a fun soap opera. I have been appreciating Lauren's great illustrations, and I love your chicken stories! Thanks for the lift!
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