• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to after header navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
Charm City Cook

Charm City Cook

Food is good

  • Q&A
  • Blog
  • Baltimore
  • Newsletter
  • Contact
  • Recipes + Cooking
  • Restaurants
  • Baltimore
  • Inspiration
  • Travel
  • Farmers Market
  • Baker’s Dozen

baltimore chickens: life in the coop

October 25, 2011 by Amy Langrehr

drama in the coop…

we’ve had a few lineup changes. as the ‘girls’ approached five months, things really got interesting! first, gertie [ameraucana] started to CROW! oy, it was out of nowhere and…it was loud. she [well, he…] was quickly taken back out to the country where that sorta behavior is a-ok. my neighbors have been so nice, so i wanted to make sure we had no more early morning wake up calls.

i had long suspected gertie was a rooster, due to the fact that he was always ‘odd man out’ from the other three…they wanted nothing to do with him. when i dropped him off, i was actually sad. gert had been my fave…the prettiest, easiest, sweetest. and would have laid blue/green eggs…the whole thing was a bummer.

coming home in gertie’s place, was edith. she’s brown and quite beautiful. and a total spaz – and afraid of everything, everyone. i think once she gets more used to her new city home, i think she’ll be more fun and saucy.

here’s edith. thinking she might go by ‘edie.’

when i brought edith home, clara [very bossy rhode island red] became quite aggresive and wouldn’t leave edith alone for a second. i scooped edith up and put her in a separate area to catch her breath. tried again the next day and it was even more dramatic. so, i called an old friend in my hometown who is a more experienced chicken keeper and she was willing to take her. we’ll see what happens. when i left clara in kingsville, she was doing fine. my friend emailed me recently to say she suspects clara might be a clarence. we will see.

now…in clara’s place [man, this is like menudo or something…], comes agnes. only took me twenty minutes to catch her – i thought that was pretty good. i wonder how long it took rocky. what a workout. here’s agnes:

with all of these changes, my girls dottie and millie are being pretty good. a few little chases and intimidating ‘i was here FIRST!’ sorts of actions…but nothing too scary. edith might have a different take on that…

so, it’s one day at a time here on my little urban farm. they’re keeping me on my toes fer sure. henry, my 4 yr old yellow lab, is also rolling with the punches. he’s been quite sweet, actually. what a good dog. here is a photo i will cherish…me with henry and gertie.

i’m hoping that dottie and millie will start laying soon. right now, they’re investigating the nesting boxes.

gotta be patient, hon.

Category: Baltimore, Inspiration

About Amy Langrehr

Collaborator, cook, writer, Baltimorean

Previous Post:my favorite beef stew
Next Post:Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. lesleyap

    October 25, 2011 at 10:36 pm

    Love the photo at the end. You look so happy.

    Reply
  2. Rob Ferguson

    October 31, 2011 at 2:17 pm

    That is the CUTEST photo of you, the dog, and the chicken. Love your blog!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent Posts

Copyright © 2025 · Charm City Cook · All Rights Reserved