Well, peace has come over the barnyard (at least until the arrival of my daughter's new doe goat). I was even hit with a sense of pride after all the work I did on Saturday, remaking the coop into a chicken condo. Which means that, given my luck, a rabid badger or a wolverine will make its way down here to devastate things.

I've identified two of the Reds as having distinct personalities, although I'm still having trouble telling them all apart (except for the hen with no nails on either middle toe). Their previous owner banded their legs with a nylon wire tie to indicate they were laying - I may add a color to see if the behavior is consistent.

One of the Reds is more timid than the others. She doesn't show any signs of being pecked upon, although it would certainly be her lot to be at the bottom of the pecking order. She's always the last one out of the coop, and the first one to retreat back to the coop from outside when the goats start to gambol and frolic. In every sense of the word, she's a chicken.

The other is just the opposite. She's the first one out of the coop when I open up the doors in the morning. She's also the first one to jump up and perch on the goat gate when I close them up for the night, and doesn't seem to mind the obligatory petting I give them when they do that. And she's always wandering off on her own, and a couple of times I've found that she has somehow made her way into the tack room. She also knows she can get out through the openings in the goat fence and frequently ventures out of the barnyard. The other day, when Cleo the barn cat was sauntering through the yard, this hen took off toward her at a dead run, flapping her wings until Cleo ran to safety.

My wife thought I should name the four Reds after famous redheaded actresses, which I probably would if I could tell them apart more. Until then, I am using the name "Lucy" to describe the bold hen (and I'm hoping that all of these incidents are from the same one). A trip to Radio Shack for some colored wire ties may confirm this after a while.

I'm thinking, though, that for a few weeks I have a physical marker for Lucy now. The other day the Reds were lined up on the goat gate, waiting for me to close them up, and Clark the goat came up to look at them. The Hen Suspected Of Being Lucy had her back to the goat, and Clark took a mouthful of tail feathers and started to chew. Before I could stop him, he turned his head and pulled like he was trying to pull leaves off of a tree. THSOBL was pulled off, squawking, and an alarmed Clark let her go. So now her tail feathers look blunted, like they've had the tips cut off.

(In the meantime, I've noticed that when the Reds stay in the coop during the day, they sit on the perch I built inside and not on the goat gate. Now I know why.)

In chick news, they all seem to be enjoying their spacious new digs. The other day they were settling down to sleep when one of the Red Sex Links did the chicken equivalent of a cannonball into the middle of them, getting them all upset. They seem to be getting along with the Reds, although when one of them did a curious peck at the chicken wire, it raised shrieks of protest from the little ones.

There are a couple of personalities developing in the chicks, too. The Red Sex Links seem to be boisterous and competitive. The RIR I suspect will be a rooster (it has fewer, larger tines on its comb than the other RIR's - or any of the other pullets, for that matter) seems to do a lot of challenging. And one Wyandotte that my daughter dubbed "Jean-Bob" because she could tell her apart from the others (Jean-Bob's head was much darker than the others) is another one that does a lot of neck-stretching, feather-ruffling and other forms of assertiveness.

It's also gratifying to see them flock toward me when I come toward their area to feed them. I guess they've bestowed me with the High Chickenic title of Brings Food Man.

So now the big thing is waiting for the eggs. Come on, girls...