Many people probably think we spend most of our time vibe-coding or hanging around on Discord. Not so! This weekend we awoke at the crack of dawn to make the 2 hour drive to the Green Hill Farm spring FarmFest and poultry swap in Sharpsburg, Maryland.
We went for five chickens. Instead we came back with six, and a story.
We were making good time and arrived shortly after 8:30am. The website said early bird entry would begin at 9, with general admission an hour later. But when we arrived, the signs said 8am early-open and 9 for the general public.
First thing we saw was an emu running around the yard, free range. Wanted to ask what happened to Doug, but we were in a hurry.
It’s a good thing we got there with some time to spare. Past years we found that supplies of laying age hens and even pullets were short. Not so this year – at least for us.
Because most of our flock was destroyed by varmints last spring, we were not being picky about breeds. Found the first vendor selling birds and saw they had a sign for Wyandottes. I had wanted maybe one of those, an Orpington, and a Cochin. But, in fact, they did not have any left. However the price was right so I got an black Easter-egger and a red Amaraucana instead – both known to lay beautiful blue-green eggs.
We were lucky to get these birds for $25-30 each. Some stalls were selling fancy breeds for $50-75 each, which is what we saw a year ago. Don’t get me wrong, these were lovely birds, but outside our budget when we had to re-flock. They had Silkies and other fancy breeds.
Found another family selling in the same range as the first who had white Reeses and green-black Sumatras. Bought one of each and proceeded back to the car to transfer them to cat carriers, where we’d hope they’d be a bit more comfortable.
This is where things get interesting. The Sumatra got loose on me and hid under the car. Couldn’t root her out, and we we finally did, she skittered off to a clump of brush, thorny bramble, and old scrap wood nearby. Well, that bird was probably gone now.
Alara ran off to find some feed so we could try to lure it out. That didn’t work. We quibbled for a bit, then we went back to the show to buy two more birds before they were all gone. We bought the last Sumatra from that same family as well as a bird labelled “red hen” who was almost certainly either a Rhode Island Red or the sex-linked kind you get as chicks from the Tractor Supply.
I told her as, watch, as soon as we buy this replacement, we’ll end up getting the other one back too. And… we did. Just half an hour later with the help of at least a half a dozen people who surrounded the thicket and helped us flush her out.
I got pretty scraped up. Cut the back of my hand on something in that pile of wood, so I’m glad I’ve had my tetanus shots.
If you’re one of those kind-hearted strangers who braved the pricker bushes to help us, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Thus, Harriet Hendini was the first one to get her name.
We secured out flock and did a few rounds inside the fair. Alara bought a cookie she saved for later and got a free bottle of milk to go along with it that I drank before we made it back to the car. No fancy soaps this year. I did take a few photos, so maybe I’ll add those here later.
Total price including $30 admission, $5 for a cookie, plus the birds was just shy of $200 total. So, about $33 per hen.
They even laid an egg in the car on the way home and another one shortly after. We’re well on our way to becoming egg-billionaires once more.
So, without further ado, here’s the roster for this years flock of The Hampden Hens! Are the names a little bit randy and a whole lot of cringe? Yes, yes they are – and that is half the point.
Short-names in bold+underlined:
- Harriet Hendini: black Sumatra, escape artist
- Saranaru Jaakuna Futago: black Sumatra, extra-evil twin
- Kekko Kamen Rider: white Reese, lays small white eggs
- Echiko Hentai: Rhode Island red
- Hen-tickle Prawn: red Americauna
- Hennessey Black: black Easter-egger
- and Bitsy: black bantam, flock elder, survivor
