Blackbeak

Blackbeak came from my co-worker who loves chickens, too. She had an accidental breeding with a Mille Fleur D'Uccle and an English Game Hen, which resulted in a tiny but outgoing bird that followed her around. She named her after a character in "The Good Dinosaur," Debbie.

Blackbeak (who never had a black beak, but kids pick what they want) left our backyard coop in town for almost a year. We thought she died, but after being missing for a month, she suddenly showed up one day, cheerfully eating our yard plants. Over the next few weeks, we'd see her pop in every few days. I saw her hop the 6ft with ease. Then, she disappeared again for months. I was sure she'd died this time as she over-wintered outside our yard. Right before we moved to the new property, I heard rustling in some ivy on my neighbor's side of the fence and then flapping. She had jumped to the top of the 8ft privacy fence and hopped into the yard. She walked around the other chickens and me like she'd never left. To our surprise, she was still there the next day. I checked on the coop at night, and we found she had knocked off the cardboard I'd taped over the coop rafters. She had been roosting up there before she left the first time, which resulted in her pooping on the other chickens. Apparently, she'd been dissatisfied with her housing arrangements the whole time. Now that she had fixed the situation, she was happy to be home. I was very relieved that we managed to catch her and bring her to the farm.

She's a brave and inquisitive chicken. She's tiny, smaller that some 6 week old chicks. I'm amazed that her eggs are normal bantam sized. Given her size, I would have expected them to be almost quail sized!