Three years ago I took my family to a poultry swap and show. I told my sons that they could each pick out a chicken. My oldest son selected two silkies (one is never enough!) Jacob, then six years old, spotted a bright-eyed white hen and said, “This one.” I was worried. She had a different look than the other chickens. Something lively, something mischievous. Nothing like the sweet and placid Silkies that we already had in the car. Still, my son insisted, so we took her home and named her Snowball. For three years, now, we’ve collected her little eggs. White Leghorns lay white eggs and we’ve always described hers as such. But now we have two new White Leghorns, Egger and Betsy Ross. They lay little eggs, too. Theirs, though are truly white. Here  is a photo for comparison. The egg on the left is Betsy’s. The one in the middle is Snowball’s, and the one on the right is from one of our large brown hens. So, yet again, Snowball proves that she is a little different. She doesn’t even lay eggs the right color for her breed.

The Name The Chicken Contest continues! I think that I’ll have to get more hens just to use the wonderful names that you are sending in! The contest closes on Wednesday, May 23. I’ll announce the winning name on this blog.