I have a new Bantam White Leghorn! She has been named Coco – short for Coconut. Right now she is as white as freshly flaked coconut, but soon, in with the backyard birds, she’ll bathe in the dirt and be brown like the outside of a coconut.

I’ve been looking for another hen that not only had the same physical exterior, but also that same look in the eye as my beloved Snowball. There were more than a dozen little white pullets at the poultry show yesterday:

See the pullet in the first cage? That’s Coco. She won a blue ribbon, but her owner, Brandon, very nicely agreed to sell her to me (I was very persistent!)

Here is Brandon with Coco:

So, thank you Brandon, and also your grandfather, Don, who breeds these gorgeous chickens.

If you are thinking of getting into poultry, go to a show! You’ll get great advice, meet good people and probably fall in love with a breed you weren’t even thinking about. You’ll also be supporting folks like Brandon and Don. “Local Agriculture” is a buzz phrase these days, but poultry shows are the real thing. If you are in the eastern US, then the next big show is the Northeast Poultry Congress , in Springfield, MA, January 18-19. I’ll be there. I might even find a few more hens to bring home.