FRIEND OF the FEATHERED
It's not exactly like Santa Claus shouting out the names of his reindeer before they take off, but there is something magical about the way 12-year-old Kelly Myhre calls her 13 chickens.
"Chick-a, Chick-a, Chick-a," she shouts in rapid succession as the baker's dozen of hens come racing toward her as it their feathers are on fire.
Kelly can often be seen relaxing on the deck petting one of the hens.And don't rub your eyes or do a double take if you happen to drive by the Rick and Stephanie Myhre home three miles south of Minneota and see Kelly and a chicken she calls Linda, going on a bike ride together.
"Some of them like to ride bike," she says while flashing an endearing smile. "And some like to swing."
Kelly has named each of her 13 feathered friends, and even though some of them look exactly alike, she can rattle off their names without blinking.
"They fall asleep when she pets them like that," her mother tells. "She really loves taking care of the chickens."
As Wyatt, Kelly's 15-year-old brother (Kaden, 17, is her other sibling), throws a handful of oats on the ground, Kelly explains that the hens eat in a "pecking order".
"They know who eats first and it goes on down the line as to who eats second and third," she explains as she points to Joan Jett, the lone bird running around while the other 12 are snacking on the oats.
Joan Jett, a Golden Lace Polish hen, was named because her dark feathers appear like hair on a punk rocker.
"We have to cut her feathers like you would cut someone's hair," said Stephanie. "Otherwise, she can't see and will runs into a tree or the car or something like that."
"She is the last one in the pecking order," Kelly says. "That's why she isn't eating right now."
The pecking order is best explained as a natural process that chickens have to work out among themselves.
This order of social dynamics determines the status of individual birds of a flock and their roles.
The pecking order has an influence on many chicken activities such as feeding, drinking, egg laying, and roosting.
The higher-ranking chickens get to eat more while the lower-ranking hens usually wait or move out of the way until the higher-ranked hens have had their fill.
Chickens with higher status in the pecking order get to choose where they will roost, leaving the other chickens to take whatever roosts are left.
"The hens average laying around 250 eggs a year," said Wyatt.
Some of the hens aren't laying anymore, though,
"You can tell the ones that are laying more eggs by their combs," Stephanie remarked. "If they are laying more eggs, their combs will be more vibrant red."
The hens recognize their name when Kelly calls them. She has had a hand in raising them since they were a day old.
Opal is the leader of the flock, or more like the Mother Hen.
"The rooster is usually the leader, but we don't have any roosters here anymore," Kelly noted. "So Opal acts like the rooster and watches out for the others."
"Opal waits outside the coop until all the others have gone inside," Kelly said, again sporting a wide grin. "She always goes in last."
Besides Opal and Joan Jett, the other hens are named Linda, Topaz, Sunny Side Up, Wendy, Annie, Barbie, Betsy, Karen, Lily, Lola and Daisy. Among them, there are 10 different breeds and they range from 1-4 years old.
The coop was transformed from a typical backyard shed. On the front of it, the sign reads Chick Inn. And on the side where the hens enter is a sign reading "Last one in is a rotten egg."
After all the hens have entered the coop each night, Kelly gathers the eggs and then leaves the hens with a parting message.
"I always tell them 'Nighty, night; sleep tight ... don't let the raccoons bite," she laughs, referring to a common predator of a hen.