The chicken crew.

Well, Tom and I got a lot done this weekend!  I did some spring cleaning and he made good headway on the chicken coop. Good thing too, those little feathery bundles grow fast - they basically just eat, sleep, drink and poo.  And they do a lot of it.  We have our doubts on one - since they're all named after classic female country artists, "pat" aka "Cash" will either be a June or a Johnny, depending on the gender.  They all have feathers, some have tail feathers and all are beginning to make flights around the chicken bin.  They are seriously fast growers.  As far as names and personalities - a short rundown:

Loretta (Golden Laced Wyandotte) is the smart one and the one voted "most likely to escape from the yard".  You can seriously see her thinking - she knows when the chicken wire cover is off the bin and starts planning her escape.  Case in point - when cleaning the cage yesterday, I put them in their normal temporary box.  Loretta immediately flew/hopped up to the edge and perched - none of the others did that!  But she won't get in the mix when the others are feeding in a group - she likes to stay to the side and wait for her turn.  She's also the smallest, probably because of this.
Dolly (Light Brahma) is the scared one - screams like a ninny when you pick her up.  But she's fuzzy and cute and will come around.  She's a great eater!  Her black and white feathers were the last feathers to show up, but they are very pretty.  She's just so soft.
Cash (Johnny/June) (Easter Egger) is the mystery "Pat" one - not really dominant, but a great eater and BEEFY!  Grew feathers first in every way and has some sturdy legs (a possible sign of being a roo). 
Minnie (Easter Egger) - started out as my favorite and still may be - she's 2nd most aggressive in the food area, and she may turn out to be pack leader overall. She has a speckled head and is a bit obsessed about the stick I use to flick poo out of their food trough.  I almost called her Kitty because it was like she was chasing a string around.
Dottie (Speckled Sussex) is my most aggressive when getting to the food.  She's also very energetic.  I feed them out of my hand sometimes and Dottie is the FIRST to arrive.  She even comes over to inspect when I'm just filling food or changing water. 

Dolly

Minnie

Dottie, Loretta and Cash, left to right. 

So, that's the rundown on the chickens.  Ellie loves them - we get them out and hold them for her - she licks them and whines.  I think (hope) this is because she likes them, not wants to eat them.

On another note, we leave for Denmark the end of this week!  We are very excited, of course - we are going with Tom's parents and it should be a fantastic trip.  We are looking up some of my mother-in-laws distant relatives in North Jutland (far northern reaches of Denmark).  We've never been to Scandinavia, so we're looking forward to it.  Tons of great seafood, not to mention Danish pastries - YUM YUM!  Taking my running shoes so I can feel like superwoman at sea-level, hehe.  Check back for blogs, as I usually try to update it nightly, or at least every other night while on vacation.