This is Silver.

When Silver was born at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, I really needed her to be a girl. I was hatching eggs for other people in our area because there was a shortage of baby chicks, and when Silver was born, she was the shiniest silver I had ever seen. With her little wet feathers, she looked like metal.

“Oh, I’m keeping this one,” I said to Ron. I just need her to be a girl. I think I said out loud “Please be a girl. Please be a girl.” about fifty times when she was a baby. You can imagine my joy when I started to realize she was, indeed, a girl.

Sadly, she was and still is pretty shy and skeptical about me. I try all of the time to win her over–and I am making good progress, so that’s nice. Usually, when some of the chickens would rather keep their distance, I can win them over with food and admiration. You wouldn’t think admiration would work, but it does.

Case in point, this fall, I have experienced two hens showcasing their new feathers to me after their molt. Truly, Silver hardly ever lets me take her picture, and she was fully posing for me this weekend. I could see how proud she was, how happy she was. I made a big deal over her, and she loved it.

And, it was great because I love how I captured a picture of her looking right at me, and you can just see how smart she is. Silver has a lot going on in there. I study chickens quite a bit and probably barely know the half of it. There is a lot of new research coming out about chicken intelligence, and I am both fascinated and thankful.

This is my beautiful hen, Silver, and I am so glad to know her.