First and Second Place

Michael McLaughlin won first and second place. His first place photo is of a Buff Brahma hen. Michael received a $100 gift certificate as a first place prize.

First place photo by Michael McLaughlin

His second place photo is a Silver Laced Wyandotte hen.  Michael received a $50 gift certificate for second place.

Second place photo by Michael McLaughlin

Michael describes how he took the photos:

Last fall my friend and neighbor purchased a dozen chicks to raise for the eggs. We helped her build a coop in her backyard, and in return we are happy to receive a dozen turquoise, brown and beige eggs each week.

The chickens often wander free around our rural neighborhood, and as an amateur photographer I like to keep an eye out for when they make their way into interesting settings. One day I found the hens descending one at a time down a small slope with dew-sparkled branches in the background. As the Buff Brahma carefully stepped down the hill I captured her using my trusty Nikon D90 at f5.6 and shutter speed of 1/100 of a second.

Not long after that I found them clustered around a bird feeder snacking on spilled seed. I liked the way the Silver Wyandotte looked against the Silver Beech tree and took this shot – also at f5.6, but given the brighter light used a faster shutter speed of 1/400 of a second.

Third Place

Lynda Alerding won third place with this photo of a Silver Laced Wyandotte hen and received as a prize a $25 gift certificate.  The hen in the photo is one that Lynda ordered from the Murray McMurray catalog in 2010.

Third place photo by Lynda Alerding

Lynda tells of how she started raising poultry and tells the story behind the hen in the photo:

We started raising chickens in July 2010, our first order being from your hatchery. I had always wanted a small farm since I was a little girl. Since we only have 2/3 of an acre, chickens were “doable.”  I researched for a year before taking the plunge. We just love our flock.  Chickens are such fascinating creatures.

The chicken in the photo is “Lucky Chicken,” and at the time was only about 4 months old or so. About 6 weeks before this photo of her was taken, a hawk visited the chicken yard.  The juvenile hawk had become trapped in the chicken pen, unable to clear the fence.  We actually had to cover the hawk with a blanket to calm it down.  Eventually it cleared the fence and left.

When all of the chickens came out of hiding, I noticed that the girl in the picture was limping.  I picked her up to see what was wrong and found a puncture hole under each wing, where the hawk’s talons had dug in. I’m guessing the young hawk had tried to carry our little pullet away, but had dropped her.

We made a make shift chicken hospital out of an extra large dog crate and placed  it in our garage.  We flushed our little patient’s injuries with an iodine solution and force fed her antibiotics for a couple of days.  She seemed to be fading, but I kept up with the wound care and brought in one of our smaller pullets who resided at the bottom of the pecking order to keep her company.  Once her little friend came to stay, our injured girl seemed to regain her will to survive and made a miraculous recovery. We named her “Lucky Chicken” because she was indeed that.

Other Photo Contests

To see information and announcements about our other poultry-related photo contests, visit the link below:

2011 Photo Contests