I suspected Willow was the lead bird, she's a buff Orpington and always the first to run up. But I didn't know for sure, until the Rooster arrived. Hemlock escaped from a hatchery where he was debeaked. He was kept in a cage too small so his tail feathers were chopped off. A woman found him in her front yard, skinny and dehydrated. She scooped him up and took him to chicken run rescue where he was well cared for. But it was right after a tornado had ravaged our city, so the rescue was overcrowded with lost chickens. Hemlock was relegated to an indoor kennel at the Humane Society. I met him there and felt so sorry for him being inside with no sky or dirt. He came home with me, but he's so much bigger than my girls and I am afraid for them.

Willow, lead chicken checks him out...

The next thing Hemlock did upon arrival was take a 2 hour dust bath. Amazing, the guy just kept grunting and squawking and shaking and rolling. Hilarious!