chickens

One of the things that I enjoy most is adding "babies" to my flock. Out of the group of chickens that I first got last year, all buff orphingtons, I have one hen and two roosters left. Yes, two roosters... and only because I gave one away recently. I had 3 hens but a few weeks ago some animals decided that was two too many and "helped me" by trimming it down a bit. Jack is my head rooster, so named because he seems to have to drunken mannerisms of Captain Jack Sparrow, and is about as romantic with his hens, doing a sideways circle "dance" around them before grabbing them by the neck feathers and having his way with them. He keeps them safe though, and is very attentive, even to Lola. Lola is my other rooster, who was supposed to be a hen. As it turned out, he did "walk like a woman and talk like a man". He also has the unique ability to survive, despite having almost been eaten and having half of his feathers plucked out twice. Miss Idgie Threadgoode is my last remaining hen from my first flock. The same day the other two hen disappeared, she went broody for the first time, which delighted me. I hurriedly added a clutch of eggs that I was given by a friend to her single egg and am very happy to report that last week she hatched out her own egg, as well as 10 others from the added clutch. She has been such a good mommy and it is amazing to see her care for her babies and show them how to be chickens. I had only gotten day old chicks before, but am looking forward to hatching my own from now on (with the help of Miss Idgie or an incubator of course). In march, I got 64 day old chicks of several different breeds. They include Easter Eggers (which is a mixed breed that most hatcheries call Ameraucanas or Araucanas. Both are purebred and for the most part only very few breeders actually have them. What hatcheries have are almost always Easter Eggers, which are wonderful chickens and I love them), Speckled Sussex, Red Star, Buff Orphingtons, Brahmas, White Wyandottes, Golden Laced Wyandottes, White rocks, Barred Rocks, Turkens, New Hampshires reds, and Rhode Island Reds. Of these, approximately 50 are roosters. Only a few buff orphingtons and a few Easter eggers are hens. The rest will be for meat. They are about 13 weeks old now and look just like mini adult chickens. Some of the guys have made feeble attempts to crow, which sounds ridiculous, and is adorable. The babies are kept in a hoop coop chicken tractor, made from pvc to make it light enough to move around the field. They free range during the day and are put back and locked up at night. Jack and Lola keep an eye on them for me. Miss Idgie is still in lock up in her broody pen, which is an area blocked off in the main chicken coop. I want to keep her and the little babies safe until they can get around better. I never knew how much fun keeping chickens would be. They each have their own little personalities and I can honestly spend hours (mostly unintentional... but I get distracted easily) watching them. I'm looking forward to having fresh eggs again soon! Not only have I decided against buying eggs at the store, but I am spoiled and store bought eggs just don't taste as good, nor are they as healthy. You are what you eat, and that goes for chickens too. Most store bought eggs come from chickens that have been raised in small battery cages that have been fed nothing but commercial feed, containing animal byproducts and things chickens really shouldn't eat. They can't stretch their wings, let alone walk around or act like... well, like a chicken. They have no access to greens (yes chickens eat grass and stuff! Who knew?!) or bugs. Even "cage free" eggs are from chickens that are raised in huge warehouses where they never see the light of day and are wing to wing with other chickens and up to their knees in their own... well, I just don't want to eat store bought eggs. If you do you should look for "Pastured" or "Free Range" eggs. Preferably pastured, because many the term "free range" is being abused and many companies are finding a way around actually letting their chickens see the light of day anyway. If using the true sense of the phrase, they are let outside to forage for at least part of the day and eat a more varied diet. It is easy to tell the difference just by looking at the yolk color. My chicken eggs have a rich yellow.orange colored yolk, where a store bought eggs has a very pale yellow to almost whitish colored yolk. The difference comes from them eating a more varied diet including things that have a high beta carotene content. Yet again, some companies are putting marigold extract, among other things, in the feed to turn the yolks a deep shade of yellow to fool people. As easy as it is to care for chickens, even in small yards in the city, I think it should be something more people should consider. It really is enjoyable, and rewarding. They can even be living composters, eating fruit and veggie scraps and giving you the richest fertilizer anyone could ask for AND its natural rather than using chemicals. I can't say enough good things about keeping chickens! :)