The Chickens of Alpine Springs Ranch

Posted 06/11/12 • Last updated 06/11/12 • 1865 views • 19 comments

It all started with 9 chicks picked up from a friend. 3 Splash Cochin's, 3 Silver Laced Wyandotte, and 3 New Hampshire Red....oh and 2 turkeys but I imagine they'll get their own page.

These chicks were so easy I decided to order 25 from McMurray.

And I had read about Chicken Math but that didn't make sense. You know most people are rational adults and surely nobody needs more than 25 chickens right!?

Of course I wasn't fully prepared for the effects of chick cuteness....careful stop reading now or you too may be infected.

Of course, it was easy to convince hubby we were gonna need a coop.

Those all grew up. Between selling off roosters and a few hens and finding out a friends dog eats chickens (he'd been loose with them all fine for 3 or 4 visits) the flock was reduced to just 7 chickens....well, that wasn't going to work out. Browsing the McMurray website and couldn't get JUST 25 I mean, 50 was a much better bargain right (told hubby we'll just SELL the extras :D )!

I'm really fortunate my own dogs, Australian Shepherds, have never had a problem with ANY of the chickens.

I just love all the colors....its like a kaleidoscope of chicks

So I thought heck, with all the info on BYC and 5 full grown hens who NEVER go broody lets try hatching!

And out of 6 eggs to start (and more to come as you can see there in the incubator!) I got these three precious little ones...my first grand chicks!

Of course just as the hatching got started...my only cochin hen decided she wanted to be a broody:

Luckily I was able to change her mind after a couple weeks but boy was she determined! Got my avatar pic of her though!

As for the next chapter. Just added a couple of silkie roos, and 8 more easter eggers including 5 hens already laying...gonna add some color to that incubator!

Comments (19)

Brandi Leigh 6/11/12 at 3:28pm

Love the last picture! What kind of chicken is that?

BYC Project Manager 6/29/12 at 11:03am

Congratulations, we've chosen one of your chicken pics for the Picture Of the Week. Thanks for posting your chickens to our "My Chickens" pages! You can find more info about our POW here: BYC POW process.

allygb99 6/29/12 at 11:05am

wow, your living the life! i just have 2:(

MelanieR 6/29/12 at 11:17am

Isn't it fun? Started with 4 EEs, got 27 more, gave some away, now "down" to 21. Just ordered another 40... (MUCH better bargain, lol.) I must be stopped.

diggergal 6/29/12 at 11:18am

Cute story, enjoyed reading about your chickens :)

LoriL 6/29/12 at 7:33pm

My Cochin goes broody at the drop of a hat. Take away the eggs, and she'll still find something to sit on--half an apple, a peanut butter sandwich--she sits on any of the treats we try to coax her out of the coop with!

MamaManda 6/29/12 at 9:22pm

Oh boy...I'm in the beginning stages of your story. I'm pretty sure it will have a similar ending. My husband may be grumpy.
I like the picture of (your daughter?) with the napping chicken. My kids do the same thing...they rub their cheeks til they fall asleep on their laps. Haha.

Bantamphantom 6/30/12 at 6:50am

She looks like a partridge rock to me, but I may be wrong.

HennyPennyCrazy 6/30/12 at 8:15am

Love your pics! Thanks for sharing!

Lady Ressler 6/30/12 at 9:06am

This makes me feel beter about my "chicken sickness" as the hubby calls it. I already have plas for a bigger coop. Great story.

Whittni 6/30/12 at 10:43am

Nice!

willowbranchfarm 6/30/12 at 1:32pm

Beautiful Birds!!

ChickSter99 6/30/12 at 9:20pm

Nice to know I'm not the only one. I ordered 2 Austrolorps, 2 Barred Plymoth Rocks, 2 Rare Breeds (think there Ancona & Ameraucana). Well, that was the start. A week later, I ordered 10 Assorted Brown Layers (Variety Pack). MyPetChicken.com is where I ordered them from. I thought the 2 week wait was the worst thing waiting for them to get here. They are now 2 weeks old and in the cute...not so cute stage (bless their little hearts). And smart! I never knew they were so smart even at 2 weeks. They tried to find their way out of the brooder when I was cleaning it. Glad I was paying attention. Well that's not the end...I found Ebay! Oh boy! "Chicken Addiction" has really hit hard. Now, I have 3 incubators filled all the way with EEs, Orps, Amer, Silkies, Polish, Bantam mixes, Turkens, Jersey Giants B/BBS, just to name a few.... found out earlier that we have 3 duck eggs in that mix also (surprise). They have a new, large coop and run. The only one not happy is my chihuahua. I already have neighbors wanting chicks which is good. Now, my husband won't have a "What In The World Attack" when he sees all of them at the same time. LOL:)

christyg 7/2/12 at 5:02am

Looks like you are having a blast! We are backyard city chicks with hens only, and love our ladies! Our 2 1/2 year old daughter has learned so much from our chicken experience! We too started out with 4 hens...then crept up to 6....now are at 8... what I love most is their individual personalities but the best thing in the world is watching a fat hen run across the yard for a treat!! Hilarious!

Battyrap101 7/4/12 at 11:52am

The chicks are sooo cute!!! :D

GatorsChickens 7/5/12 at 11:07am

im thinking about ordering some more just got an order in last week but i got to thinking my pen is way too big its almost the size of my yard with only a few chickens in it so i need to know what the best broody hen is so i can order and hatch out more because im gonna open a game at my county fair for chicks next year and i need a hen that goes broody very well and is a great mother because i need to hatch some