My First Little Flock

Thanks to an ordinance change, I now have my first little flock. I started with 20 due to having to order bulk to get what I wanted. I eventually sold off 12 to 2 of my husbands co-workers once I picked my favorites. That left me with my favorite 8. 4 from the mail order, 2 silkies from a local show breeder, and a1 smooth and 1 frizzled polish from another local bantam lover.

First are Lucy and Lacy Waddlesworth (my Columbian Wyandottes)
This is Lucy at 9 weeks old. Small and sweet. Always easy to pick up unless she thinks you are about to put her in the pen. She likes adventure and is the one I can count on to get into something every time she is let out of the pen to free range. The columbians are easily the quietest in my flock.


Lacy at 7 weeks. Lacy has much prettier feathering than Lucy and is a little bigger. More lace around the neck, more black in the tail, and her feathers are fuller and whiter. Praying Lacy does not turn out to be a Lucas. I don't see any behavioral signs of a roo. She does not get involved in the chest bumping and squabbling. Both Columbians tend to be more adventurous wanderers than the rest. When she is picked up and stroked she immediately relaxes and goes to sleep. She is always the last one to come back to the pen. The rest of the flock is trained to come when they hear me shake a cup of meal worms but my Wyandottes won't touch them.


This is Rosie Fluffybottom. She is a Salmon Faverolle at 9 weeks old. She should have ben named Mimi Flaps-a-lot because every time I pick her up she screams and flaps like a looney bird. She doesn't want to be touched at all. But she does like to sit on my lap or beside me on the garden swing. She is like a crack addict when it comes to dried meal worms so she is the first back into the pen when I shake the cup. She is so much fun to watch run on her short, fluffy little legs. She is hoping to catch a circling moth in this pic.


I am perplexed by Rosies chin feathers. They are coming in black. I can't find any photo's of Salmon Faverolles with black chins. She does a lot of chest bumping with my polish and my silkie roo. But she did not have the "roo" black stripe on her wings and shows no other sign of being a roo.


I started with 6 dominiques. They were definitely the most agile of the breeds. Roosting at 3 days, the first to fly, etc. But at a week & 1/2 they were already little meanies. Every time I reached in the brooder they came running with their beaks open to nip. It only got worse as they aged. Then one got a blocked crop from some grass and I spent the day on the couch nursing her, massaging the blockage and giving a special blend of warm water with a drop of acv and just a couple mashed in chick crumbles to flavor. She sweetened up, got very attached and followed me everywhere for a couple days. Then she went back to nipping and pecking. Just when I decided to rehome all the dominiques one separated herself from the crowd and got to stay. She is the smartest, sweetest, and most loyal of my birds. When I am weeding she is in my face ad between my feet and on the back of my hand, watching and waiting for a worm to pull up. Slows me down but makes the job so much more fun. I temporarily named the dominiques for the marks on their heads. Her mark was a X-mas Tree. The name has stuck because she started responding to the name. So she is now Tree Baby. My favorite bird! And she always has her eye on me!


Next is Rudy and Freckles Featherbee. I was expecting 2 white silkies. But one is quickly becoming a paint. They were the same size when I brought them home but one morning one was suddenly twice as big as the other. The bigger one (Rudy) is always facing off with and chest bumping the others. And now, with what appears to be the start of a walnut forming and the feathers on the head getting a bit stringier, I am almost certain my beautiful white silkie is a he. The day he crows to prove it I have a new home lined up in the country. Heart break!
Rudy Featherbee -


Sweet, tiny, Freckles Featherbee -


This is my smooth polish. She is closer to 11 weeks. She just got her waddle in. She has been a little looney but is coming around thanks to her big topper. The bigger it gets the easier she is to pick up since she can't see me coming from behind. Yesterday when I let her go she voluntarily stayed and laid down on my lap for the first time. She is the most talkative and peeps with every step she takes. I know when she is stressed by the volume and tone of the peep. She has been particularly loud this week since I had to send her polish rooster snuggle buddy away. She definitely my photogenic girl. I caught her having a good stretch here.


And 14 = 15 week old Frizzy. This is Frizzy and Polly Peepers having a last snuggle before dah Frizz went to be the only rooster with a flock of 28 hens in the country where crowing is accepted


Frizz was an awesome bird. So much fun to watch strut and flap and twitch his tail. I miss him tons.

You have a lovely flock with a great assortment of breeds. Love the names. I can tell you are really enjoying your chickens. Too bad you can't keep roosters; they are a lot of fun as long as they are polite.

I am just crazy about them. I love learning all their different personalities and quirks. It's fun learning what they like to eat and what they won't touch. Today was hot and humid and I made them some red grape slushy (1 part grapes and 3 parts crushed ice in the blender). They went wild! Tomorrow is suppose to be hotter. I will be floating frozen peas and a couple ice cubes in a large pan of water so they have to wade in the water and cool down to catch the peas.
I can sit and watch them run around the garden for hours. And I discovered if they decide to stray too far and go out of bounds I just turn the hose (hose end sprayer on jet setting) to just beyond where they are headed and they turn around and run back to the part of the garden they are welcome in. I haven't had to get them wet once but now, when the wyandottes just see me pick up the hose, they start running. Quick learners.

You have a beautful flock there. I love the pic of Frizz he is so cute. You are learning the personalities of all your chickens. It's called chick tv you when sit and watch the chickens in the yard. I would rather watch my chickens and ducks then watch tv most of the time.

Thanks for posting the pics of your beautiful flock.

Patty

You're flock is just gorgeous! I love how you've described, each and everyone of them too. I have a Showgirl, named Lola, what else! Because of her big poof on top, I can sneak up on her as well, but is she ever a flapper!! The worst one in the flock! But you've got to love them all, right? Enjoy!

Your flock is adorable!

Well first my Frizzy turned out to be a rooster. I thought Rudy would be the next to crow. But instead, Polly Peepers suddenly got stringers on her perfect head puff and started crowing. Last but not least, my darling Rudy could not keep his beak shut any longer. Poor little Freckles the only remaining bantam. I now have 3 more little silkies in quarantine waiting to meet the rest of the flock. Pretty sure at least one of them is also a rooster. Because they are in quarantine I try not to handle them for fear of spreading g anything between flocks. 2 weeks down and 2 weeks to go on the quarantine. Meanwhile I am battling mites or lice in my big coop. Tried feeding garlic, misting in garlic juice and dusting in wood ash. Didn't work. Today I declared war and dusted and vac'd the coop from top to bottom after removing all the bedding. Then sprayed every nook and cranny with neem and put in all new bedding. Tomorrow each one (5) are getting a 3 step bath treatment, blow dry, and another wood ash dusting. Fingers crossed. I haven't seen anything crawling and no sign of eggs. I have checked vents and under wings, etc. But they started head twitching at night. After lots of ash dusting, they are still twitching and also wrestless and doing a lot of preening on the roost at night. Hoping the baths finally nip this in the bud.

Thanks for sharing your flock, they're lovely!