Fox Field Farm Flock

[GitaBooks]

Looking forward to some new pictures! How's your youngest pup (Oopsie?) doing?

Oopsie is doing great. He just got neutered a week or two ago and got over it in about one day. He didn't seem to even realize he had just had surgery, even when we were trying to keep him calm and rested. He is learning his place among the other dogs, who are more willing to play with him then they use to be. He is very smart and learning lots of tricks and rules that are important. He is also LOVING the snow.

The dogs rushing out for a walk


Cinnamon, my dog, running for the joy of it. The basketball hoop blew over from the strong winds.


Precious in the garage, witnessing his first real snow. He will be going to a new home soon, but for now I'm just trying to keep him warm, hydrated and happy. It was so cold today that the schools were closed, but you can't get a day off from chickens. My hands were sticking to all the metal and ice and the poor chickens were walking stiff as they tried to keep their feet tucked in their feathers.


Rax enjoying the field, even in his old age. He is 10 years-old but still acts like a puppy.


Epsilon with his snowy face. This was his first real snow and it brought out the playful nature in all the dogs


Poor Enterprise and Adrian trying to keep warm in the rafters of their shed


Cinnamon and Espilon were semi-playing (Cinnamon wouldn't admit it though

). Cinnamon plays by snapping at the puppy, but his body-language is different when he is angry and when he is playing




Nym our cat and Epsilon playing. Again, they look like they are fighting, but neither hurt one another, even when using their claws and teeth. Nym would have left if he wasn't enjoying it, even if he pretends not to like playing.

 

[N F C]

I'm really enjoying your animal pictures, the snow ones were so fun with the dogs! Thank you for sharing some more photos!

 

[GitaBooks]

All the chickens have learned to gather in our largest, main barn where there is the most space, most perches (they like to cuddle on a roost during the day), straw to nestle into, heat lights, nest boxes, and warm water available as well as where I feed them. It makes it a lot easier on me.


Here is Possibility, my white silkie pullet wishing she could have some of the chick food on the inside of the broody pen.



Ruby with her two chicks, keeping them warm under the heat-light.


Bub's taking his place as second in command as he dances for Cowgirl.


Noel (blue) and Rain (blue and black with silkie feathers) enjoying some food with their mother.


The chickens resting on perches (originally sheep feeders) as they try to keep warm.


Eve showing off her beautiful feathers. She is part OEGB and part Golden Sebright.


A dalmatian hen peeking her head out from a window


Sedgewick, the "rooster"I had asked for from the hatchery that turned out to be a hen. Her short legs are usually only a nuisance to her, but it sure is easier to keep them warm this way.

 

[GitaBooks]

Here are some old photos of how our chickens lost their combs and wattles to frost-bite. The poor things, it must have been painful, but when its -10 F there isn't really anything you can do about it.

A leghorn hen


Dominator our rooster


Sasha our maran rooster (he always had glowing red eyes in any photos you took of him)


And some cute chicken foot-prints!

 

[uzisuzuki]

I love seeing pics of all your birds! Especially the project birds. They are lovely.

 

[GitaBooks]

Thanks so much.

I love sharing pictures of my flock with other chicken lovers. I think my family gets tired of me trying to show them all the photos.

 

[GitaBooks]

Just thought I would share some photos of our original Flock that we had a few years ago. Unfortunately, we had to get rid of it due to the difficult economy, but they were our first real introduction to chickens.

There was Ginger, our silkie girl, and she was great with all the chicks she raised. They were hot, as it was summer, hints why they have their wings spread.


A broody hen and three layers all together in a nest box we still have (it just isn't quite that good looking anymore)

Young Silver (our first roo; and one of the greatest roosters ever). Our first two cats also, Tiger-tail and Scardy-Cat (Tiger and Scardy for short).


Ginger teaching her chicks to dust bathe. I loved Caper's dark spot on his head, even though his body was white. I've never seen that before.


Chicks with the flowers under the Helicopter Tree (it has since been cut down since it was growing too near to the wires above it)


Some chicks from the feedstore. The banties were on the side with the heat light and the five standard chickens were on the other side. They shared the water and food though.


Eventually they were introduced together.


Fred, Ginger's mate and one of the greatest chickens of all times, crowing in the sun-light


Fizzle, our frizzle cochin rooster (bantam).


Young Frizzle with a standard chick of the same age (or similar age)


Gerbil, our dog, desperate to be the father of the chicks in the box. Boy does he love chicks (he's kind of obsessive about it actually)


Fizzle, Rocky, and the standard chickens getting to play outside for one of the first times.


Rocky, the rooster of my nightmares. He would attack me all the time. However, we gave him to a friend of ours and they said he was the friendliest, best rooster ever and loved hthe grandchildren. I think he just didn't like being around so many other roosters for competition.
He's a barred cochin bantam.

 

[GitaBooks]

I'm trying to decide from a long list of breeds which ones I want to try out this year.

I want to have worked with one of each breed and color in about five years or so (okay, maybe not quite that many, but you get what I mean) and so far I have had:
Rhode Island Reds, Red Stars, Plymouth Rock (Barred, White, Silver Penciled, Partridge), Wyandottes (Columbian, Blue-laced Red, and Silver-laced), Silkie (White, blue, black, partridge, Show girl), Leghorn (white and brown), Easter Eggers, OEGBs (Red Pyle, and Silver Duckwing), Sebrights (Silver and golden), Silver Spangled Hamburg, Jersey Giant (Black and white), Andalusian (it was a black individual), Cochin (barred bantam, white frizzle bantam, Black standard, Silver-laced standard), Maran (cuckoo), New Hampshire, Buff Orpington, Brahma (light and buff), Speckled Sussex, Delaware, and a Grey Dorking.

Some of the breeds I am interested in are the Appenzeller, Faverolle (I got one as a chick but it died), Chantecler, Buckeye (I from Ohio so its kind of necessary

), Java, Lakenvelder (one of my favorite breeds), Orloff, Rhode Island White, White-faced Black Spanish, and a Standard Old English Game.

I guess we'll see how long it takes to reach my goal, but its fun to have so much variety in the flock (it helps me tell them apart).

Mavis isn't dead in this photo, don't worry, she is just sun bathing.

She was my special-needs silkie pullet.

 

[GitaBooks]

It was an amazing day today as far as taking photos. The chickens enjoyed my company and all began preening, resting, dust bathing and sun bathing. They LOVED the time and though I spent two hours in the semi-cold and my hand started loosing feeling in it, I got such amazing pictures (for are really stinky camera) that I am SOOO happy right now. Usually all the pictures are blurred, but a lot of these weren't!

This is Tad (and Dodie) enjoying the sunlight.


Liberty, one of my oldest chickens, enjoying the wamrth of the sun.


Scarlet looking for food


Adrian and Acorn arguing (Adrian is bigger but Acorn is older, so if I remember right Acorn probably one). We are going to be getting rid of Adrian soon, but he is still a handsome roo, he looks a lot like his father Smaug.


Not a great picture, but I wanted to update the two Christmas chicks, Noel and Rain. They are a beautiful blue and are doing well.


Blonquita (Kitty) the dog. She was on a walk with a family member and came to the barn, so I snapped a picture of her too.


Beauty hopped up on a perch above the dust bathing spot, hints all the dust around her. The sun is outlining her lacing really nicely.


Captain, my Speckled Sussex, hopped up on a stump.


Bubs showing off his GORGEOUS golden hair with beetle green shine to his black feathers.




Dastan, my Dalmatian Rooster, making sure that his girl Ruby and the two chicks are doing well. He's a protective adoptive daddy.

 

[GitaBooks]

Whinnie (Wynona) getting a drink of water. She's my Buff Orpington


Dodie, resting on a perch


Chiefess and Dominator kissing (she laid down in front of him and then he began gently cleaning her face with his beak). So sweet!


A dust bathing Baby Cakes (Easter Egger x Orpington)


Diamond, my crooked-beaked sebright pullet. I'm going to have to find her a new home but for the time being she is just enjoying the sunlight.


Tauriel, my beautiful golden hen. It is hard to capture how golden her hackles really are.


Sedgie, my dorking hen.


Enterprise


Captain in the sunlight


Smaug's son, Adrian, with the typical dinosaur look of a young rooster.


And finally Breeze (who turned out to be a rooster) crowing even though he still snuggles up with his mommy and bro at night time. I can't believe he is already chasing after the hens and he is so small! His brother and him matured so fast! They are the son's of Dominator.