Hello fellow chicken fans! I've browsed this site numerous times over the months and finally joined this morning.
My name is Keisha and I live on 20 acres in NE Oklahoma. My kids are the 4th generation of our family to live on this land and 3rd generation to grow up here. My kids are 17, 15 and 10. I never had chickens growing up. We always had horses and cattle. My husband is a good source of info and experience on most things chickens but some of his knowledge is outdated. Our resident couch potatoes are Gus, a Catahoula/Pitbull mix and Lorie Darlin', a Corgi/mix. Gus is very, very good with the chickens but Lorie always wants to herd them somewhere. I don't think she knows where she's herding them, just wants to herd them.
This is our second time having chickens. I can spend hours outside with them, just watching them. They are fascinating. My kids call me Crazy Chicken Lady. If the shoe fits....
We started this flock with a dozen straight runs from Atwoods that turned out to be 2 Booted Bantam roosters, 2 heavies (still unsure on breed honestly), 3 White Cochin Bantam roosters, 1 Barred Rock Cochin Bantam hen, 2 Barred Rock roosters and 2 Dominique hens. We only have half of the original flock left. 2 which cochin roosters were sold, the others were either predator meals or just never showed back up at night. They reached about 5 months old and we decided since we have lost half the original, we needed more. I ordered my new feathered kids from Murray McMurray. 2 Buff Orpingtons, 2 Barred Rocks, 6 Australorps, 5 New Hampshire Reds and the free chick they always throw in that is looking more and more like a Wyandotte. Of those, I've lost one of each and all in the first week of having them out to free range. The Australorp in my avatar is a good example of how friendly and curious all the little ones are. Her and one New Hampshire Red that I call Reba, are the first ones to me every time I go outside. Sometimes, Reba will try to fly up and sit on my shoulder. I wanted mostly Australorps this time around because the first time we had chickens, my very favorite hen, Girlfriend, was an Australorp and she was a lap chicken if there ever was one. She also consistently laid the best double yolk brown eggs. She was a fantastic hen! She lived out her life with my cousins Autistic son, continuing to be a fantastic hen. If the new girls can be half the hen she was, they'll be doing good.
My husband said not to name the chickens but I don't listen
. So me and the kids set about naming chickens. We have Alien, Gretchen, Henrietta (emphasis on 'hen' in those two names lol), Roody, Moody and Red (all 3 roosters, they don't fight much), Rocky, Opal, Reba and Dr. Penguin. We're still coming up with names for everyone else. Gretchen was a rooster until she laid an egg lol! She was looking like a rooster and acting like one until one day, she wasn't. It was overnight almost and she started acting like a hen and laid an egg. So we had to change her name from Rooster Cogburn to Gretchen. I can talk about my chickens all day lol but I will leave it there for now. Here are some pics of my feathered kids
A younger Gretchen
Alien, Henrietta and Gretchen (photobomb by Lorie)
Roody
The little ones
The preferred way to eat
Dr. Penguin thinks she's a parrot
Red
Moody
Last but not least, Alien. She's my favorite. Shhh don't tell the others!
My name is Keisha and I live on 20 acres in NE Oklahoma. My kids are the 4th generation of our family to live on this land and 3rd generation to grow up here. My kids are 17, 15 and 10. I never had chickens growing up. We always had horses and cattle. My husband is a good source of info and experience on most things chickens but some of his knowledge is outdated. Our resident couch potatoes are Gus, a Catahoula/Pitbull mix and Lorie Darlin', a Corgi/mix. Gus is very, very good with the chickens but Lorie always wants to herd them somewhere. I don't think she knows where she's herding them, just wants to herd them.
This is our second time having chickens. I can spend hours outside with them, just watching them. They are fascinating. My kids call me Crazy Chicken Lady. If the shoe fits....
We started this flock with a dozen straight runs from Atwoods that turned out to be 2 Booted Bantam roosters, 2 heavies (still unsure on breed honestly), 3 White Cochin Bantam roosters, 1 Barred Rock Cochin Bantam hen, 2 Barred Rock roosters and 2 Dominique hens. We only have half of the original flock left. 2 which cochin roosters were sold, the others were either predator meals or just never showed back up at night. They reached about 5 months old and we decided since we have lost half the original, we needed more. I ordered my new feathered kids from Murray McMurray. 2 Buff Orpingtons, 2 Barred Rocks, 6 Australorps, 5 New Hampshire Reds and the free chick they always throw in that is looking more and more like a Wyandotte. Of those, I've lost one of each and all in the first week of having them out to free range. The Australorp in my avatar is a good example of how friendly and curious all the little ones are. Her and one New Hampshire Red that I call Reba, are the first ones to me every time I go outside. Sometimes, Reba will try to fly up and sit on my shoulder. I wanted mostly Australorps this time around because the first time we had chickens, my very favorite hen, Girlfriend, was an Australorp and she was a lap chicken if there ever was one. She also consistently laid the best double yolk brown eggs. She was a fantastic hen! She lived out her life with my cousins Autistic son, continuing to be a fantastic hen. If the new girls can be half the hen she was, they'll be doing good.
My husband said not to name the chickens but I don't listen
A younger Gretchen
Alien, Henrietta and Gretchen (photobomb by Lorie)
Roody
The little ones
The preferred way to eat
Dr. Penguin thinks she's a parrot
Red
Moody
Last but not least, Alien. She's my favorite. Shhh don't tell the others!