I started out with a variety of hatchery birds to see what I would like best.
Here's Loud, a Hatchery Easter Egger (they call them Ameraucanas, but we all know the truth) who lives up to her name and is one of my favorites if only because she is the most passionate about treats.
One of my roosters, a Buff Orpington, named Lunch. It's a long story, and I'm sure some of you would be offended by it
And a good portion of my flock doing some winter grazing. All in all I have, in my original flock, 4 barred rocks, 6 gold stars, 6 Easter Eggers, 2 roosters (one Buff Orp and one mutt/Wyandotte), one second generation lemon cuckoo orpington (how I got her is kind of a long story, but she is obviously NOT hatchery stock...), one silkie, and one red frizzle bantam.
But of course then I got the bug, and I spent the winter researching specific breeds. This spring I have added Buckeyes and Salmon Faverolles to my flock. This particular little girl, a Buckeye, has become one of my favorites. She had some health problems early on (crook neck and a swollen eye, thought by the breeder to be possible inbreeding), so I will probably never breed her, but as the only chicken who has EVER jumped onto my lap without any treats involved, she has earned a place on my favorites list.
The Faverolles are just chicks at the moment, and are under the very best care- a mama hen. One of my EE hens went broody and hatched two eggs (EE/mystery rooster mutts, but they're so cute! Actually the light brown on the left and the yellow on the right are the two chicks she hatched!)... and then I gave her eight more (five Faverolles and three more hatchery EE's), and she is doing a fantastic job raising them all. It wasn't my intention to have her raise all the chicks- the red frizzle was also sitting on eggs, but her eggs didn't hatch so I was just going to slip her some chicks. But she rejected them, so I gave them to this loving mama instead. Seeing a mama hen raise babies is about the most amazing thing I've seen since I've started with chickens!
Here's Loud, a Hatchery Easter Egger (they call them Ameraucanas, but we all know the truth) who lives up to her name and is one of my favorites if only because she is the most passionate about treats.
One of my roosters, a Buff Orpington, named Lunch. It's a long story, and I'm sure some of you would be offended by it
And a good portion of my flock doing some winter grazing. All in all I have, in my original flock, 4 barred rocks, 6 gold stars, 6 Easter Eggers, 2 roosters (one Buff Orp and one mutt/Wyandotte), one second generation lemon cuckoo orpington (how I got her is kind of a long story, but she is obviously NOT hatchery stock...), one silkie, and one red frizzle bantam.
But of course then I got the bug, and I spent the winter researching specific breeds. This spring I have added Buckeyes and Salmon Faverolles to my flock. This particular little girl, a Buckeye, has become one of my favorites. She had some health problems early on (crook neck and a swollen eye, thought by the breeder to be possible inbreeding), so I will probably never breed her, but as the only chicken who has EVER jumped onto my lap without any treats involved, she has earned a place on my favorites list.
The Faverolles are just chicks at the moment, and are under the very best care- a mama hen. One of my EE hens went broody and hatched two eggs (EE/mystery rooster mutts, but they're so cute! Actually the light brown on the left and the yellow on the right are the two chicks she hatched!)... and then I gave her eight more (five Faverolles and three more hatchery EE's), and she is doing a fantastic job raising them all. It wasn't my intention to have her raise all the chicks- the red frizzle was also sitting on eggs, but her eggs didn't hatch so I was just going to slip her some chicks. But she rejected them, so I gave them to this loving mama instead. Seeing a mama hen raise babies is about the most amazing thing I've seen since I've started with chickens!
