The life and times of my backyard flock
5 FEB 2010 .. The chicks have hatched ..
(CHICKS IMAGE)----------------------------
From the dozen farmyard mix eggs we got off ebay, 6 of them hatched, 4 of them were Roosters 2 of them Hens, Because of that ratio 3 of the Roos had to be culled. So I was left with 2 Orpington hens, one blue and one buff, These are called Blueberry and Honey, Blueberry was called Bluebell but my niece kept calling her blueberry so for her ease we decided to change it. The Rooster I chose was the one i thought had the best temprement, Im not sure what he is but I believe him to be a silver penciled Dorking, His name is now Randy, (for obvious reasons)
This is the start of my flock, 3 birds in a coop I built myself out of pallets and other wood scraps at the bottom of my garden
(COOP IMAGE)
? May 2010 ... New additions
(SLW IMAGE) --------------------------------
The next birds to be added to the flock were 2 Bantam Silver Laced Wyandottes, I tried to add them straight to the others but the original hens were having none of that so I decided to seperate them for there own safety, I split the coop run in half and built the SLW hens a small nest box/coop on their side, During the time they were in there they started laying eggs, I only got 3 in the 3 weeks they were in there but that is better than I had expected if im honest.
After the 3 weeks I decided it was time to let them all go in together and let them sort themselves out, The pecking order fights are not a nice thing to watch, but are something that have to take place. It only took about a week for them all to be getting on nicely, dont get me wrong there are still a few pecks and squables but doesnt every family have those.
14 June 2010 ... First official Egg
Blueberry laid her first ever egg, I was so happy I thought about not eating it, In the end though I needed to check if it was fertile or not. I have seen Randy the Roo treading the hens recently and was eager to see if he was actually doing anything, To my suprise the egg is fertile, Now as much as I want my hens to go broody, I also want the chicks from these hens.. Im thinking its time to start up the incubator
More to come
5 FEB 2010 .. The chicks have hatched ..
(CHICKS IMAGE)----------------------------
From the dozen farmyard mix eggs we got off ebay, 6 of them hatched, 4 of them were Roosters 2 of them Hens, Because of that ratio 3 of the Roos had to be culled. So I was left with 2 Orpington hens, one blue and one buff, These are called Blueberry and Honey, Blueberry was called Bluebell but my niece kept calling her blueberry so for her ease we decided to change it. The Rooster I chose was the one i thought had the best temprement, Im not sure what he is but I believe him to be a silver penciled Dorking, His name is now Randy, (for obvious reasons)
This is the start of my flock, 3 birds in a coop I built myself out of pallets and other wood scraps at the bottom of my garden
(COOP IMAGE)
? May 2010 ... New additions
(SLW IMAGE) --------------------------------
The next birds to be added to the flock were 2 Bantam Silver Laced Wyandottes, I tried to add them straight to the others but the original hens were having none of that so I decided to seperate them for there own safety, I split the coop run in half and built the SLW hens a small nest box/coop on their side, During the time they were in there they started laying eggs, I only got 3 in the 3 weeks they were in there but that is better than I had expected if im honest.
After the 3 weeks I decided it was time to let them all go in together and let them sort themselves out, The pecking order fights are not a nice thing to watch, but are something that have to take place. It only took about a week for them all to be getting on nicely, dont get me wrong there are still a few pecks and squables but doesnt every family have those.
14 June 2010 ... First official Egg
Blueberry laid her first ever egg, I was so happy I thought about not eating it, In the end though I needed to check if it was fertile or not. I have seen Randy the Roo treading the hens recently and was eager to see if he was actually doing anything, To my suprise the egg is fertile, Now as much as I want my hens to go broody, I also want the chicks from these hens.. Im thinking its time to start up the incubator
More to come