- May 4, 2010
- 51
- 1
- 29
It all started when I moved south from WI to help my grandmother around the house when she told me shortly after I arrived that she was going to order some Pullets for fresh eggs. Now, I was born a city girl and had never once thought of raising chickens in my life. She tossed me her Cackle and McMurray catalogs to look at and I was absolutely fascinated - never did I think that a mere chicken could sport such plumage! Such adorable fuzzy feets! I had my eye on some BB Phoenix - only five I said, don't want to go off the deep end, I said. But lo, we go to the feed store and what did I see? Two plain signs taped to large, plastic tubs that read, "Assorted S/R bantams" and "Ameracuna and Buff Orp. Pullets". Apparently the english term for the unimaginably delicate peeping marshmallows that were scratching about, nuzzling into big mats of fluff, or crashing out into little impromptu naps. I was hooked - hook, line and sinker.
I ended up taking 13 banties and 2 buffs home, my grandmother a mere 8 Ameracunas. This was about 3-4 months ago. This original lot has now graduated to an outdoor pen, soon to be followed by about 8 more standards and about 20 more Banties in varying stages of maturity. I'm using a rubbermaid tote in a guest bedroom for the babies and a large 6' horse trough on the back porch for the middlin's - if we get anymore I won't know where to put them.
I've taken great delight in spoiling them and watching them mature - all of my banties I've purchased have been S/R and have been little suprises, both in breed and personality. My only frustration is that I seem to have a knack for picking roos, I can easily count 5 roos of my original 13 babies. But it looks like I've been fortunate in making a few pairs too. We've had two casualties (one Ameracuna and one of my roo bantams, darn heads pulled off) already because of predation so far, but we're working hard to fix the old chicken house until we can afford the material for a new one.
That I can tell, I have:
Banties:
2 Cochins, a black hen and a red roo
2 Mille Fleur D'uccles, pair
1 Quail Belgian Antwerp hen
1 Dark cornish hen (I think)
1 Self blue D'uccle hen (I think)
5 Mystery Birds - 3/5 have beards, 1 I think is a game, and the last I have no idea
3 white silkie chicks
2 porcelain D'uccle chicks
1 Polish cross chick, from one of the feed store staff
8 mystery chicks
Standards:
2 RIR pullets
2 BO pullets - These two are so spoiled, they love to sit on my shoulders and my knees, sometimes they try to groom me a bit.
2 Mystery black babies - possibly Wyandottes
My Grandma on the other hand has:
7 Ameracuna Pullets
3 Game Bantam Roos, BB duckwing of some sort, wild suckers won't let me near em
2 Black Jersey Giants
2 Mystery white chicks - possibly Leghorns
2 White Leghorns, Pair - These guys aren't in good shape, they were rescued as chicks that weren't going to make it from a chicken plant by a relative and given to us. The Embryotic steroids have taken their toll, and they have difficulty even walking, they're almost 6 months old and with TLC we're starting to see some improvement. I think the roo has decided he doesn't like me or my shoes, he walked over and gave the toe of my shoe a good peck when I was inside the pen workin on it day before last. Now, at least once a day when I open the door he strafes up to me and bumps into my leg while keepin an eye on my feet, like he doesn't want me near his "wife", the bugger.
But yes, all in all I have a handful between keeping everyone happy and Macgyver'ing improvements to the housing out of the spare timber and wire I keep finding that my grandma forgets she has.
As a first time chicken-raiser I did a lot of research into giving proper care for these animals, from anything to chicks and brooders, pens and common problems, to dealing with roos and other growing pains. Most, if not all of that research was done here on BYC - this site is an absolute gold mine of advice and experience, everything I've read here has held true so far, though I imagine I'll get my own set of unique problems sooner then I'd like. But you know what they say - an ounce of prevention is better then a pound of cure.
When I do get some off time from lookin after my babies I usually sit down on my PC and surf the web a bit, I also consider myself an avid PC gamer and play just about anything that's put in front of me. I also like to keep fish tanks, having recently inherited a 56 gallon tank I intend to use it to the fullest, once I can get a day to haul it. Oh, and I draw a bit too, nothing like Michael Angelo mind you, but enough to draw the proverbial straight line. If all else fails, I usually just cuddle up with a cat and pass out for the day.
I daresay we got a regular funny farm over here, 2 dogs, 2 indoor cats, 5 outdoor cats (plus toms we chase off), 5 guinea fowl (which are running all over, thank you breeding season), 2 fish ponds, an assortment of tank fish, ~40 chickens, 2 miniature horses(soon) and a calf (soon). I suppose that's it for pets. Its usually just my grandmother and myself here doing the work, but sometimes my other relatives come down to help with larger projects, like the fence and shed we're working on for the horses. As it is I'm currently unemployed and LFW, before I was laid off I used to work in an electronics store as a sales associate - I must admit while that work was fun at times I would rather work with animals. The circumstances for exactly how I came to be here are a little convoluted, but I try to help out as much as I'm able (never done much in the way of physical labor) and in exchange I gain happiness and chickens, not much more to life then that.
In any event, I suppose that constitutes a decent intro. See you guys around!
I ended up taking 13 banties and 2 buffs home, my grandmother a mere 8 Ameracunas. This was about 3-4 months ago. This original lot has now graduated to an outdoor pen, soon to be followed by about 8 more standards and about 20 more Banties in varying stages of maturity. I'm using a rubbermaid tote in a guest bedroom for the babies and a large 6' horse trough on the back porch for the middlin's - if we get anymore I won't know where to put them.
I've taken great delight in spoiling them and watching them mature - all of my banties I've purchased have been S/R and have been little suprises, both in breed and personality. My only frustration is that I seem to have a knack for picking roos, I can easily count 5 roos of my original 13 babies. But it looks like I've been fortunate in making a few pairs too. We've had two casualties (one Ameracuna and one of my roo bantams, darn heads pulled off) already because of predation so far, but we're working hard to fix the old chicken house until we can afford the material for a new one.
That I can tell, I have:
Banties:
2 Cochins, a black hen and a red roo
2 Mille Fleur D'uccles, pair
1 Quail Belgian Antwerp hen
1 Dark cornish hen (I think)
1 Self blue D'uccle hen (I think)
5 Mystery Birds - 3/5 have beards, 1 I think is a game, and the last I have no idea
3 white silkie chicks
2 porcelain D'uccle chicks
1 Polish cross chick, from one of the feed store staff
8 mystery chicks
Standards:
2 RIR pullets
2 BO pullets - These two are so spoiled, they love to sit on my shoulders and my knees, sometimes they try to groom me a bit.
2 Mystery black babies - possibly Wyandottes
My Grandma on the other hand has:
7 Ameracuna Pullets
3 Game Bantam Roos, BB duckwing of some sort, wild suckers won't let me near em
2 Black Jersey Giants
2 Mystery white chicks - possibly Leghorns
2 White Leghorns, Pair - These guys aren't in good shape, they were rescued as chicks that weren't going to make it from a chicken plant by a relative and given to us. The Embryotic steroids have taken their toll, and they have difficulty even walking, they're almost 6 months old and with TLC we're starting to see some improvement. I think the roo has decided he doesn't like me or my shoes, he walked over and gave the toe of my shoe a good peck when I was inside the pen workin on it day before last. Now, at least once a day when I open the door he strafes up to me and bumps into my leg while keepin an eye on my feet, like he doesn't want me near his "wife", the bugger.
But yes, all in all I have a handful between keeping everyone happy and Macgyver'ing improvements to the housing out of the spare timber and wire I keep finding that my grandma forgets she has.
When I do get some off time from lookin after my babies I usually sit down on my PC and surf the web a bit, I also consider myself an avid PC gamer and play just about anything that's put in front of me. I also like to keep fish tanks, having recently inherited a 56 gallon tank I intend to use it to the fullest, once I can get a day to haul it. Oh, and I draw a bit too, nothing like Michael Angelo mind you, but enough to draw the proverbial straight line. If all else fails, I usually just cuddle up with a cat and pass out for the day.
I daresay we got a regular funny farm over here, 2 dogs, 2 indoor cats, 5 outdoor cats (plus toms we chase off), 5 guinea fowl (which are running all over, thank you breeding season), 2 fish ponds, an assortment of tank fish, ~40 chickens, 2 miniature horses(soon) and a calf (soon). I suppose that's it for pets. Its usually just my grandmother and myself here doing the work, but sometimes my other relatives come down to help with larger projects, like the fence and shed we're working on for the horses. As it is I'm currently unemployed and LFW, before I was laid off I used to work in an electronics store as a sales associate - I must admit while that work was fun at times I would rather work with animals. The circumstances for exactly how I came to be here are a little convoluted, but I try to help out as much as I'm able (never done much in the way of physical labor) and in exchange I gain happiness and chickens, not much more to life then that.
In any event, I suppose that constitutes a decent intro. See you guys around!
