Thanks for the welcome! It's been a long time for chickens, so I'm a newbie. I ordered 2 of each: barred Hollands, Easter eggers, Wyandottes, buff orpingtons, Australopes, Welsummers, Delawares, light Brahmas, & red sex links. I should have a lot of variety & colors in my flock! After we've finished our cool & run I'll post some pics. My husband has done an amazing job
Now you've got my curiosity peaked about your coop. When you can - please post pics on the BYC
"post your chicken coop pictures here" thread!!! Our current coop is almost 4 years old and made out of crumbling OSB board so it needs replacing. Living in hot sunny SoCalif I had to forget all the beautiful Amish enclosed-style coops in lieu of a more open airy-style assemble-it-yourself barn coop from chickencondos.com that wasn't made out of OSB board or flimsy chicken poultry wire. We were going to have our contractor build us a new coop but after seeing the easy-to-assemble/disassemble ChickenCondos Barn Coop with predator-proof metal skirting we think we're going to go with them. I'm a senior and need something easy to assemble but still strong after it's put together.
I hope your Barred Hollands turn out laying white eggs for you. Some said they were getting cream to tinted from theirs. Hollands are getting to be a rarity. They have the rare Lamona in their history. A lot of people have stopped breeding them because of waning popularity and because of immunity problems and sitting on hauches from lack of diverse breeding stock. I was looking for non-hatchery Holland breeders last year and couldn't find anyone left still selling them. Only a few select hatcheries offer them but I couldn't find private breeders. If I get room to add another LF that's barred/cuckoo it will be a Dom. I've had barred Cuckoo Marans, BRs and Doms and like the smaller feed-efficient gentle Doms.
Like EEs, Ameraucanas, Araucanas, Houdans, Sultans, Silkies, and Brahmas, Hollands reportedly have a non-combative personality. The Wyans, Orps, 'Lorps, Wellies, Dellies, & 'Links will be more assertive top-of-the-pecking-order girls. It's so wonderful that you have them all in pairs! Alike breeds tend to pal around together. I've learned to stay away from the assertive Mediterranean breeds (Legs, Buttercup, Ancona, Andalusian, Spanish, Catalan, etc) since they wreaked havoc on my gentle breeds. I adore Leghorns but sadly had to remove them from my gentle flock. My folks raised Babcock Leghorns so it was hard for me to re-home my beloved Legs. I used to have a diverse egg basket but weeded down my breeds to non-combative only - no huge white or chocolate egg-layers left but I now have a peaceful group of hens. By Spring 2015 I will have 2 Silkies, 2 APA Ameraucanas, and 1 Breda - peaceful breeds. They have pecking order status but no excessive drama or injuries.
I really want to add a brown-egg Dom to the mix but want to see how well I can manage 5 hens before going to 6. With CRD being an issue with nearly every flock in the U.S. - about 98% - I want to make sure I can manage CRD before having too many birds to treat. Yes, CRD (Mycoplasma S & G) according to my vet is a latent chronic respiratory disease (CRD) that flares up in chickens during times of stress (molting, brooding, egg-laying, extreme temp changes, etc) and I have one Silkie that has symptoms every winter. The other hens are exposed to CRD MS/MG but have been immune to manifestations. I'm just so happy that with my vet's help I don't have to euthanize my little flock just because they carry it. There's no CRD cure but it can be managed. Large breeders will cull weaker birds that manifest symptoms to keep it from spreading through their pens but backyarders don't have to euthanize their little flock if controlled. Wild birds bring every kind of bacteria/parasite to the yard and there's no way avoiding the little pests. Because of health preventative maintenance (worming, lice/mite, CRD treatments) about 1/4 of our yearly egg production is withheld from eating but I use those eggs to boil and feed back to the hens for extra protein rather than just throwing away the eggs.
Keep us posted on your stories. I love hearing other experiences!
