I ordered 8 chicks of 6 different breeds. They are almost 16 weeks old now. 3 of them are white (2 Delawares and the EE), the other 4 are darker colored (yeah, I know, that is only 7, but one of them was DOA.) They do seem to be a bit color conscious. The white chickens hang together, and the brown chickens hang together when they are out in the yard. They all seem to get along fine (except for the GLW and the Golden Campine who are in competition for the "head chook" position right now). Even those two are fine when they aren't competing to see who can scare away my DH's mean truck first. They are crowded in their current coop, but so far there isn't any violence. The new coop building is supposed to be delivered sometime this week -- it can't be too soon for me.
I really like the Delawares. They are friendly and chatty with me. If I sit down in the run, they come over and hop up on my lap for a scratch. They do have a tendency to bite/nip clothing to see if it is edible, though. They don't bite me on the skin anymore, though. I tapped them on their little white heads a couple of times for that, so they moved on to clothing.
The Golden Campine is nervous and flighty, but she always comes over to greet me. She doesn't like to be handled though even though I handled them a lot when they were tiny. She is 2/3 the size of the others, but has enough chutzpa (sp?) to make up for it. She is funny to watch. She calls the others to come with her, and the other evening when they were scared back into their run by a hawk in the area and the EE, Lily, hadn't gone in yet, she was the one who came back out and called out to the missing girl to come in where it was safe. If I wasn't pretty sure by her comb that she is a girl.... My stepdaughter's boyfriend likes her the best and is cheering her on to win the competition for top hen. (Her name is Scout (from To Kill a Mockingbird) and that is also his web nickname.)
The welsummer is a lovely chicken. She is pretty and has a nice personality. I ordered her for the terracotta eggs, but now I enjoy her for herself. She is pretty calm and seems to relax more easily than the others when she is outside the run.
The prettiest chicken right now is the Partridge Rock. Her feathers are gorgeous in the sunlight with the red markings on the blue/black feathers. She is one of the shyer girls, but not at all difficult to work with.
My EE is pure white. She is a little aloof, but gets along well with the others, and is usually at the front of the line for treats. She also loves to fly off of the back of chairs. When we get the new coop fitted out, I imagine she will be the one roosting in the rafters.
Vic the Gold Laced Wyandotte is my husband's favorite. She is the largest of the chicks, and her gold lacing is just getting established. I think he likes her the best because she is named after a character in a book he really enjoyed (The Cold Dish by Johnson).
Waaaay more than you wanted to know.
Sharol
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Wow, that first picture is a beautiful female! I dont think Ive ever heard of Marans before. Or just totally skimmed over them. Ive researched many breeds but mustve skipped them! Where did you find a breeder that sold Marans?
