Ok, here's my story.
I always loved seeing the chickens at our county fair, and I always thought, "Maybe someday I could get chickens too!".
One day I went on a field trip to an apple farm. They had a flock of Rhode Island Reds. I fed them apples and absolutely fell in love with the idea of having chickens in my backyard. I researched owning chickens and asked my parents for them for
two years! Last spring, my parents finally said yes. We got twelve tiny babies in April. Here are the breeds and names:
Lavender-Lavender Orpington
Misty-Lavender Orpington
Pepper (My special girl, I named her!)- Silver Laced Wyandotte
Willow-Gold Laced Wyandotte
Fern-Gold Laced Wyandotte
Meadow (My current favorite hen, although I really love them all)-Barnevelder
Cinnamon-Olive Egger
Storm-Prairie Bluebell Egger
Pebbles-Prairie Bluebell Egger
Spitzy-Silver Spangled Appenzeller Spitzhauben
Buttercup-Blue Laced Red Wyandotte
Dandelion-Blue Laced Red Wyandotte
Long story short, Fern turned out to be a cockerel. We re-named him Fernando

He was so sweet to us, loved to be fed and talked to. But, he was rough with Meadow, our sweet and shy bottom hen. He always yanked her feathers out, and it got to the point when Meadow would not come down from the coop to eat. So, we re-homed our sweet boy for the sake of our stressed hens. Hs went to a farming company that re-homes roos to farms who want protection for hens, a rooster for mating/eggs, etc. We miss him, but our hens are so so much happier. Meadow gained a better position in the pecking order, and is getting along well with the other hens.
The only death we have had is our sweet Willow, the Gold Laced Wyandotte. She died unexpectedly in her sleep one night, and we found her dead in the morning. That was in October.
That's about it! I'll try to post some flock pics
