Chat About Anything Chickens!!

[GirlsHuntToo]

This is the place to talk about anything chickens!! Breeds, your roosters, past experiences that you would like to share, and more! Always follow BYC rules, and if you are going to post something, make sure its kind.
Share some pictures of your birds and tell a story about it, What flock member has stuck with you over all these years? Ever had a broody hen?? Incubator hatches??
Have fun!!

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

@2ndTink, @TwoCrows, @Tookie, @The Welch Chickens, @fluffycrow, @21hens-incharge, @Chive, @Antiocheggers, @Debbie292d, @SwampPrincessChick, @GreenJay, @Rose the Legbar, @Insnesnakos, @NagemTX, @Auntiejessi3, @casportpony, @Shabby Chic-Hens, @RoyalChick, @Ponypoor, @TheDawg, @dawg53

Come on over and talk chickens!!

 

[The Welch Chickens]

@2ndTink, @TwoCrows, @Tookie, @The Welch Chickens, @fluffycrow, @21hens-incharge, @Chive, @Antiocheggers, @Debbie292d, @SwampPrincessChick, @GreenJay, @Rose the Legbar, @Insnesnakos, @NagemTX, @Auntiejessi3, @casportpony

Come on over and talk chickens!!

Thanks for the tag!

 

[The Welch Chickens]

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

 

[The Welch Chickens]

Fernando:
(The last one is of him going to his new home)

 

[TwoCrows]

Fernando:
(The last one is of him going to his new home)
View attachment 3709825View attachment 3709826View attachment 3709827

Beautiful boy! ❤ Sometimes it's necessary to rehome for the better of the flock.

 

[2ndTink]

I'm at work right now and I might have chicks hatching in the incubator right now either today or tomorrow! I hatched 3 mix breed chicks from eggs from my flock last weekend and I have 6 more white silkie eggs from my flock hatching soon!!! This is my second time hatching and the first time using eggs from my own chickens so I'm super excited even though they are "pet quality" silkies (TSC chixks but they are GREAT layers!) and silkie mixes. Next summer I'll be hatching purebred silkies from breeder stock, I'm feeling fancy!

 

[The Welch Chickens]

I'm at work right now and I might have chicks hatching in the incubator right now either today or tomorrow! I hatched 3 mix breed chicks from eggs from my flock last weekend and I have 6 more white silkie eggs from my flock hatching soon!!! This is my second time hatching and the first time using eggs from my own chickens so I'm super excited even though they are "pet quality" silkies (TSC chixks but they are GREAT layers!) and silkie mixes. Next summer I'll be hatching purebred silkies from breeder stock, I'm feeling fancy!

Fun! I've never hatched chicks. My mom says she doesn't want to because she fears something will go wrong. She read stories about chicks born with bowels torn out, shells stuck, staggering around half dead, etc... scared her a bit and now she doesn't want to hatch. Oh well!

 

[2ndTink]

Fun! I've never hatched chicks. My mom says she doesn't want to because she fears something will go wrong. She read stories about chicks born with bowels torn out, shells stuck, staggering around half dead, etc... scared her a bit and now she doesn't want to hatch. Oh well!

That's understandable, I'm learning the importance of good nutrition in the patent stock, thankfully mine are well fed so I think even with incubating the eggs unplanned (I was not going to incubate until next spring... but I got an incubator so "had" to do a test run and grabbed some eggs from my egg basket...) the chicks will do well.

I had a few issues with my first hatch but nothing grotesque thankfully! Now that I'll be hatching my own eggs I'll have more control over the variables like good nutrition and genetics. I'm sure I'll learn my chickens more as I hatch their eggs and I may find some that I will stop hatching from, all a big unknown for now!

 

[The Welch Chickens]

Here are some of my chick’s photos: