Hi! Newly chicken crazed lady here! We're a blended family of 6 (he has 2 biological kids (or bios), i have 2 bios) with dual residences in North Carolina & Georgia due to custody arrangements, work and military. It's not the easiest, but we've made it work! The chickens live in NC at my primary residence. We converted an old playset into a Taj Ma-coop!
How did I get into this chicken thing? Well, during this whole COVID mess, I ended up paying $7 for a dozen eggs one day because I was keto eating and eggs are a mainstay, so I HAD to have them. I woke up the next day (mid march), still reeling from that price, and said "let's go get some chickens". I'm slightly impulsive. Apparently, I wasn't the only one with that idea because Tractor Supply was clean out and they didn't know when they'd get more. So, I asked the google machine where to get chickens and was introduced to the wonderful world of online hatcheries. The particular one that I selected, required you to purchase 15 in order to guarantee all females. I didn't want a rooster and I thought, "I'm new to this; some might not make it". Uh huh.....16 healthy fluffy baby ISA brown chicks later (they sent a bonus chick), and I had a full out farm. I had so much fun watching the crazy girls grow, test their wings and develop their personalities. We originally felt that 16 full grown chickens was going to be too much (what the heck are we going to do with 16 eggs a day?), so once they started laying, I sold 8 - we hadn't named them so we weren't TOO attached and it was nice to give someone else the opportunity to raise chickens. Once our 8 really started laying, our daughters started an egg selling business in the neighborhood. In the first 2 days - orders for 6 dozen! People love some fresh eggs! Well, at that point, I convinced myself not only did we need more chickens, but we need to branch out in breed. And so here I am, mommy to:
8 ISA browns (laying), 1 Cinnamon Queen (1 month old), 1 Asian Black (1 month old), 4 Columbian Xrocks (1 week old). And at the end of the month, once they hatch, 1 Ameraucana & 2 barred Xrocks. Although, I'm sure they'll send a bonus.
We've named most of them - not the Columbians yet because they all still look alike:
ISAs:
Celine - she's got a super loud and beautiful egg song.
Angel - she's got these beautiful side feathers that are long and white and stick out like angel wings. sweetest personality and loves to be held.
Big red - the darkest red hen
Big mama - another dark red hen, but the biggest in the flock right now
Rhonda Rousy - she's not really mean, but is definitely the most aggressive. She loves to peck & bite us on the knees.
Speckles - her back is the most white and speckled.
Still need to pick out names for the other 2.
Cinnamon Queen - Cinna; for obvious reasons, but also because she's got what looks like eyeliner and it reminded us of Cinna from the Hunger Games
Asian Black - Blackberry - because she's jet black and sweet!
We love watching them run around the yard and interact. I never though chickens would be so entertaining! Our 2 dogs and cat mix right in with them, which I find fascinating and the kids are getting great experience with raising their own food!
And we don't know who it is yet, but 2 of these ladies think they are ducks. They lay well over jumbo sized eggs....the biggest one yet weighing in at 3.5oz!
How did I get into this chicken thing? Well, during this whole COVID mess, I ended up paying $7 for a dozen eggs one day because I was keto eating and eggs are a mainstay, so I HAD to have them. I woke up the next day (mid march), still reeling from that price, and said "let's go get some chickens". I'm slightly impulsive. Apparently, I wasn't the only one with that idea because Tractor Supply was clean out and they didn't know when they'd get more. So, I asked the google machine where to get chickens and was introduced to the wonderful world of online hatcheries. The particular one that I selected, required you to purchase 15 in order to guarantee all females. I didn't want a rooster and I thought, "I'm new to this; some might not make it". Uh huh.....16 healthy fluffy baby ISA brown chicks later (they sent a bonus chick), and I had a full out farm. I had so much fun watching the crazy girls grow, test their wings and develop their personalities. We originally felt that 16 full grown chickens was going to be too much (what the heck are we going to do with 16 eggs a day?), so once they started laying, I sold 8 - we hadn't named them so we weren't TOO attached and it was nice to give someone else the opportunity to raise chickens. Once our 8 really started laying, our daughters started an egg selling business in the neighborhood. In the first 2 days - orders for 6 dozen! People love some fresh eggs! Well, at that point, I convinced myself not only did we need more chickens, but we need to branch out in breed. And so here I am, mommy to:
8 ISA browns (laying), 1 Cinnamon Queen (1 month old), 1 Asian Black (1 month old), 4 Columbian Xrocks (1 week old). And at the end of the month, once they hatch, 1 Ameraucana & 2 barred Xrocks. Although, I'm sure they'll send a bonus.
We've named most of them - not the Columbians yet because they all still look alike:
ISAs:
Celine - she's got a super loud and beautiful egg song.
Angel - she's got these beautiful side feathers that are long and white and stick out like angel wings. sweetest personality and loves to be held.
Big red - the darkest red hen
Big mama - another dark red hen, but the biggest in the flock right now
Rhonda Rousy - she's not really mean, but is definitely the most aggressive. She loves to peck & bite us on the knees.
Speckles - her back is the most white and speckled.
Still need to pick out names for the other 2.
Cinnamon Queen - Cinna; for obvious reasons, but also because she's got what looks like eyeliner and it reminded us of Cinna from the Hunger Games
Asian Black - Blackberry - because she's jet black and sweet!
We love watching them run around the yard and interact. I never though chickens would be so entertaining! Our 2 dogs and cat mix right in with them, which I find fascinating and the kids are getting great experience with raising their own food!
And we don't know who it is yet, but 2 of these ladies think they are ducks. They lay well over jumbo sized eggs....the biggest one yet weighing in at 3.5oz!
thanks for sharing! Glad you are enjoying your flock and welcome to ours!
