Chickens in the high desert

[Fuchsia]

Hello and Welcome to BYC!

 

[LizzzyJo]

Welcome! I loved your intro and I’m happy to have learned a new geographical term! High desert. If you’d like a new one, I live in the Great Black Swamp. Much smaller than the high desert, I’d imagine, but a little piece of America none the less.

 

[Kiki]

Hi, we are new chicken owners. Our 6 girls were hatched May 18, 2020 and came home with us May 20th.
As I write this, they are 16 weeks old and not laying yet. We managed to keep them all alive through a brutally hot summer and hopefully that was the hardest thing we’ll have to do for a while.
We have:
1. A barred rock (Mary). Big sweet girl who tolerates attention more than any other. Definitely a family favorite.

2. An Austra White (Whitney). Pretty sure she’s the alpha chicken. She keeps everyone in check and doesn’t allow anyone running past her. Quiet, but would prefer to be looked at, not touched. She’s the only one with a comb and wattles that are full grown and red. (Maybe she will lay soon?)

3. Golden Buff (Goldie). Best buds with Mary. Quiet And calm unless she can’t find Mary...tolerates attention.

4. Welsummer (Scratch Back...yes that’s what my daughter named her). She is calm and quiet. Maybe a bit timid. Always last to try new things. Last one in the coop at night, last out in the morning. Pretty sure she’s the bottom rung of the chicken totem pole. She doesn’t get picked on...she just doesn’t engage in the pecking order.

5. Easter Egger. (Chris..short for Christina). If we ever decided to eat one of our chickens, it would be her. She’s loud. She’s high strung. She’s obnoxious. She’s doesn’t tolerate any attention. If you pick her up, she acts like she’s dying and scratches relentlessly to get away. She sounds the alarm bok at anything. Dog bark? BOK. Dove in a tree? BOK. Wind? BOK. Leaf fell on the ground? BOK. And of course every time she sounds the alarm everyone gets quiet and still assuming there is a threat nearby. She gets put in her place a lot by Whitney for her anxious antics.

6 Another Golden Buff (Dixie). Very different personality than the other golden buff. Dixie pals around with the alpha chicken and Easter Egger. Doesn’t care about us unless we have food. Food is life. Dixie is quite the pig. She stays at the feeder longer than needed I’m sure.

btw my daughter named them...all but one of my suggestions got vetoed.

happy to be here and learn from everyone!

Welcome to BYC!