Okay, so... continuing my un-requested story...
I was incubating 18 jersey giant eggs (my first time) and had 4 barred rock pullets from EFC in the spare bedroom in a dog crate. As they grew they went to the garage and were housed in the chicken tractor. 5 of the 18 eggs hatched and I kept the single yellow chick. Eventually I got the coop finished and all 5 birds outside into their new home. Then, less than a week later I came home to find that my dogs had broken in to the run and killed the 4 barred rocks! I was furious and sad, but mostly furious. Then I was very surprised to discover that despite first appearances, my little yellow (now red) chick was indeed still alive, probably in shock. So, the red (Dani) ended up back in the garage with electrolytes and TLC, recovered pretty quickly. So I was down to 1 chicken which was less than 2 months old and had lost my 4 month old pullets! >:-(
3 Rivers in WR was having their "3 free chicks" promotion, so I went down there the same day and picked up a Welsummer, Barred Rock and a Maran for my neighbor. About 2 weeks after that, they posted on their Facebook page that they had silkies, so... [Chicken Math] I went and got my white Silkie. In the meantime I did major reinforcements on the entry to the chicken run, having learned my lesson. When I integrated the chicks outside the Red and Barred Rock were the first to go outside, the Maran went to the neighbor, then a couple weeks later the Welsummer and the Silkie went outside. I made a huge mistake and set the kennel with the Silkie and the Welsummer in the run where it was not shaded. Without realizing there was any possibility of problems, they got heat stroke. I lost the Welsummer, but the Silkie survived. I was back down to 3 chickens. All three (as well as the neighbor's Maran) ended up being roosters. After the Red started crowing I found him a new home, followed by the Barred Rock.
I found a gal on craigslist that was selling some of her older hens, and I got the Maran and Australorp that I own today. And with them came a bad case of poultry lice! I was about to give up on chickens at this point. My neighbors claim to like having the Silkie's crowing, but I fear the day that we get a notice from the city. This winter my gals stopped laying for a while, and I had stopped checking the nest box. Before I realized it, my Maran had 5 eggs under her and was in full-on brooding! I decided to let her keep them, they all hatched, and that's where we're at today. I'm getting about 3 eggs a week again from the Australorp with our return of Spring-like weather, and she's been trying to keep her eggs. My theory is that she's a little jealous.
I have a list of breeds that I would like to add to my flock, and I want to re-do my coop. My current coop was made from all free wood, but it's not very attractive. It looks a bit like a shanty town back there. Hehe.
