Hello fellow chixen lovers!! I started my clutch around Father's Day this year with 6 pullets and 1 cockerel that were all one month old. It's been a joy along the way to watch them grow and now have some of my girls finally start laying…
…proud momma!!
I wanted chixens after taking a class on poultry through the local extension office. The agent offering the class was very insightful and has raised meat and layer chixens of his own and raved about how much better fresh eggs were than the "egg mill" eggs. I have to agree!!
I currently have the original group of girls living in one chicken tractor mansion, consisting of 2 Wellsumer hens (Martha and Abby, both laying almost daily) , 2 Buff Orpington (Lizzie and Lou, one isn't laying at all and the other is inconsistent at best) and 2 Golden Comets (Dolly and Rachel, both are laying almost daily). The Wellsumer cockerel (Roy) that I got with the group originally, I traded for a French Black Copper Maran cockerel (Mick) of the same age…he was Wade/Davis line. The lady I traded with wanted a Wellsumer to try a different breed and she was culling Mick because he had a white tip on his wing. Since I'm not breeding to show, I was excited about the trade off and decided to get some "girls" for him eventually because I think the chocolate eggs are beautiful!!
In early August, my hubby helped me build another chicken tractor mansion (Have to admit I was getting tired of feeding and not getting eggs, so I decided to expand the flock.) and I added two Red Star hens (Jane and Mary Todd) that had just started laying.
In late August I got 3 French Black Copper Maran pullets (Hannah, Anna and Sarah from the Wade/Davis line). Shortly after they came out of quarantine, Mick, the FBCM cockerel I had, was packed off by a fox…dirty fox!! So, I began to hunt fox…fun, fun.
In early October, I added 4 mixed breed one year old hens (Tish, Marge, Jules, Polka) to the second chicken tractor mansion. Polka was attacked by our dog, Apollo (Boxer breed) and we had to put her out of her misery. She was my daughter's fav chixen and it was the first one I've had to kill but it was worse seeing her suffer. Then, dirty old fox decided to carry off one of the FBCM pullets, Sarah…LIVID!!!
Mr Fox met his demise after meeting the business end of my shotgun and, knock on wood, we haven't had another fox incident since then. However, I am more vigilant about watching the flock and letting them out later in the morning and hanging out outside while they are getting ready to go roost for the night. I'm sure our predator list is going to grow but I'm trying to do as much as i can to prevent as much as possible!!
I added 2 four month old cockerels (York a Silver laced Wyandotte and Bean a Buff Orpington) in late October after an add that they were being given away for free. I want to breed my hens, so the Buff was an attractive offer and the SLW was a bonus.
Later in November I found a Blue French Black Copper Maran cockerel (Cal, named after UK's men's basketball coach, Coach Calipari…why, yes, we are UK fans)…YIPPEE!!!
Can't wait to get them separated off this spring and let the breeding begin!! I have friends that want to start their own backyard chickens so that they know where the eggs and meat come from. They will be getting some of my sweet babies to be!!
Can't wait to see what kinds of tips and things I'm going to be learning on here and if anyone has any tips about the breeds I'm keeping, please feel free to message me!! Happy clucking all!!
-marandazmail
I wanted chixens after taking a class on poultry through the local extension office. The agent offering the class was very insightful and has raised meat and layer chixens of his own and raved about how much better fresh eggs were than the "egg mill" eggs. I have to agree!!
I currently have the original group of girls living in one chicken tractor mansion, consisting of 2 Wellsumer hens (Martha and Abby, both laying almost daily) , 2 Buff Orpington (Lizzie and Lou, one isn't laying at all and the other is inconsistent at best) and 2 Golden Comets (Dolly and Rachel, both are laying almost daily). The Wellsumer cockerel (Roy) that I got with the group originally, I traded for a French Black Copper Maran cockerel (Mick) of the same age…he was Wade/Davis line. The lady I traded with wanted a Wellsumer to try a different breed and she was culling Mick because he had a white tip on his wing. Since I'm not breeding to show, I was excited about the trade off and decided to get some "girls" for him eventually because I think the chocolate eggs are beautiful!!
In early August, my hubby helped me build another chicken tractor mansion (Have to admit I was getting tired of feeding and not getting eggs, so I decided to expand the flock.) and I added two Red Star hens (Jane and Mary Todd) that had just started laying.
In late August I got 3 French Black Copper Maran pullets (Hannah, Anna and Sarah from the Wade/Davis line). Shortly after they came out of quarantine, Mick, the FBCM cockerel I had, was packed off by a fox…dirty fox!! So, I began to hunt fox…fun, fun.
In early October, I added 4 mixed breed one year old hens (Tish, Marge, Jules, Polka) to the second chicken tractor mansion. Polka was attacked by our dog, Apollo (Boxer breed) and we had to put her out of her misery. She was my daughter's fav chixen and it was the first one I've had to kill but it was worse seeing her suffer. Then, dirty old fox decided to carry off one of the FBCM pullets, Sarah…LIVID!!!
Mr Fox met his demise after meeting the business end of my shotgun and, knock on wood, we haven't had another fox incident since then. However, I am more vigilant about watching the flock and letting them out later in the morning and hanging out outside while they are getting ready to go roost for the night. I'm sure our predator list is going to grow but I'm trying to do as much as i can to prevent as much as possible!!
I added 2 four month old cockerels (York a Silver laced Wyandotte and Bean a Buff Orpington) in late October after an add that they were being given away for free. I want to breed my hens, so the Buff was an attractive offer and the SLW was a bonus.
Later in November I found a Blue French Black Copper Maran cockerel (Cal, named after UK's men's basketball coach, Coach Calipari…why, yes, we are UK fans)…YIPPEE!!!
Can't wait to get them separated off this spring and let the breeding begin!! I have friends that want to start their own backyard chickens so that they know where the eggs and meat come from. They will be getting some of my sweet babies to be!!
Can't wait to see what kinds of tips and things I'm going to be learning on here and if anyone has any tips about the breeds I'm keeping, please feel free to message me!! Happy clucking all!!
-marandazmail
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