Hello fellow Chicken lovers. To start off with I grew up on a farmett since about age 11, if it eats, craps and makes a noise we probable had 1 at some time or other. I had recently relocated to eastern TN to be with some like minded individuals that wish to be more self sustaining. So a plan so came together and number one on the list was chickens and your gonna have chickens you gotta have a coop. So me and a like minded member went to building a chicken coop. Ours is 8x16 divided in half so that once they are raised the back portion can be used for hosing some roosters and hens in individual breeding pens. But lets not put the cart before the horse. Our first thinking was to get enough breeding stock from a hatchery, in this case McMurrey hatchery for their selection. So we decided on 5 Cornish X Rock hens and a rooster to be our meat birds due to there rapid growth that was until we got them to 9 weeks of age. They are huge at this point and there not even 1/2 way to full grown and my fellow like minded pals feel bad to eat something that young and then there is the fact I failed to do my homework on this breed being that they are not likely to reproduce the same traits in there young. Here's a few of em doing what they do best EAT. BTW all of our chickens are 9 weeks of age. Notice a difference? I named the rooster C-Rex aka Chicken Dinosaur.
HAD TO DELETE PICS WOULD'NT POST
So were now thinking of keeping the rooster and 1 or 2 hens to try to breed them into our Bard Rocks (of which we have 5 hens and a rooster) and Rhode Island Reds (of which we got 4 hens and a rooster) and hopefully use one of those breeds for duel purpose birds. Those were the only breed specific birds we ordered and this is where it gets interesting, in my infinite lack of wisdom I ordered 15 assorted breed birds and also a assorted Rainbow layers pack of 15. Of which I am not sure which birds belong to which group. Lets start off with the ones we know, 2 Cochins, those white fluffy things with feathered toes one of which MAY be a rooster but at 9 weeks not sure yet. 2 black Australorps which the one on our profile pic is beauty, a lap bird in the making. We have 2 Americana's one of which looked like an owl in the face and earned the name Owly which may or may not be a male, he/she is doing alot of chest bumping and trying to set pecking order. Owly is pretty white with black spots in the cockles and tail. The other Americana is the oppsite dark colors brown black and gold both very pretty. We have 1 Columbian Wyandottes or he could be a Deleware, rooster we think, hes a bully and bites us, (leading the race to the freezer at this point). 2 Buff Orpington, Tauny and Linda. Linda is smaller but Tauny wont let the others bully her shes there in a heartbeat and seems to be the leading contender for head momma chicken. Now for the unknowns we have 6 that are colorered closely to the Barred Rocks but are more black less white all hens. We are hoping they came in the egg layers assortment and are Cuckoo Marans, but they could be Dominiques, Anconas would be to much of a reach I think. Here is a pic of them at 9 weeks.HAD TO DELETE PICS WOULD'NT POST
HAD TO DELETE PICS WOULD'NT POST
We also have 5 what I think are Cornish hens, they are the smallest of our flock and skittish. I have mostly bad pics of them,The cornish is the one in the back right by the fence post The other 2 in the background are RIR and the one in the foreground is Beauty one of what I think are Black Australorps.
HAD TO DELETE PICS WOULD'NT POST
I have a male and a female of this next breed, named Grandma and Grandpa because of there salt and pepper plumage on their heads. That is Grandma on the right and our darker Americana in the middle.I got 4 hens that are tan with white highlghts which could be Red Stars,Rangers, or something totally unknown to me. All 5 of them are in this picture, 3 of them standing. The hen which is standing on the pole is another one which is in question, shes the only one of that breed. directly down from the bird house on the ground.
In this next pic is one of the white fluff balls cochins on left then a Cornish, Tauny one of our Buff Oringtons, another Cornish, then it is Owly or other Americana and then a RIR in front on right.
Well I think you've meet the hole flock here at the Lunatic Fringe Chicken Ranch if you could help us out by telling what some of these breeds are I would be greatfull.
