I've been hemming and hawing about joining for months and am finally diving in. We're new enthusiasts, after being interested in chickens for years.
We started with our coop/run, which I dubbed Chicken Ranch after the famous one in TX.
We have since taken home a gregarious "madam" for the Ranch, Miss Mona. She's a barred rock, a little over a year. She's a peach! Friendly as can be, follows us around the yard, tries to follow us in the house. She's been a great layer, and her personality is endearing and charming. She's hands down the top bird in our flock and the highest in the pecking order.
The day we adopted Miss Mona we also took home a black silkie, named Bojangles. "She" turned out to be more of a "Bo Dangles" and went back to his farm a month or so later (after he started crowing) and they exchanged him for another hen. She's naughty, a silkie cross, who lays smaller white eggs. Her name is Hot Pie, she has been a runaway, she turned broody on us for a couple of weeks (so glad it's over) and started attacking us and the dogs (truly funny and amazing), and in general is my least favorite of our flock.
We have a tiny little Ameraucana named JK, who has never laid anything and who squawks like a duck and makes beeping and honking noises. She's comical and lovely but also not a friendly chicken. But nowhere near as naughty as Hot Pie.
We also brought home two chicks when they were about two weeks old. A Polish Tolbunt we've named Phyllis, and a Maran we named Cadbury (in anticipation of her eggs). The "baby peepers" are now about two months old, and have moved into Chicken Ranch and are happy as can be with their new digs and scratching about the yard. They're incredibly docile and follow us and eat from our hands, like Mona. We're relatively sure Phyllis isn't a Phil, and Cadbury appears to be turning into a barred girl too.
We love the girls - even the two naughty birds - their antics are endlessly amusing and I find we spend far more time in our backyard since we got our tiny flock. I could never have predicted how much we'd enjoy our birds. We're totally hooked on chickens!
We started with our coop/run, which I dubbed Chicken Ranch after the famous one in TX.
We have since taken home a gregarious "madam" for the Ranch, Miss Mona. She's a barred rock, a little over a year. She's a peach! Friendly as can be, follows us around the yard, tries to follow us in the house. She's been a great layer, and her personality is endearing and charming. She's hands down the top bird in our flock and the highest in the pecking order.
The day we adopted Miss Mona we also took home a black silkie, named Bojangles. "She" turned out to be more of a "Bo Dangles" and went back to his farm a month or so later (after he started crowing) and they exchanged him for another hen. She's naughty, a silkie cross, who lays smaller white eggs. Her name is Hot Pie, she has been a runaway, she turned broody on us for a couple of weeks (so glad it's over) and started attacking us and the dogs (truly funny and amazing), and in general is my least favorite of our flock.
We have a tiny little Ameraucana named JK, who has never laid anything and who squawks like a duck and makes beeping and honking noises. She's comical and lovely but also not a friendly chicken. But nowhere near as naughty as Hot Pie.
We also brought home two chicks when they were about two weeks old. A Polish Tolbunt we've named Phyllis, and a Maran we named Cadbury (in anticipation of her eggs). The "baby peepers" are now about two months old, and have moved into Chicken Ranch and are happy as can be with their new digs and scratching about the yard. They're incredibly docile and follow us and eat from our hands, like Mona. We're relatively sure Phyllis isn't a Phil, and Cadbury appears to be turning into a barred girl too.
We love the girls - even the two naughty birds - their antics are endlessly amusing and I find we spend far more time in our backyard since we got our tiny flock. I could never have predicted how much we'd enjoy our birds. We're totally hooked on chickens!
and Welcome To BYC!
