Finally made a username, as I've been lurking the forums whenever I had questions. As some may notice from my username, I'm a prior Active Duty Marine and a current Reservist in the Marine Corps (just missed it so much... Lol). We have 4 chickens: 1 male gold laced cochin, cochin hen, americauna hen, and a silver laced Wyandotte. Sorry if I butchered the spelling on those names, but I only figured out a couple weeks ago that "cochin" was pronounced "ko-shin" and not "cockins" lol! Anyway, I look forward to asking questions and having some feedback on other things. I'll post pics of the girls and the stud when I get a chance at home.
Glad you joined us! Feel free to ask lots of questions! We're all here to help. Firstly, thanks for your service! It sounds like you have a beautiful flock. Just a word of caution, though: 1 rooster for 3 hens is not a good ratio. In many cases, roosters will overmate and stress out a small group of hens. 8 or more hens for each rooster is better. And actually, "Cochin" is pronounced "ko-chin." The ch makes a "cha" sound.
Welcome to BYC! Glad you decided to join our flock. A lot of us were lurkers before joining. Thank you for your service to our country. My brother-in-law is a retired Marine officer. You did just fine on the spelling of your chicken breeds. The only one you misspelled was Ameraucana, and if it is like most members Ameraucanas, it is actually an Easter Egger anyway, and not a true Ameraucana. Even the hatcheries that incorrectly market their Easter Eggers as Ameraucanas, frequently misspell them as either Americauna or Americana. If you're now familiar with the difference, there is a good article at http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2011/09/ameraucana-easter-egger-or-araucana.html explaining the difference between Araucanas, Ameraucanas, and Easter Eggers. Our Easter Eggers are my granddaughter's (pictured in my avatar) favorite chickens. She loves their colored eggs. I'll look forward to seeing your pics. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your flock.
Welcome to BYC! We're glad to have you. If you have any questions, feel free to ask! Thank you for your service!
Thanks for all the replies! And thank you for the word of caution. I wasn't aware it would possibly be an issue. We had purchased our Wyandotte and Ameraucana (Michael, now that you mentioned that other name I think it's actually an Araucana) first back in February. They were only a week or two old and we almost lost the Araucana, but was able to save her. We just a couple weeks ago got both the Cochins at the State Fair (I didn't want to split them up so we got both since they were together in the cage). They, according to the previous owner, are the same age as our first two. But that's the reason for getting the roo. I don't think any of us were intending on getting a roo from the fair lol. Can't wait to show you all pictures! I'm at work so gonna be another hour or two.
Ok, so my wife corrected me. Our one chicken isn't an Ameraucana nor an Araucana lol... she said that she's an Easter Egger, but it was always confusing because she doesn't lay colored eggs. They're a very light tan color, but nothing extreme like a blue or green egg. Anyway, just wanted to throw up some pictures for you all now that I'm home from work. This is Brooke. We named the stud Roo and his companion Lola. Here is Harriet. Harriet and Brooke.
Very nice flock - Brooke is my favorite. Welcome to Backyard chickens, hope you enjoy it as much as we do.