Thanks for all the welcomes. : )
I'm constantly amazed at how much I enjoy chickens. Of all things!
I bought my first flock seven years ago...all SLW...when I was living in the mountains of WV and also keeping a house in the northern neck. I commuted back and forth with the entire flock ( 12 hens) in dog crates in my van...the girls were the best socialized and well traveled chickens... totally unflappable, haha. I did finally sell them to a neighbor in WV and went chicken free for a short while, and then started over here with Silkies ( but mine were completely wild and never stopped acting as if they had never seen a human being before so I gave them away to someone who could love them anyway ) Australorps ( great chickens ) Wyandottes and a few Cochin girls. I free ranged the birds and lost, over time, the cochins to hawks and a few Wyandottes to my own dogs. Once I actually watched a hawk grab one of the barred cochins practically from under my feet and take off with her through the woods. Amazingly, a few days later here came the cochin, having hoofed it home thru the woods!! Hawk must have dropped her. The girls *are* kinda hefty...
What was left of that flock I gave to a friend who raises milk goats and wanted chickens, and I have just started over, again.
All my birds are hatchery stock. The cochins are friendly docile birds who follow me about like dogs. The polish are considerably flightier and by next spring I may rehome them. Love looking at them, but enjoy the day to day caring for the big fluffers more. This time round I ordered roosters too, so that I could have chicks if I wish to, but the more I read on the forums and the more photos I see of show quality cochins, well, I've begun to have thoughts of doing more with chickens than just enjoying them in the yard. Its like a wildly new thought to me that Wait, I can have excellent birds, no reason not to show and breed! Its just taken me a few years to get here, to this point. I have excellent facilities for chickens, plenty of space, experience breeding and showing other species and some knowlege of genetics. Just need to get past the discomfort of being the new kid on the block and connect with some people who can point me in the right directions.
Now I feel all shy like I've said too much, after spending three years saying nothing. Jeez. Think I'll just go with it. Thank you, again, for the welcomes!
