- Aug 31, 2011
- 5
- 0
- 7
I went online to look up the answer to a chicken question and somehow ended up joining BYC! I'm new to chickens, so I'll probably be on here every chance I get. I promised my son he could have chickens when we moved to the country 3 yrs ago. When his dad passed away last fall, I thought it would help him so we got some chickens this spring. I had read a lot about keeping chickens and ducks, but obviously not enough!
We started with (2) day old chicks, Gold Comets, I believe and (2) pullets, no name. A couple of weeks later, we got 2 Buff Ducklings. Everything was going pretty well till one of the pullets turned out to be a rooster. Then the "generic" pullets started to grow and eat everything in sight. We couldn't keep them in food. Turns out they were some kind of Cornish Cross meat birds and died around 10 wks. Not sure if they overheated or what, but the other chickens did just fine. No more "generic" chickens from the feed store!!!
We lost one of the ducks to a dog around a month ago, so we started looking around locally to replace him. The female duck was so lonely it broke my heart. .....and that's when it hit! Somehow, I lost my mind and started buying more chickens and ducks. Help! My neighbor told me to try Craigslist if I was looking for more chickens. Oh my! I bought 2 Frizzle pullets (one drowned in the duck pool) from a local breeder and will probably go back for a Silkie. They're so cute! I also bought a mated pair of Crested Rouen ducks and my newest addition is a Magpie drake we haven't named yet. All total, I now have 2 Gold Comet hens, 1 Buff Frizzle pullet (may be a rooster after all) a Buff Duck hen, a Magpie drake and the pair of Crested Rouen ducks. We still plan on getting a couple of Cayuga ducks and I'd love to have more chickens, but that may wait till next year.
I'm a dog groomer by trade, widowed mother of 3, and have a 10 yr old living at home with me. We live with 3 mini Schnauzers that think chickens are fun to play with and 4 cats that think I have completely lost my mind. I hope to have Alpacas and goats some day. We have almost 4 acres that I'm fencing in a little at a time. I love to garden and hope to someday spend more time in my garden than I do working.
We started with (2) day old chicks, Gold Comets, I believe and (2) pullets, no name. A couple of weeks later, we got 2 Buff Ducklings. Everything was going pretty well till one of the pullets turned out to be a rooster. Then the "generic" pullets started to grow and eat everything in sight. We couldn't keep them in food. Turns out they were some kind of Cornish Cross meat birds and died around 10 wks. Not sure if they overheated or what, but the other chickens did just fine. No more "generic" chickens from the feed store!!!
We lost one of the ducks to a dog around a month ago, so we started looking around locally to replace him. The female duck was so lonely it broke my heart. .....and that's when it hit! Somehow, I lost my mind and started buying more chickens and ducks. Help! My neighbor told me to try Craigslist if I was looking for more chickens. Oh my! I bought 2 Frizzle pullets (one drowned in the duck pool) from a local breeder and will probably go back for a Silkie. They're so cute! I also bought a mated pair of Crested Rouen ducks and my newest addition is a Magpie drake we haven't named yet. All total, I now have 2 Gold Comet hens, 1 Buff Frizzle pullet (may be a rooster after all) a Buff Duck hen, a Magpie drake and the pair of Crested Rouen ducks. We still plan on getting a couple of Cayuga ducks and I'd love to have more chickens, but that may wait till next year.
I'm a dog groomer by trade, widowed mother of 3, and have a 10 yr old living at home with me. We live with 3 mini Schnauzers that think chickens are fun to play with and 4 cats that think I have completely lost my mind. I hope to have Alpacas and goats some day. We have almost 4 acres that I'm fencing in a little at a time. I love to garden and hope to someday spend more time in my garden than I do working.
