- Mar 27, 2013
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Hello!
About a year ago I brought 4 adorable chicks home and raised them through their scraggily phase into mature laying hen stage. I started this endeavor along with a few other urban farming projects with intention of learning more about how food is produced and being more involved in that process. I though eggs would be a great addition and it seemed like an easier starter project than raising a goat and learning to make cheese
Chickens are smaller, and there is not processing to be done with the egg, just a good washing. I hadn't quite made my decision but when I went to the grange and saw all the adorable little fluffy things I knew I couldn't go home with out them!
Since egg laying was my main goal I chose what I had researched to be the best layers that my grange had to offer. I got two Rhode Island Reds and two Sex Links a blonde and a black one. We named the two reds Nutmeg and Paprika and for the longest time we couldn't tell them apart, but now I know that Nutmeg is the one with the really big comb. The Black one is name licorice and the blonde, now a redish colored sex link is named Alice. Alice is by far the dominant hen and I have noticed she is quite bossy!
About six months in I would check the nesting box every day anxiously looking for eggs, and by the time I was wondering if I had gotten faulty chickens I was rewarded with beautiful brown eggs!
As exciting as the eggs are, they are not even my favorite thing about the chickens. They are just such cool little creatures! the Reds were really shy at first, but their personalities are coming out a bit more as we learn each other. Whenever I am outside or in the yard, they like to just hang out around me and forage, I love to be out working in my garden while they break up dirt clumps and eat worms. These chickens are such busy little things, I actually saw paprika snatch a fly out of the air the other day!
Watching my happy chickens makes me happy! I Think of them all as pets, and I am on the verge of broody hens, I will be getting them some fertilized eggs, that should be an adventure! I am hoping I will be able to get some good support here!
I am looking forward to meeting other Chicken enthusiasts and learning more about these awesome creatures!
This is Nutmeg, She has made a new nest in the smithy, I think she is ready to hatch some chicks!
About a year ago I brought 4 adorable chicks home and raised them through their scraggily phase into mature laying hen stage. I started this endeavor along with a few other urban farming projects with intention of learning more about how food is produced and being more involved in that process. I though eggs would be a great addition and it seemed like an easier starter project than raising a goat and learning to make cheese
Chickens are smaller, and there is not processing to be done with the egg, just a good washing. I hadn't quite made my decision but when I went to the grange and saw all the adorable little fluffy things I knew I couldn't go home with out them!Since egg laying was my main goal I chose what I had researched to be the best layers that my grange had to offer. I got two Rhode Island Reds and two Sex Links a blonde and a black one. We named the two reds Nutmeg and Paprika and for the longest time we couldn't tell them apart, but now I know that Nutmeg is the one with the really big comb. The Black one is name licorice and the blonde, now a redish colored sex link is named Alice. Alice is by far the dominant hen and I have noticed she is quite bossy!
About six months in I would check the nesting box every day anxiously looking for eggs, and by the time I was wondering if I had gotten faulty chickens I was rewarded with beautiful brown eggs!
As exciting as the eggs are, they are not even my favorite thing about the chickens. They are just such cool little creatures! the Reds were really shy at first, but their personalities are coming out a bit more as we learn each other. Whenever I am outside or in the yard, they like to just hang out around me and forage, I love to be out working in my garden while they break up dirt clumps and eat worms. These chickens are such busy little things, I actually saw paprika snatch a fly out of the air the other day!
Watching my happy chickens makes me happy! I Think of them all as pets, and I am on the verge of broody hens, I will be getting them some fertilized eggs, that should be an adventure! I am hoping I will be able to get some good support here!
I am looking forward to meeting other Chicken enthusiasts and learning more about these awesome creatures!
This is Nutmeg, She has made a new nest in the smithy, I think she is ready to hatch some chicks!
