elphabafalls
Songster
- Jul 27, 2020
- 108
- 158
- 123
I have 12 chickens. This is my first time raising chickens, and I am absolutely delighted with my experience so far. They're very sweet and curious and I've spoiled them rotten, but what's the point of having them if I can't spoil them? We got more chickens than we actually needed because we assumed we would end up with multiple males. We want to raise chickens for pets and for eggs, so we got extra to make sure we had enough hens. We ended up with 11 hens and 1 rooster. We've already told our family and friends that to get ready for fresh eggs because we're going to have a crap load of them. Our one male is my favorite and my baby. He's a Barred Plymouth Rock named Jude (as in the song Hey Jude), and he is ridiculously spoiled. Whenever they're given something new, he believes he should have first look, first taste, first whatever. One of his favorite activities is catching or finding something (like a cricket) and running wildly around the run, chirping loudly while the hens chase him trying to get whatever the treasure is from him. He loves to be envied. He loves this so much that sometimes he's more worried about the running and being chased than he is about the actual object and drops whatever it is. That's when one of the hens scoops it up and gobbles it down. I bring them treats on paper plates. (I just transport them on the plate. I don't leave them in their run) Whenever Jude sees me carrying a paper plate now, he will run along side of me excitedly, neck stretched and chirping. He started a new behavior today. We just finished building our new coop. It's so large that all 12 chickens can roost on one of its 3 roosting bars. We have plans to add two more when they're grown just to make sure that they have all the space they need and want. Right now, they love sleeping together - all 12 of them on the bar nearest the window that I use to check on them at night. We have our portable run completed but not their permanent run. This means 2 things: 1. They get new grass every day. 2. We have to pick them up and transport them to the run from the coop. Nine of the 12 are easy going and will run to be picked up first. Three of them act like they have no idea what we're there for every new day. One thing we've gotten in the habit of is talking to them and a low, soft voice and "petting" them. It calms them, and some will actually lean into our hands when we stroke their feathers. In fact, Jude will close his eyes and his head will flop loosely (hanging down like he's dead lol) when you pet him. Today, when we were transporting the chickens, whenever we'd have one of the hens in our hands petting and talking to them, Jude would run up and peck them hard on the head. He would do it multiple times if you had the same hen for very long, and he did it to every hen we held. He's a fart, but I love him.
