Hi, like so many others this spring, we decided due to the covid scare that we'd try raising chickens for eggs. A friend of ours was in the process of ordering from a hatchery and offered to split the order with us. We ended up with 9 buff orpington chicks, which I knew nothing about when we decided to jump into this adventure! Let's just say, the family has become HUGE fans of these birds. They are now 3 months old, and quite handsome! My husband, bless his heart, built them a coop that will withstand a bear attack, and is as cute as a doll house! We still think all 9 chicks are hens, as none of them seem to have developed any "rooster like" features. We have had to put little bracelets on them to tell them apart, and of course they all have names : )
I had no idea that we'd go so nutty over the birds, but both my 14 yr old son and 19 yr old daughter just gush over them (ok me too)! We watch YouTube videos about them and realize that we aren't the only people out there who love their flock! They really seem to love us too! They snuggle on our laps, and come when called! My daughter is trying to clicker train them to peck a stick for a meal worm reward...they caught on to that almost instantly. She's working up to a more extensive trick (I'm not sure what....teach them to ride a bike on a tight rope? Who knows!?)
We were free ranging them during the day as we live out in the country, but as of yesterday we learned a hard lesson about foxes. (see my post about our fox attack : ( ) So I've ordered some PremierOne electric poultry netting and the whole "starter kit" to make my girls a safe haven. We have had raccoons come by at night which we have taken preventative means to discourage, but the fox in the middle of the day was a sad eye opener. We still have 9 birds, but one is injured and hopefully pulls through.
Anyway, Glad to meet you all, and I'm looking forward to hearing your chicken stories!
I had no idea that we'd go so nutty over the birds, but both my 14 yr old son and 19 yr old daughter just gush over them (ok me too)! We watch YouTube videos about them and realize that we aren't the only people out there who love their flock! They really seem to love us too! They snuggle on our laps, and come when called! My daughter is trying to clicker train them to peck a stick for a meal worm reward...they caught on to that almost instantly. She's working up to a more extensive trick (I'm not sure what....teach them to ride a bike on a tight rope? Who knows!?)
We were free ranging them during the day as we live out in the country, but as of yesterday we learned a hard lesson about foxes. (see my post about our fox attack : ( ) So I've ordered some PremierOne electric poultry netting and the whole "starter kit" to make my girls a safe haven. We have had raccoons come by at night which we have taken preventative means to discourage, but the fox in the middle of the day was a sad eye opener. We still have 9 birds, but one is injured and hopefully pulls through.
Anyway, Glad to meet you all, and I'm looking forward to hearing your chicken stories!
So glad you decided to join! 
Make yourself at home here.
glad you've decided to join this great community 
