Hi, there!
I'm newly signed up, but not a new reader. This site has been so helpful to me over the past few months, and I greatly appreciate it.
My husband and I recently purchased a small farm (ten acres) in a rural outskirt of Detroit. We had lived in a plush condo on a golf course for the past five years, and it just wasn't for me. I grew up on a cattle ranch in Oklahoma. My grandfather (who raised me) owned the local feed store. Every Spring, he would bring home all the chicks and bunnies that had not sold over Easter. We always had a large number of Rhode Island Red's and Cornish hens. My job as a child was run out into the pasture, where the chicken coop was built (dodging charging cows at certain times of the year) and collect all the eggs, clean out the coop, feed and water the hens, etc. Needless to say, I didn't like chickens all that much when I was a child. LOL!
Our recent purchase of the farm brought me back to my grass roots, and I don't think I've ever been happier in my life. We bought a herd of Tibetan Yak, and we're now the second yak ranch in Michigan. In spite of my not-so-fond memories of chickens, we bought six (originally eight) baby chicks. I wasn't sure what breed I wanted, so I chose a variety. I had three ameracuana's (sp?), one austrolorp, two Rhode Island Red's, one Mille Fleur bantam, and one little black bantam that I'm unsure of. She's the one I need help from you guys on figuring out. I will post a pic soon.
I fell in love with these babies immediately. After the first week, I lost my little austrolorp due to a freak cold spell. I had just raised the light an inch the night before, and I guess she just wasn't ready. She died in my hand, and it broke my heart. I went to the feed store to see if they had any chicks left. They had two-one Red who was horribly deformed, and the Mille. They said I had to take them as a pair, because they were buddies. I agreed, and they just gave them to me. The little Mille had feathers all the way to her toes, just like my little black one did.
As the weather got warmer, I would take them out in the yard for fresh air and exercise, and I would sit on the ground with them. They were so cute! They quickly grew, and became fully feathered. Rosie, the deformed one, died after a couple of weeks, even though the other chicks fully accepted her and never tormented her. I think she had a deficiency of some sort. I was sad for her, but it was obvious that she would not have lived a happy life. Peaches, my Mille, was sad but she had bonded with all the others by that point.
I began letting them out during the day, and they would come back to their sleeping area on their own in the evening. I had been using a cattle stall that was reinforced all the way around while my husband was building the coop. I placed a pallet in there a few days ago, leaning it against the wall, and they had begun to roost. Yesterday, I noticed that they were making nests in the straw. Watching their antics was a source of great happiness for me.
This morning I went out to let them out, only to be confronted with horror. My babies had been attacked by a raccoon. I had no idea that raccoons even eat chickens. All six of them were eaten, and there were the feathers of each of them strewn in various spots. It was easy to see that a raccoon had done it, because there were prints in the dirt. I spent the morning hours crying and vowing revenge on that raccoon. Macy, my Goldendoodle puppy, brought me her teddy bear for comfort. She loved the chicks, too, and did her share of whimpering when she saw and smelled what had happened.
Each of these breeds had their own endearing characteristics, and I would like to get more of each of them. The problem is, I never figured out what Petunia (my black bantam) was. I bought her from a couple of people who kind of had too much on their plate. They had a ton of chickens, all different breeds, and frequently ordered eggs. They told me that she was an austrolorp, but she didn't look like the other austrolorp. She was the tiniest of them all, even though she was the same age. She was the last to get her feathers. She was solid black as a chick, with little black feathers all the way to her toes. When her other feathers came in, it looked like she was going to have some yellow, or maybe white specks here and there. Her feathers on her legs and feet remained black, so I can't tell you what color her legs and toes were (couldn't see them for the feathers). I google'd 'black bantam chick', and looked at some pictures on here. None of the pic's look like her, because I never saw another pic of a chick with feathers on their legs and toes. If it wasn't for that, I would have thought she really was an austrolorp.
Sorry for the length of this post. I loved my babies, and it's very important to me that I find more that are the same breeds. Thanks in advance for whatever assistance you can provide.
Sincerely,
Cayce
I'm newly signed up, but not a new reader. This site has been so helpful to me over the past few months, and I greatly appreciate it.
My husband and I recently purchased a small farm (ten acres) in a rural outskirt of Detroit. We had lived in a plush condo on a golf course for the past five years, and it just wasn't for me. I grew up on a cattle ranch in Oklahoma. My grandfather (who raised me) owned the local feed store. Every Spring, he would bring home all the chicks and bunnies that had not sold over Easter. We always had a large number of Rhode Island Red's and Cornish hens. My job as a child was run out into the pasture, where the chicken coop was built (dodging charging cows at certain times of the year) and collect all the eggs, clean out the coop, feed and water the hens, etc. Needless to say, I didn't like chickens all that much when I was a child. LOL!
Our recent purchase of the farm brought me back to my grass roots, and I don't think I've ever been happier in my life. We bought a herd of Tibetan Yak, and we're now the second yak ranch in Michigan. In spite of my not-so-fond memories of chickens, we bought six (originally eight) baby chicks. I wasn't sure what breed I wanted, so I chose a variety. I had three ameracuana's (sp?), one austrolorp, two Rhode Island Red's, one Mille Fleur bantam, and one little black bantam that I'm unsure of. She's the one I need help from you guys on figuring out. I will post a pic soon.
I fell in love with these babies immediately. After the first week, I lost my little austrolorp due to a freak cold spell. I had just raised the light an inch the night before, and I guess she just wasn't ready. She died in my hand, and it broke my heart. I went to the feed store to see if they had any chicks left. They had two-one Red who was horribly deformed, and the Mille. They said I had to take them as a pair, because they were buddies. I agreed, and they just gave them to me. The little Mille had feathers all the way to her toes, just like my little black one did.
As the weather got warmer, I would take them out in the yard for fresh air and exercise, and I would sit on the ground with them. They were so cute! They quickly grew, and became fully feathered. Rosie, the deformed one, died after a couple of weeks, even though the other chicks fully accepted her and never tormented her. I think she had a deficiency of some sort. I was sad for her, but it was obvious that she would not have lived a happy life. Peaches, my Mille, was sad but she had bonded with all the others by that point.
I began letting them out during the day, and they would come back to their sleeping area on their own in the evening. I had been using a cattle stall that was reinforced all the way around while my husband was building the coop. I placed a pallet in there a few days ago, leaning it against the wall, and they had begun to roost. Yesterday, I noticed that they were making nests in the straw. Watching their antics was a source of great happiness for me.
This morning I went out to let them out, only to be confronted with horror. My babies had been attacked by a raccoon. I had no idea that raccoons even eat chickens. All six of them were eaten, and there were the feathers of each of them strewn in various spots. It was easy to see that a raccoon had done it, because there were prints in the dirt. I spent the morning hours crying and vowing revenge on that raccoon. Macy, my Goldendoodle puppy, brought me her teddy bear for comfort. She loved the chicks, too, and did her share of whimpering when she saw and smelled what had happened.
Each of these breeds had their own endearing characteristics, and I would like to get more of each of them. The problem is, I never figured out what Petunia (my black bantam) was. I bought her from a couple of people who kind of had too much on their plate. They had a ton of chickens, all different breeds, and frequently ordered eggs. They told me that she was an austrolorp, but she didn't look like the other austrolorp. She was the tiniest of them all, even though she was the same age. She was the last to get her feathers. She was solid black as a chick, with little black feathers all the way to her toes. When her other feathers came in, it looked like she was going to have some yellow, or maybe white specks here and there. Her feathers on her legs and feet remained black, so I can't tell you what color her legs and toes were (couldn't see them for the feathers). I google'd 'black bantam chick', and looked at some pictures on here. None of the pic's look like her, because I never saw another pic of a chick with feathers on their legs and toes. If it wasn't for that, I would have thought she really was an austrolorp.
Sorry for the length of this post. I loved my babies, and it's very important to me that I find more that are the same breeds. Thanks in advance for whatever assistance you can provide.
Sincerely,
Cayce
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