Hello!
I am relatively new to owning chickens (Bantams, to be exact). I moved in with my boyfriend a couple years ago and fell in love with these tiny chickens. Last fall, I bought my very own chicken!
Sadly, she did not make it through this winter. She was a runt, possibly had a respiratory problem (or sneezing was just her thing).... But she was the sweetest, most awesome hen ever!
Her name was Lorelei. She was a Silver Laced Wyandotte Bantam. She was probably a couple years old when I got her. She was definitely too tiny for the breed standard. But, she had the largest personality! Lorelei had little-big chicken syndrome and quickly took over our coop of five other Bantams soon after being introduced to them. All of them are much larger than Lorelei was.
Lorelei was very friendly, with everyone. She loved to lay on her side in your hand and be pet. She was quite cuddly for a chicken and would close her eyes and just be super content! Lorelei definitely was the perfect first chicken for myself. I am going to compare every chicken I own after to her. (Probably not the best idea, as they each have their own personalities, but you just cannot help but compare to your first experience.)
Enough about Lorelei, though.
I live in NH. I have a small coop that holds happily six Bantams. Currently we have three... this past couple months have been rough for the chickens. We had animal attacks and cold take some of our flock.
Losing all these chickens, and Lorelei, have me really chick crazy! I want to hand-raise some chicks and have them impression on myself. I look forward to being a chicken Mom and trying new things and learning a lot about these birds. This is why I joined here.
Currently, I am incredibly interested in the Bearded Belgian Quail D'anvers. They are absolutely (aside from Lorelei) the cutest breed of chicken that I have stumbled upon. I would love to get some of these. I recently discovered they come in a blue-silver color and not just auburn with black. I now cannot decide which color I want more.
I am looking into buying from a small farm in Arkansas. However, I have my worries about shipping from so far away. I am hoping to find someone closer. Or even someone shipping day-old chicks. I feel that would be a safer route than eggs. But, if anyone has past experience with this and knows better than I about shipping, I would be more than happy to hear.
I have never hand-raised chicks, either. We did a small class project and attempted to hatch a dozen eggs back in High School (that was 8 years ago). We only successfully hatched two. They did not live too long after. I assume this is because it was multiple classes handling them, and possibly even stressful for when they were carted to and from school overnights.
So, my experience is limited and with poor results.
I would love to hear any information that anyone can give me about raising chickens, any information on where and how easily to get chickens (Belgians at the moment). Basically, I am looking to be taught in anything about chickens.
I also hope to share my chicken stories with you all. I currently have a Red Cochin named Chili. I got her with Lorelei. I hope to share many of Chili's stories with you all. She is a feisty chicken, definitely not the sweet-natured Cochins that I hear about. But, she is a good chicken.
Thanks for listening to me ramble. I hope to become an involved member of these forums!
-LittleLorelei
I am relatively new to owning chickens (Bantams, to be exact). I moved in with my boyfriend a couple years ago and fell in love with these tiny chickens. Last fall, I bought my very own chicken!
Sadly, she did not make it through this winter. She was a runt, possibly had a respiratory problem (or sneezing was just her thing).... But she was the sweetest, most awesome hen ever!
Her name was Lorelei. She was a Silver Laced Wyandotte Bantam. She was probably a couple years old when I got her. She was definitely too tiny for the breed standard. But, she had the largest personality! Lorelei had little-big chicken syndrome and quickly took over our coop of five other Bantams soon after being introduced to them. All of them are much larger than Lorelei was.
Lorelei was very friendly, with everyone. She loved to lay on her side in your hand and be pet. She was quite cuddly for a chicken and would close her eyes and just be super content! Lorelei definitely was the perfect first chicken for myself. I am going to compare every chicken I own after to her. (Probably not the best idea, as they each have their own personalities, but you just cannot help but compare to your first experience.)
Enough about Lorelei, though.
I live in NH. I have a small coop that holds happily six Bantams. Currently we have three... this past couple months have been rough for the chickens. We had animal attacks and cold take some of our flock.
Losing all these chickens, and Lorelei, have me really chick crazy! I want to hand-raise some chicks and have them impression on myself. I look forward to being a chicken Mom and trying new things and learning a lot about these birds. This is why I joined here.
Currently, I am incredibly interested in the Bearded Belgian Quail D'anvers. They are absolutely (aside from Lorelei) the cutest breed of chicken that I have stumbled upon. I would love to get some of these. I recently discovered they come in a blue-silver color and not just auburn with black. I now cannot decide which color I want more.
I am looking into buying from a small farm in Arkansas. However, I have my worries about shipping from so far away. I am hoping to find someone closer. Or even someone shipping day-old chicks. I feel that would be a safer route than eggs. But, if anyone has past experience with this and knows better than I about shipping, I would be more than happy to hear.
I have never hand-raised chicks, either. We did a small class project and attempted to hatch a dozen eggs back in High School (that was 8 years ago). We only successfully hatched two. They did not live too long after. I assume this is because it was multiple classes handling them, and possibly even stressful for when they were carted to and from school overnights.
So, my experience is limited and with poor results.
I would love to hear any information that anyone can give me about raising chickens, any information on where and how easily to get chickens (Belgians at the moment). Basically, I am looking to be taught in anything about chickens.
I also hope to share my chicken stories with you all. I currently have a Red Cochin named Chili. I got her with Lorelei. I hope to share many of Chili's stories with you all. She is a feisty chicken, definitely not the sweet-natured Cochins that I hear about. But, she is a good chicken.
Thanks for listening to me ramble. I hope to become an involved member of these forums!
-LittleLorelei
and Welcome To BYC! Sorry about Lorelei, sounds like she was a sweet little girl. d'Anvers are wonderful little birds, they actually come in quite a range of colors, there are a number of BYC breeders working on a lots of colors, long BYC thread for them 
