I inherited 6 chickens from our friend's large flock who moved in January's very cold spell on the 19th. We have never had chickens and only talked about maybe having them sometime. Went to help move in the snow and came home with chickens. Quickly made a place for them to be safe and out of the wind. Let me tell you they went from the mansion to squatters prison. 
We all survived and there digs have much improved. The girls laid their first egg with us on February 14th and we are thankful they showed us love. It was a little crushing to lose Brownie in April. Not too sure what killed her as we found out the hard way there were not any poultry vets less than an hour around, taking appointments on certain days and she passed a little more than a day before her appointment. We think her bowels were clogged (she stayed alive for too many days for it to have been a blocked egg) and nothing we researched and tried cured her. She was able to pass being held and as comfortable as possible (we were not ready to end her time sooner). After several weeks, we picked up a few more of the chickens from our friends flock that stayed with other friends and our girls are up to 9 now. They are a mix of breeds (8 breeds out of 9 chickens) and it's been fun/hard figuring out the breeds. I never realized how many there are but we have an assortment of colored eggs with none being white!! We have blues, green, pink and different browns. The girls have blessed us with over 950 eggs (yep I track and record them) and some are starting the next phase, I saw someone else call it henopause. Blondie never has laid eggs so I think she is more of a meat version but she is no less of diva than the others. We had 3 fairy eggs and less than a handful of rotten eggs from the bunch. Even though my hubby told me not to name them he spoils them just as much and can't resist calling them by their names. Not all the names are based off color as most are named based on a combination of their personality/size/situations. I have enjoyed letting the little kids get exposed, feed and overcome their fear of the chickens. Can't wait for our 5 month old granddaughter to play with the girls. She wasn't too interested in them at 3 months old. My friend who gave us the chickens, teasingly laughs at me for naming the chickens. We have Frenchie (our love bug who cuddles), Big Bertha (although she slims down when molting), Bitchy (who gets called B as she chills out more often), Quizzy (inquisitive nature), Gressi (short for her aggressiveness), Suez (our little raptor), Silkie (smooth, soft feathers), Blondie (aloof Diva) and Plucky (she was picked on with the other flock but her feathers are pretty much grown back now). They all love their butt/tail rubs even if some put up more of a chase. 
Sorry you have been exposed to my talkative side as usually I'm pretty quiet.
We have not had little chicks and not too sure about trying to raise them right now since we've had crash courses on learning about and raising chickens. I have found a few hatcheries that sell starter pullets with good sex determination percentages but the shipping is ridiculously stupid and too far to drive there. If you know of a good one around Kansas/Missouri/Nebraska and maybe Oklahoma (depending on location) where we could pick up the pullets instead of shipping let me know.
Night everyone.
We all survived and there digs have much improved. The girls laid their first egg with us on February 14th and we are thankful they showed us love. It was a little crushing to lose Brownie in April. Not too sure what killed her as we found out the hard way there were not any poultry vets less than an hour around, taking appointments on certain days and she passed a little more than a day before her appointment. We think her bowels were clogged (she stayed alive for too many days for it to have been a blocked egg) and nothing we researched and tried cured her. She was able to pass being held and as comfortable as possible (we were not ready to end her time sooner). After several weeks, we picked up a few more of the chickens from our friends flock that stayed with other friends and our girls are up to 9 now. They are a mix of breeds (8 breeds out of 9 chickens) and it's been fun/hard figuring out the breeds. I never realized how many there are but we have an assortment of colored eggs with none being white!! We have blues, green, pink and different browns. The girls have blessed us with over 950 eggs (yep I track and record them) and some are starting the next phase, I saw someone else call it henopause. Blondie never has laid eggs so I think she is more of a meat version but she is no less of diva than the others. We had 3 fairy eggs and less than a handful of rotten eggs from the bunch. Even though my hubby told me not to name them he spoils them just as much and can't resist calling them by their names. Not all the names are based off color as most are named based on a combination of their personality/size/situations. I have enjoyed letting the little kids get exposed, feed and overcome their fear of the chickens. Can't wait for our 5 month old granddaughter to play with the girls. She wasn't too interested in them at 3 months old. My friend who gave us the chickens, teasingly laughs at me for naming the chickens. We have Frenchie (our love bug who cuddles), Big Bertha (although she slims down when molting), Bitchy (who gets called B as she chills out more often), Quizzy (inquisitive nature), Gressi (short for her aggressiveness), Suez (our little raptor), Silkie (smooth, soft feathers), Blondie (aloof Diva) and Plucky (she was picked on with the other flock but her feathers are pretty much grown back now). They all love their butt/tail rubs even if some put up more of a chase. Sorry you have been exposed to my talkative side as usually I'm pretty quiet.We have not had little chicks and not too sure about trying to raise them right now since we've had crash courses on learning about and raising chickens. I have found a few hatcheries that sell starter pullets with good sex determination percentages but the shipping is ridiculously stupid and too far to drive there. If you know of a good one around Kansas/Missouri/Nebraska and maybe Oklahoma (depending on location) where we could pick up the pullets instead of shipping let me know.
Night everyone.
to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!
