No one ever told me...

[HarryBun12]

As of this spring I'm a new chicken keeper. Like most of the people on this forum, I believe I've read about everything out there about chickens before diving in. 3 things I never read anywhere but have noticed:

1) The bottoms of a chicken's feet are very soft and feel like someone holding your hand when they sit on it to eat treats! (I have bantams and big hands!)

2) It's incredible how quickly their combs can go from brilliant red to dull pink. One of my white leghorn bantams has a fit once in a while when someone else is on one of the nests. Her comb gets so red I think it's going to shoot off the top of her head like a weight on a pressure cooker. When I pick her up and pet her (yes, I need to get a life) it's only a matter of seconds before it turns dull pink. Weird.

3) No one ever mentioned how freaky new feathers are when they start coming in!!!!

Anything else I should know about?

 

[gritsar]

Yeah, my hens combs do change depending on their mood.
My Lil'Bit is getting tail feathers for the first time in her life and her rearend looks just like that pic you posted.

 

[bc]

No one told me how attached I would become to a chicken. They have very distinct personalities and some make wonderful pets. I had NO idea.

 

[Balfour Girl]

My first chicken was a rescue hen who'd been attacked by a coyote. I watched her back feathers grow back in and likened it to paint brushes as the feathers began growing out of the end of the quill. I thought that was very cool!

I LOVE my chickens and wish that they were more open to being held... sigh... but I love watching the relationship between the rooster and the 3 girls (they're still young so there's no "sleeping together" yet!)... he's so attentive and polite and sweet. Aren't chickens great?

 

[HarryBun12]

Balfour Girl, do you think your rooster is so attentive BECAUSE they aren't "sleeping together" yet?! I've been married 26 years, and, well.... I'm just saying....

 

[Balfour Girl]

lol... I'll keep you posted! They should start any time now. We bought the pullets at the end of May and I think they were about 8 to 10 weeks old (I'm very new at this and forgot to ask the guy who sold them to us). That means that they should start laying in the next 2 to 4 weeks...

 

[esjro]

When the baby fuzz falls out and the adult feathers grow in there is so much dander! My basement looked like it was covered in snow!