HERSHORTNESS
Songster
Our first flock. See the post below from coop construction to growth of our 10 original bantam chicks.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/20469854/
1 year-ish update:
So my daughters deciding to trade my favorite white frizzle (ended up being a roo) for a little bantam Easter egger. We got her and she was tiny compared to the rest of the flock. And she was picked on to start. So I put a kennel inside the run and kept her separated for a while, but where she could interact with them thru the cage. And once they got used to her she did fine. This is her when she was young:
I ordered 9 chicks from ideal poultry and they shipped me 10. They sent an extra silkie. So in the 10 they sent I had 3 roosters (we traded the white one for a Easter egger hen) Now I have one black frizzle rooster and one black silkie rooster, 2 dark brahma hens, 2 mille fluer hens, a light brahma hen, a golden laced cochin hen, a gray silkie hen, and my Easter egger hen.
So this winter was crazy and dipped into some dangerous low temps. Around 26 below zero....that wasnt even the windchill, that is what it actually was. My little flock managed to stay warm enough and survived. I made a small christmas light cookie tin heater to keep the horizontal nipple waterer thawed and it worked pretty well. And during the really cold nights I would just set that cookie tin right inside the coop door and close it for the night. My black frizzle cochin rooster was the only one that had little spots of frostbite on the tips of this comb but nothing severe.
My hens started laying in the cold of winter and I did not catch they were laying until 4 had been laid and I found them froze
Our first (non-frozen) egg!
When spring rolls around some of my hens start acting broody. My silkie would sit and sit and after a month of sitting I decided to let her keep a small clutch of 4 eggs. We candled them after 7 days and found one to be infertile so she sat on 3 eggs.
I built a addition onto the original coop to allow for separation or expansion when not in use.
Our first hatch!
Mama cared for her youngins for about 4 weeks in this separate coop and run
before I opened up the door to allow the rest of the flock access. There was very little pecking on the young ones and when a hen tried to chase the little ones the rooster stepped in to protect them. So they have been living altogether since. And the little ones are getting big. I suspect all to be pullets at this point.
Chick #1 frizzle cochin dad? X Easter egger mom
Chick #2 silkie dad x dark brahma mom
Chick #3. Silkie dad x mille fluer mom
That's all for updates. And thanks for reading my rather lengthy post.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/20469854/
1 year-ish update:
So my daughters deciding to trade my favorite white frizzle (ended up being a roo) for a little bantam Easter egger. We got her and she was tiny compared to the rest of the flock. And she was picked on to start. So I put a kennel inside the run and kept her separated for a while, but where she could interact with them thru the cage. And once they got used to her she did fine. This is her when she was young:
I ordered 9 chicks from ideal poultry and they shipped me 10. They sent an extra silkie. So in the 10 they sent I had 3 roosters (we traded the white one for a Easter egger hen) Now I have one black frizzle rooster and one black silkie rooster, 2 dark brahma hens, 2 mille fluer hens, a light brahma hen, a golden laced cochin hen, a gray silkie hen, and my Easter egger hen.
So this winter was crazy and dipped into some dangerous low temps. Around 26 below zero....that wasnt even the windchill, that is what it actually was. My little flock managed to stay warm enough and survived. I made a small christmas light cookie tin heater to keep the horizontal nipple waterer thawed and it worked pretty well. And during the really cold nights I would just set that cookie tin right inside the coop door and close it for the night. My black frizzle cochin rooster was the only one that had little spots of frostbite on the tips of this comb but nothing severe.
My hens started laying in the cold of winter and I did not catch they were laying until 4 had been laid and I found them froze
Our first (non-frozen) egg!
When spring rolls around some of my hens start acting broody. My silkie would sit and sit and after a month of sitting I decided to let her keep a small clutch of 4 eggs. We candled them after 7 days and found one to be infertile so she sat on 3 eggs.
I built a addition onto the original coop to allow for separation or expansion when not in use.
Our first hatch!
Mama cared for her youngins for about 4 weeks in this separate coop and run
before I opened up the door to allow the rest of the flock access. There was very little pecking on the young ones and when a hen tried to chase the little ones the rooster stepped in to protect them. So they have been living altogether since. And the little ones are getting big. I suspect all to be pullets at this point.
Chick #1 frizzle cochin dad? X Easter egger mom
Chick #2 silkie dad x dark brahma mom
Chick #3. Silkie dad x mille fluer mom
That's all for updates. And thanks for reading my rather lengthy post.
Last edited:
