When I first posted here, I had not yet added Polish or Silkies to my flock. I did NOT want Silkies until I saw live ones in my friend's flock - still photographs do not do them justice. They're just silly looking, they can't fly, why would anybody want the poodles of the chicken world? Oh... but they're so adorable! I hatched a few from shipped eggs, gave a white one to my friend, and kept two. They're a pair, hen and cockerel. Adorable.
I also gave away Polish chicks from a chick assortment I bought - more silly looking chickens. But after they grew up, I simply had to get some of my own. White Crested Black Polish - so full of personality!!! And yes, they make me laugh.
My flock now has a zillion kinds of different chickens, a pair of Toulouse geese, two young turkeys, and a slew of Cayuga ducks. (A mama duck just hatched FOURTEEN ducklings this past week and that doubled the number of ducks I'm keeping.)
Eggs are still a bonus. I eat a lot, sell some, give many away. I get many different colors: white, light brown, dark brown, light blue, light green, tan, and black (Cayuga duck eggs). There are absolutely no weeds on my property, any bug which comes out of hiding is quickly snatched up by this or that chicken, and a friend comes once a year to clean out the 17' by 22' coop to give the used bedding to his father-in-law for his garden.
So. I still choose chickens by liking what I see and double-checking their breed characteristic on Henderson's Handy Dandy Chicken Chart.
I also gave away Polish chicks from a chick assortment I bought - more silly looking chickens. But after they grew up, I simply had to get some of my own. White Crested Black Polish - so full of personality!!! And yes, they make me laugh.
My flock now has a zillion kinds of different chickens, a pair of Toulouse geese, two young turkeys, and a slew of Cayuga ducks. (A mama duck just hatched FOURTEEN ducklings this past week and that doubled the number of ducks I'm keeping.)
Eggs are still a bonus. I eat a lot, sell some, give many away. I get many different colors: white, light brown, dark brown, light blue, light green, tan, and black (Cayuga duck eggs). There are absolutely no weeds on my property, any bug which comes out of hiding is quickly snatched up by this or that chicken, and a friend comes once a year to clean out the 17' by 22' coop to give the used bedding to his father-in-law for his garden.
So. I still choose chickens by liking what I see and double-checking their breed characteristic on Henderson's Handy Dandy Chicken Chart.
