Why do you have the breeds you do?

[MysticUniKitty]

I'm really new to having chickens so i went and got a variety from Atwoods. I'm watching for personality, kid friendliness, egg colors, and what does good in Texas crazy roller coaster weather. I have 10 chicks now 4 i know are amerucaunas, the others i think i have leghorn, an EE, 3 either barred rocks or cuckoo marans, and one speckled something lol!

 

[Shorty22366]

How on earth do you remember so many names?! I have trouble with 7 so I have to key the names to their breed or some unique characteristic.

Each is a disney character. Lol

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

When I was restarting my flock I had a plan to have an egg basket with all of the egg colors. I wanted to get a true Ameraucana for blue eggs, an Olive Egger for Olive eggs, a Golden Campine and Leghorn for white eggs, a Dominique for brown eggs, and a Black Copper Marans for dark brown eggs. Well God had other plans as when I wanted to place my order I would have needed to order 25 chicks which I didn’t have the room for. I started looking around for hatcheries that sell true Ameraucanas and found a member who could get me an Araucana and an Ameraucana. Well he wasn’t able to find true Araucanas. He got 2 Easter Egger hens and I fell in love with one and had to have her. So we made up that I would buy one of his Black Ameraucana pullets and the Easter Egger hen (Wendy ). Well about a week later I wanted more chickens so I contacted him and bought his other Black Ameraucana pullet. This was in March of 2018. In April of 2018 I started working at a farm that I had bought chickens from in the past. Well when I went to meet the owner who became my boss I saw a practically bald Frizzle Bantam hen. I asked my boss how much for her and she said if you come back next week you can have her. She let me take the Frizzle Bantam hen (Jane Doe) home that day. About a week later I bought a Gamefowl Bantam hen as a friend for Jane. Well the Gamefowl hen (Charlotte) started laying in the summer and promptly went broody so I went back to the man I got my Ameraucanas from and bought 6 fertile eggs from him. Charlotte hatched out 6 Silkie mix chicks. The 4 boys went to an animal park near my town and I kept the pullets, Bianca and Clair. About 2 weeks after the chicks hatched I brought home a mixed bantam hen (Angelina). Then I bought 2 double tufted Black Breasted Red Araucana pullets from Ann Charles. So of my 10 chickens 4 do/will lay blue eggs (Ameraucanas & Araucanas), 1 lays green eggs (F1 Easter Egger), 3 lay cream/tinted/off white eggs (Frizzle Bantam, Angelina, & Silkie x Easter Egger), 1 lays brown eggs (Silkie x Red Sex Link), & the Gamefowl hen lays pinkish eggs. Sadly no white egg layers .
Wendy

Jane

Bianca

Albastru & Isabella

Clair

Looloo

Angelina

Annabelle

Charlotte

 

[FlyWheel]

How on earth do you remember so many names?! I have trouble with 7 so I have to key the names to their breed or some unique characteristic.

Do what I did with my ten; put their names in your sig, then you always have a reference.

 

[TashaFrancois]

How on earth do you remember so many names?! I have trouble with 7 so I have to key the names to their breed or some unique characteristic.

I currently have 27 pets with nerdy names. The flock all has Disney names.

 

[TashaFrancois]

Do what I did with my ten; put their names in your sig, then you always have a reference.

I also recently downloaded the birdBreeder app. Takes some time to set up with the names and photos. But then it is super helpful!

 

[Bug n Flock]

What is this "choosing" you speak of?

A few years ago I was at the local fair and bought a duckling on a whim. He turned out to be a Rouen and was a fabulous house duck and grand companion. His name was Gunter, and then we moved to a different place in the city, this one did not allow ducks. So sadly G Duck had to pack up and move to my aunts farm(I was living w my mom, so her house, her rules, Gunter had to go). That is not a euphamism, and he is still very loved on their farm. But fast forward to close to a year ago and we knew we were buying our farm soon... visiting my aunt she gave us a butt load of fresh eggs.... we incubated a lot including all of the duck eggs, hoping that at least one would be a gunter baby(she had 2 drakes). Only 1 duckling hatched(Nibbler), we think she is rouen x runner or rouen x kacki(gunter's daughter either way). We also kept one mutt chick I helped hatch... George. Then we bought 4 point of lay hens for George after we moved to the farm.. total heinz 57 hens, but they lay well enough(small eggs tho). Then we got 8 standard bronze turkeys because craigslist and a great deal... then we ordered hatchery surprise chicks and are brooding 49 mixed poultry. Hahaha yes, we have ordered specific breeds to be delivered in June, but only like 3 of them? And some guineas for tick control, some geese, and more ducks. And another surprise box!

I'd probably do it different if we had less land. And I will probably be more selective moving forward, but I'm a "jump in head first while running into water you can't see the bottom of and just figure it out" kind of girl. I find it easier to do research on a breed if I am motivated, and adorable chicks make good motivation.

Even got some really really cool birds in the hatchery surprise box. Excited to see what is in the next one. Got an amaracauna, jersey giant, turkeys, ducks, polish and much more in the mix. I was expecting mostly "waste males" to go to freezer camp and a few cool chicks thrown in, but I don't even know if we got a single cornishX or male sex link. impressed.

From phone, please forgive any typos or other weirdness

 

[N F C]

When it was time for me to restart a flock after moving, I just wanted a few birds. So found someone on my state thread that had chicks and got what he had...Welsummers, Cream Legbars and Sapphire.

 

[IamRainey]

Heinz 57!!! My husband uses that expression to describe dogs. I love it but we invariably have to end up explaining it. ...which is remarkable to me because I think it's so spot on.

What fun to encounter someone on the same wavelength! Love your story too.

When you say "house duck" how do you provide water for your duck? I'm curious because I'd love to have pair but the only water we have available is our pool and we once had ducks visiting from my daughter's kindergarten who turned my pool a bright emerald green in about 48 hours.

I can't deal with that again but I'd just love to have ducks around. They have such a warm comforting presence.

 

[Bug n Flock]

On nice days we would put a kiddie pool in our fenced yard for him, and on not so nice days he got to play in the bathtub for a little while. Bath tub time he turned to a game: beat the record for how much he can splash out all over the bathroom! Haha

Duck diapers are not optional with house ducks, word to the wise. He also had a large dog crate with shavings in it ("duck jail") where he would sleep or hang out if he was being naughty. We called him our feathered dog and he would chase around the 3 small dogs we also had at the time. I just love ducks so much! Such funny little goof balls, and so friendly too.