New Chickens

     I have 11 chickens (9 hens and 2 roosters) and 5 duck hens. Most of them are between 8-11 years old, and while I still get a steady stream of eggs, it's nothing to write home about.

     Except the ducks, in the spring I get 1 egg a day from EACH duck (who are 8-11 YEARS old!). They slow to 1-3 duck eggs a day most the summer and fall, then totally quit from late fall to the next spring. But still my 11 year old Pekin duck lays an egg a day in the spring, and that just floors me.

     Anyways, here are some of my girls.

 

The larger black hen on the right is my Opus chicken, and she was one of my very first chickens, 11 years ago. She is a sweetie and is happy to eat grain from your hand. The smaller black hen next to her is "Opus's Stalker" and she was a feather-less bloody little hen that I brought home from an over-crowded little chicken coop I ran across. She decided Opus was her bestest friend ever from day one, and has followed her everywhere since. Where Opus goes her stalker follows.

 

So David has been wanting a more steady stream of eggs and has been dying to get a Maran chicken, which lays a very dark chocolate egg. We saw one for sale on Facebook from Rockin' C Chicks and drove over that evening to pick her up, along with 4 of her friends.

 

David's Black Copper Maran. This is his new baby, he is so excited and can't wait for his first dark egg. She's very friendly and is quite the super-model chicken.

 

 

These are his other two, a Silver Laced Wyandotte and a Columbian Wyandotte.

 

This is my girl, a Blue Orpington. Orpingtons are my favorite breed, they've always been such calm friendly birds. Rockin' C Chicks will have lavender Orpingtons in the future, and I'm really hoping I can get one of those next year too!

 

 

This is my other chicken, she's much prettier then the picture shows, but she was scared of the camera. She's a Polish mix, and just a beautiful, shimmering golden little girl.

 

 

Just for fun, this is my loony-tune little rooster. He was hatched here by one of my banty hens, and he's a bit of a nut. He will be calmly scratching with the other chickens, then suddenly squalk, jump, flap, and run like crazy into the chicken coop. This leads the other chickens to also think he's insane. 

 

 

And my pigeons couldn't be left out. Lovey is the bigger fellow, and I raised him from a tiny hatchling. He was lonely and this spring one of my clients sold me the little white pigeon, who is now Lovey's Girlfriend. He adores her, and spends all his time singing and preening for his love. She ignores him mostly, but she's still a boost for his moral, keeps him from thinking he's a chicken, and he's teaching her to fly.