They were the brave ones this morning,they were the only ones that came out in the snow,jumped up on the fence post and sat there for an hour while it was snowing raining,had to go out and pick each one up and put them back in the coop,they were afraid to jump back down in the snow.Closed the coop door so they couldn`t come out again.
They look so pretty all fluffed in the cold!
Beautiful colors with the white background.
We are preparing to add chickens to our barnyard.
Mentally mostly.
What breeds do you think you will add?
We currently have 0.
This would be our first venture into chickens. That's the mental preparation. :)
A close friend has all kinds of poultry and I usually bug him with questions.
Maybe I can bug you a little.
I was telling him about your beautiful pictures and he said that Cochins were a nice docile breed that we would really enjoy.
We would like some eggs, just for our use and a few neighbors. How are they for that?
We have a very sturdy predator fence surrounding our alpaca pasure and barnyard so I think we are protected from some predators.
Racoons might scale it, it's 5 feet so I'm not sure. We put our 6 ducks up everynight already.
Thanks for your interest.
He is right they are very friendly,I have only had these for a couple months,when they lay they lay every day but from my understanding they go broody very often and when that happens you get no eggs,all they want to do is lay in the nest and hatch eggs.Its the same way with silkies(my othe bantam breed)I have 6 broodie right now,I tried to break them and you can`t so they are on eggs and here is some picutures I took today,the eggs just started hatching so it will be a few more days untill they are finished.The silkies are the one hatching out the egg right now but the yellow chicks are my first bantam cochins.I have another silkie that just went broodi a couple days ago so i put a golf ball under her(becasue I don`t want any mor chicks its getting to cold here)so she thinks she has an egg and I will try putting a couple babies under her at night in a couple days so she will give up the brooding (i hope)I have three breeds standard orpingtons blue,black and splash.They lay every other day and are dual purpose for eating a laying.I have eaten very few of my birds,I sell a lot of them so I don`t have to.If you want good layer get golden comets or black sexlinks all sexlinks are very good layers every day and big eggs and they start laying early.Put new birds in every year and sell the others when they are two or three as they start slowing down then.I started out with sexlinks.I love keeping chickens its so much fun.The thrid pic is the Dad and Moms of the cochins chicks,the forth is another of the cochins and the last is some of my silkies.WE had snow yesterday so that is them sitting on fence in the snow I had to pick each one up and put them back in the coop they were afraid to jump back down.They are the friendlest of any breed I have had
Green, they look wonderful:)
Rockcreekfarm, your chickens would need predator proof housing at night, like the ducks. Just about anything can scale 5 feet, raccoons, coyotes, foxes do it around here, and anything weasely will get thru or over. Other than the coyotes, the wouldn't be much danger to alpacas other than crias, but for chickens they're trouble. I've got a 5 ft fence between my chickens and the woods, and I think of it just a being something to slow down the local dogs, who have been known to rip thru my flock :(. It doesn't stop anything else.
Cochins are among my favorites, so I can recommend them happily. Their eggs aren't huge, and they can be inconsistent layers, but they make great pets. My _very_ favorites are the Turkens, but they may be an acquired taste...
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Turkens/BRKTurkens.html
They lay X-large brown eggs, and they are very friendly.
If you're just after eggs, look into the "production" breeds, the Rhode Island Reds, red or black Sexlinks, Australorps, and so on.
I always swear that I'll stick with a flock of only one kind of chicken, so they all look alike, and I won't be heartbroken when I loose them. Never works. I have a "Backyard Quilt" of various colors, sizes, and fluffiness. It makes me smile, even when (like now) most of them are declining to lay. They're lucky that way :)
Thanks to you both for the helpful advice.
I will let you know what I'm upto.
Great photos .
Thanks again.
