The girls and boys finally got a chance to get out today,I put down fresh straw for them,they were feeling very cooped up.LOLFrizzled cochins,cochins,showgirls and silkies
New Pictures
They have a great coop and run.
I am so blessed to have a husband that can and will build things for me
I always love your photos, green!
green I have always enjoyed seeing your hen Hilton house.....
Merry Christmas
Jan
Thanks, and I love sharing pictures of my coop and all my chickies
Donna I can't believe how quickly you have become such a pro with not only your chickies, but your coop and how you establish their living situation. Every thing you do is top of the line and we can tell how much all of this means to you...I think all of us love the pic's and information you share with us on a regular basis...Bless you for all you do...Hay
Thanks Hay,I just love having chickens (would never in a million years Ithought I would be saying this).They are such a big part of my life,gives me something to look forward to everyday and a big bonus is the people I have met through having them, at chicken swaps,web sites,facebook,poultry forums and people that come to my home to buy.There is a formar missonary family that comes and buys that has children that save there own money in little cans,they pick out what they want and pay one by one till they have spent it all.It is so cute and I can tell they will take good care of them.
Silkies and showgirls,and Tillley outside the window.The black one is my youngest,she was hatched late fall,she stays on the ladder because being the youngest they pick on her.
green, why is it that the birds do pick so on the youngest one? is it due to the pecking order??? really no punt intended, but that is one thing about the chicks I hate and being the melding kind I would be trying to take up for those little ones.... so I just enjoy the pictures and experiences that others have with them.
Yes sad to say it is the pecking order.Thats why I put the ladder in there for the younger ones to get on.They do let her sleep with them though which is good because of the cold.I had bought some silkie eggs from a breeder and she was the only one that hatched out.I was so hoping for a rooster(still can`t believe I am saying that) because they came from very good stock and I only have the one rooster and he is a showgirl.
roosters are a whole nother thing to me.... had one that would chase me through the barn, and I swore up and down one day if I got the chance I was taking him out. Roosters are just plain mean.
I have five gentle roosters, partly because of heredity, but largely due to early handling.
"I only have the one rooster and HE is a showGIRL," Does that sound funny to anyone else?
Yes, Showgirl roosters, always sounds funny to me.
That one white Showgirl, with it's neck outstretched, is that your rooster? I was looking and it seems mine have the bowtie and he doesn't? Is that correct? His neck looks like it has less feathers than mine do. He is quite lovely! The little black one is too. What a sweetie.
Yes, it is hard to see them pick on the new chickens or the babies. Sometimes they will even kill them. There is nothing you can do about it really, unless you separate them or get rid of the bullies. I never thought of giving them a ladder to hide on.
Not all roosters are mean. My silkie roosters are sweet, but the one I call Alvin will flog me every time he gets a chance! I have to watch him. In the wild their job would be to protect their hens and chicks. It is instinctive in them, or should be. They are chicken soldiers. :) Out to protect the women folk. Quite honorable really.
I put my little Araucana rooster in the yard with the hens and he spread his wings out a little ways and started chasing them. Wish I had had my camera. It was quite funny. I guess I can collect a few eggs from the Araucana hens soon and hatch a few more? Like I need more chickens? I do need another rooster though. He is the only one I have. It is very difficult to find bantam Araucanas, at least it seems so to me. The ones I have are all rumpless. The rooster is doubled tufted and one of the hens is too. I really do need at least one extra rooster just in case something happens. They are very sweet and humorous little birds. Not as funny as my first Araucana hen. She was a hoot. So different from the silkies. I really admired her spunk.
All my chickens are pretty quiet too, which is a good thing if you live in town. It is starting to look like a little chicken zoo in my backyard. Of course they have killed ALL THE GRASS! BAD chickens! I still like them though. I don't have to mow at least.
The blue splash one in the pcture with Tilley outside is my showgirl rooster. I have one with a bowtie and one bearded the rest are clean necked.I wish now I had asked if they were bearded when I bought the eggs,I only wanted bearded silks.I had one orp rooster that chased me as soon as I got in the coop,he went to freezer camp,I handled him from the time he was hatched,didnt make a difference with him.
Did you give your bad rooster Haystack's proven rooster submission training? It has worked for all of mine. Of course freezer camp works too...
I had a Buff Brahma rooster who was a jerk, but fairly well mannered. I did handle him when he was younger and he behaved fine for me as he got older. He just tore things up, knocked over the water if he could, hogged any treats I threw into the coop--that kind of stuff. But he didn't really tear the girls up like some roosters do, and he met his end defending the girls from a copperhead snake--which I think was pretty gallant. I didn't really want a rooster, I had ordered all pullets but was sorry to see him go. All in all M. Poirot was a pretty good rooster as far as roosters go. I did read the Haystack training thread and more or less followed those guidelines, so I think that helped him a lot. Also, I think Brahmas as fairly mild mannered in general.
I really need to order some more laying hens. Green, your silkies are gorgeous but I think I might was more brahmas or maybe Jersey giants.....Hmmmm.....
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I always keep a few Jersey Giants. They are very calm and docile, but they are not spectacular layers. They do continue to lay in the winter and mine don't seem to molt much.
Good to know! Thanks.