If you have never had chickens, you don't know what you are missing. I never thought I would enjoy them as much as I do, but I love their personalities, their sounds and even enjoy the roosters crowing. The first batch of babies is reaching maturity now, they are crowing and the hens should start laying soon. There are 4 roosters and 10 hens, they get to forage all day in the fenced area around the new coop we built, they are still basically living in the grow out pen. We moved the hatchery chicks to the coop and as soon as I can put wire on the outside so they can't go under the chicken coop...they will get to go out and play with the older juveniles. I call them my teen chicks at this point...not quite old enough to be called adults, but almost there.
I have another big batch of chicks on my back porch, I think there are 24...6 of those are the Cream Leg bars, 1 a Blue Splash Maran I hatched in the incubator, the rest are chicks from my original hens...and a lot of them are roosters. My Dominique hens bred with my Rhode Island Red rooster so I can tell that any of the chicks that have Barred feathers are males and may be considered as Rhodebars, the pretty much solid black are females called Sex Links. I was disappointed not getting but one Maran out of the hatch...so I tried again, I bought more eggs off of eBay.
I had a more successful hatch this past week, but still not great. I have 14 new chicks in my brooder in the house...but that is out of 48 eggs. I did get a few unusual chicks out of that batch, 1 a Golden Laced Polish, 4 Blue Laced Barnevelder, 1 Gold Laced Wyandotte, I believe 3 Blue Splash and 1 Black Copper Marans...then a Rhode Island Red, a New Hampshire Red and 2 Blue Andalusians. Because all but two of the Black Copper Marans eggs were infertile they sent me more eggs...they are still in the incubator and I hope to get at lest a few more out of that. I candled a few of them yesterday and it appears chicks are growing in them.
I hope that by this time next year that I have around 60 hens laying and a lot of different colors of eggs. I can breed a Marans Chicken with a blue egg layer and get an Olive colored egg...and my Easter Eggers should be laying so a variety of colors with them, and dark browns with the Marans, the Cream Legbars lay blue eggs...I look forward to that. I ordered a book on chicken breeding, so I can learn about traits and how to get different breeds out of my base chicken stock.
I know my family probably thinks I am crazy, chickens are a lot of work but I enjoy watching them, hearing them coo and chirp, they make happy sounds. My husband and I have chairs set out under the trees in their pen and we enjoy watching them and taking them treats. It is funny having them all come running when you go out to feed them, or bring them treats it is cute seeing all those little legs moving, seeing them hopping up trying to fly to you faster, get to you first. Even when they are adults they make the cutest sounds when they are happy...and there is no feeling like finding your first egg from a hen you raised, or a baby chick you hatched out.
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