Chickens! (New chicks!)

[Lupis]

Right, how about some more chickens?

We took the chicks outside so they could have the run (a fenced in enclosure inside the chicken yard) all to themselves. The older chickens thought they were fascinating.



Chickens are really cute when they lift up a foot to look at whatever they stepped in.



I love silkies.



Mary and Caesar. Caeser ALWAYS looks that intense.



Umbra being pretty.

[cowmuflage]

The white fluffy ones er silkies? look like they would float away in a gust of wind! So cute.

[Zuilu]

Aww, I love chickens ^_^ I wish I could have some but living in a town house in the city isn't really going to work for a chicken coop One day!

[Rhyela]

It's nice to see such well-kept chickens. Sadly, there are folks around here that just toss them in this half-butted tent of plywood in a tiny yard. There's a family that lives next to my in-laws that does that. But then again, I don't know anything about chickens, so maybe they're fine.

Anyway, your chickens are gorgeous!

[Lupis]

James the clown Cream Legbar cockerel. He's ridiculous. His comb is *orange* and twisted, so it sort of slopes off the side of his head instead of following the line of his spine. He looks ridiculous. His feathers are gorgeous though, pretty grey barring with random splotches of bright copper.



Java again. Looking very serious.



Elliot is really something. As current ruler of the roost, he is always the last one to enter the coop to hide from hawks, as he needs to herd in all the hens and make sure everyone is safe. He's also the first one to venture outside when he has to test if the coast is clear. The other day, the coast wasn't clear. A small hawk dove down and grabbed him, but as he's a silkie, the hawk only got a bunch of fluff and Elliot was okay.

[cowmuflage]

Elliot looks like he is from a 60's Scifi movie.

[Rhyela]

Oh my! I'm glad Elliot is okay! Granted, I love hawks and they're my favorite bird, but that would stink if one of your chickens was nabbed by one.

[Lupis]

Altered the name of the thread to properly represent what our chicks now are. ^.^



Joan, one of our two Cream Legbar hens. It's an expensive breed that's become a fad in the chicken breeding world. She's still young yet, but of our three Cream Legbars, she's the most "perfect" of the bunch. Best colors. Personally? I like our two imperfect ones better!

Edit- woops, I thought her neck was grey. Nevermind, this is Jett! Her tan neck makes her imperfect. Joan's grey neck is the best one for this breed. xD



Our Cream Legbar roo, James, has two imperfections, though only one is shown here- his splashes of color on his back. Ideally, he would have far less copper and red. I'm glad he's imperfect, he's growing up into an absolutely gorgeous roo.



Dove, our white easter egger. She's started to lay, which has changed her shape into something a little more chicken-like. Her eggs are beautiful too, shiny and vivid blue-green.



(From top to bottom) Mary, Elizabeth and Cleopatra, our three fat Sussex hens. They spread.



Falcor the easter egger. She's a great chicken. xD



Frida Kahlo, one of our Belgian Bearded D'Uccles. I probably murdered that spelling, but what they are are spotty, *tiny* little chickens with super big tails and super feathery feet. They're also extremely friendly and love to sit on our shoulders and lap- they choose us over their roosts!

[Rubywashere]

Lupis I want to come to your house and meet all your chickens
They seem so full of personality and their all so pretty

[Mozag]

I am absolutely in love with Frida! What a gorgeous chicken!
I have to say, I was never interested in chickens much until your thread. Never knew about all these amazing breeds and the lovely subtleties of patterns and colours. Look forward to seeing more pictures.

[Serendipity82]

I have to echo Makoes. I never really liked Chickens, but I have to say, I am not having second thoughts. Question: do you keep your roosters seperate from the hens?

[Lupis]

Yay, converting people into chicken appreciators!

Nope, the roosters and hens mingle. I think our roosters would tear each other apart if they were separated from their hens. xD (Actually, no. Mort and Elliot would tear apart Caesar and then live happily ever after. Caesar isn't their favorite. We're probably going to sell him, he's mean to the hens. >.>)

They're pretty useful, which is why we keep them with the hens. They alert the hens whenever they see danger (hawks, usually) and help herd them into the coop. They also find good food for the hens, and dig nests for them. The only problem with them is that they can get, uh, rough when they want to breed. That only happens with big roosters though, AKA Caesar. Our two silkies are too small. xD And fertilized eggs, as weird as it seems, are perfectly edible and not really different at all. The only difference is a tiny white dot on the yolk- if the dot is all white, then it's not fertilized. If the dot is donut-shaped and hollow, it's fertilized. That's the only difference unless you let the hen sit on the egg so it develops. ^.^

[cowmuflage]

My unlce had chickens like that bottom one. The male one used to chase me around XD I think he was a bit bored as the hawks we get wont go after a chicken as they are too big

Also yours are pretty as always!

[Moonlost]

Goodness, how many chooks do you now have Lupis? XD So many of them, and so pretty too. Oh goodness, some of these guys are gorgeous, I love the "mane" of feathers on Joan's noggin especially.
Gotta say, I was unaware that there were just so many different breeds of chicken out there. I mean,I knew of silkies, but not of the other breeds that you guys have.

Quick question; how well do your chooks lay? Do you end up with a surplus of eggs, and if so, then what do you do with them all? I distinctly remember there being a problem of having far too many eggs to know what to do with when I still had plain ol' laying hens. XD

[Lupis]

We get a varying amount of eggs a day, as more and more hens start laying. So far we only have about half of our hens laying actively, and we have 20 hens (24 chickens total!). So far, we've been getting roughly 5-7 eggs a day, but that number has gone as high as 10. Count: Way more than we can use. xD We've been eating a lot of egg-based foods lately! Those eggs aren't jumbo or super large sized, though. Our Isa Brown is a hybrid bred specifically to lay a lot and lay large eggs, so she gives the largest eggs- roughly the size of store-bought large. Our silkies, in the meanwhile, lay tiny peewee eggs. It's great when you want to eat a fried egg, choices for any appetite. xD

And oh yes, Joan, Jett and James (all our Cream Legbars) have manes. They got away lucky, their manes look pretty good. Some Cream Legbars just look like they got bad toupees. xD

[Serendipity82]

Very cool Lupis! I don't think I would want have chickens myself, but I certainly can appreciate them more now!

[Lotusii]

Your chickens all look like they're full of personality and they're surprisingly cute. I've never really thought of a chicken as cute before.

[Lupis]

More pictures! Spent some times hanging out with them.



Mort.



Frida Kahlo, showing off how one of her has more white than the other.



Busy day in the chicken yard.



Joan and Jett.



James.

[Lupis]

Well that was scary. My brother ran in and said, in an even voice, "A hawk got Frida Kahlo". My response was roughly "…What?" and then sprinting out to the chicken yard while telling myself that they're chickens, it's bound to happen at some point.

Luckily, she's alive. We don't *think* she was injured internally, as the only blood on her is on her face near her eye (the lid of which is up, I think she got a deep scratch under it) and there's no longer any bleeding, so it's probably not coming from inside her. She's also walking around, scratching and looking about, but she's definitely a bit lethargic. I hope it's just shock; my mom watched it happen (I feel so bad for her) and she said that the hawk had her pinned. At least she didn't die outright from the shock, or be so injured we had to put her down. Now we get to wait and see if she makes it to morning. If so, we're probably alright.

The hawk also attacked either Joan or Jett, but they both look perfectly fine and are acting normally. One lost a fistfull of feathers though.

Anyway, no matter if Frida Kahlo lives or dies, we'll definitely be doing something about protecting them more. We're considering just putting up netting over the entire yard. It'd be a huge pain during the fall, but if it protects them from hawk attacks…

[Electraa]

Well that was scary. My brother ran in and said, in an even voice, "A hawk got Frida Kahlo". My response was roughly "…What?" and then sprinting out to the chicken yard while telling myself that they're chickens, it's bound to happen at some point.

Luckily, she's alive. We don't *think* she was injured internally, as the only blood on her is on her face near her eye (the lid of which is up, I think she got a deep scratch under it) and there's no longer any bleeding, so it's probably not coming from inside her. She's also walking around, scratching and looking about, but she's definitely a bit lethargic. I hope it's just shock; my mom watched it happen (I feel so bad for her) and she said that the hawk had her pinned. At least she didn't die outright from the shock, or be so injured we had to put her down. Now we get to wait and see if she makes it to morning. If so, we're probably alright.

The hawk also attacked either Joan or Jett, but they both look perfectly fine and are acting normally. One lost a fistfull of feathers though.

Anyway, no matter if Frida Kahlo lives or dies, we'll definitely be doing something about protecting them more. We're considering just putting up netting over the entire yard. It'd be a huge pain during the fall, but if it protects them from hawk attacks…

Awwe, poor thing.

Do they lived in a caged up area?(couldn't see very well in the pictures) I would suggest putting the cage material over it, like a roof. It should stop the hawks from being able to swoop down and grasp them, instead they would be met by the cage.