Here are a few of the chickens in my back yard. Sjoerd was asking about the different breeds a while ago and I snapped a few pics and have a few more to load and will add them later. golden laced wyandotte ( photo / image / picture from carolyn's Garden ) blue copper marans and a barred rock ( photo / image / picture from carolyn's Garden ) Partridge cochin ( photo / image / picture from carolyn's Garden ) buff brahma ( photo / image / picture from carolyn's Garden ) R I Red ( photo / image / picture from carolyn's Garden ) Welsummer hen ( photo / image / picture from carolyn's Garden )
That's a lovely selection of breeds you have there Carolyn. I especially like the Blue Copper Marans and the Barred Rock. I'll look forward to seeing what others you have later.
Very nice! We keep talking about the idea of about getting some hens, but there are just too many coyotes around here. Maybe one day ...
Nice egg producers. They don't ever get into trouble roaming around??? Mine would be all over the neighbors porch. Doing bad stuff on it. :'(
Well now--this is an interesting posting, C. So many different types. Do you have this wide variety because of egg-laying or because you like the looks of them? I have to say that there are some handsome chooks there. There is a show on the telly that is called "Countryfile". It is a BBC production and this past sunday they had something about chickens. The farmer and his son showed some chooks at a show, but the man also showed the various types that he keeps. He has done this before, but I am always interested to see them. I really do like those beasts and wish that I could keep them. It is great to see yours as well as the hens kept by MG and others.
Thanks Eileen. I think the blue coppers are some of my favorites, too. I have 4 of them. They were expensive chicks in the catalog if you ordered them, but I snagged them out of the "overstock" bin for a fraction of the original cost when I was picking up grain one day, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to have them... chicks are too fragile to take a chance of the expense for yard birds, now maybe if they were show birds I would spend money on them, but but not just for eggs. Netty, coyotes are not too close to home here, that I know of right now, but about 10 years ago, when we had a backyard dog he let us know everytime they were out there, there was a young deer chased down and killed along the property line and the coyotes would come every night and consume it. We tried to get a shot at them, but never were we able to be out there and they came in close. Wile E Coyote was not called Wile E coyote for nothing. They are devious and sneaky. You would need to have your yard totally enclosed with bird netting/electric netting to keep them safe. Or you could have a chicken tractor, but that is a real hands on daily project depending on how large it was. I should get a picture of the neighbors. It is moved with a tractor. it is huge. Barb, for the most part the girls are in a fenced-in yard. I have a few who seem to think everywhere belongs to them, but mostly they stay behind the house. The chicks are harder to keep inside, even as they get big. They want to roam the whole yard. I have trained Maya to "gem em in" when they are all over the back yard. She chases them into the gate or pins them down until I pick them up an put them over the fence. They have been staying more inside the fence than they used to since we started doing that. I keep them just because I like them, but they have to be good egg layers, too. There are few I won't get again. like the cochins. They are beautiful birds, but their egg is too small for the egg cartons mix. 1/2 the size of the other chickens. Almost bantam sized eggs.
Netty, our coop is very secure, both the inside coops and the outside run. I dug down about 18" and lined the foundation with bricks (nobody can dig in) and then reinforced the bricks with a double layer of chicken wire. There is also a chicken wire covering on the top of the outside run. The ladies are allowed out only when I am out, and I have a pistol handy. We have lost only one hen, and that was to a feral cat. Don't let the presence of coyotes deter you from the fun of having chickens. Coyotes are wily, but they are also cowards and lazy. They go after easy prey, and with a proper coop and some vigilance, they won't bother your hens.
A few more americauna ( photo / image / picture from carolyn's Garden ) brown leghorn ( photo / image / picture from carolyn's Garden ) black copper marans ( photo / image / picture from carolyn's Garden ) Austalorp ( photo / image / picture from carolyn's Garden )
Carolyn, I love the great variety of hens that you have! Of course, I think the Australorp is the handsomest . I might just branch out and get a different variety when I replenish the flock in '15. The breed will have to be able to take our heat (and a bit of petting, too.)
Carolyn your hens are very cute! Where do you get all the energy to do everything so perfectly? You are a super woman
