ShaiCrew expanded a bit again...
- Thread starter Shai
- Start date
It's a mix of different breeds, because I could.
Including pictures of adult birds which are not my pictures (from feathersite.com), just to show what they will hopefully look like someday. This first group are just hatchery pullets so we will see.
2x Gold-Laced Wyandotte
2x Australorp
1x Speckled Sussex
2x Brahma, 1 Buff and 1 Light
1x Partridge Rock
Including pictures of adult birds which are not my pictures (from feathersite.com), just to show what they will hopefully look like someday. This first group are just hatchery pullets so we will see.
2x Gold-Laced Wyandotte
2x Australorp
1x Speckled Sussex
2x Brahma, 1 Buff and 1 Light
1x Partridge Rock
The girls are six weeks old now. Moved them from the basement to the outbuilding. They still have a heat lamp on one side of their current 3x8 enclosure, in case they need it.
All eight are doing well. The smaller GL Wyandotte turned out to have a bit of an underbite (underbeak?) which was impeding eating and probably the reason she was smaller than the others at 3 weeks when I got them. My mistake for not catching it before bringing them home, but a very minor surgery on a not-too-thrilled chick shortly after they came home left her in much better shape and she seems to be gaining at the same rate as the others now, though she can't seem to actually catch up.
All eight are doing well. The smaller GL Wyandotte turned out to have a bit of an underbite (underbeak?) which was impeding eating and probably the reason she was smaller than the others at 3 weeks when I got them. My mistake for not catching it before bringing them home, but a very minor surgery on a not-too-thrilled chick shortly after they came home left her in much better shape and she seems to be gaining at the same rate as the others now, though she can't seem to actually catch up.
LOL the random question to post this comment was "how many eggs are in a dozen" :rofl1:
Anyway... I've been enjoying following these pictures. My husband and I talked about making a space in our yard for 2-3 chickens this summer, but some unexpected home repairs has pushed that project back a year. In the meantime, I am going to watch and learn vicariously from your experiences.
If I may ask, why did you select the breeds that you did? We can't quite decide what we would want. We are looking for a decent egg layer, but something pretty to look at as well. I'm interested to hear how you made your decisions on that matter.
Best of luck! Please, keep us updated.
Anyway... I've been enjoying following these pictures. My husband and I talked about making a space in our yard for 2-3 chickens this summer, but some unexpected home repairs has pushed that project back a year. In the meantime, I am going to watch and learn vicariously from your experiences.
If I may ask, why did you select the breeds that you did? We can't quite decide what we would want. We are looking for a decent egg layer, but something pretty to look at as well. I'm interested to hear how you made your decisions on that matter.
Best of luck! Please, keep us updated.
I just went with a smattering of breeds the distributor had available that are known to be fairly easy going, good eggs layers, with somewhat heavier body types. I've only really had a lot of first-hand experience with silkies, RIR, and Barred Rock. The RIR seem to be more aggressive but maybe it's just the ones we had. Silkies are not what I was looking for in terms of size, etc., and Barred Rocks...well I just wanted something different lol.
I also tried to stay away from white birds since there are theories that they are more susceptible to hawks and such, being very easy to see from the sky. We have a lot of hawks here. One of the Brahmas is turning out to be more white than I expected, though, so I may have failed there.
Breeds I passed over at the distributor were leghorns, orpingtons, old english game, and several bantam breeds. I didn't want to get anything so lightweight that they are harder to keep contained. I will probably get Orps at some point but there's a breeder near here with really nice ones so I can always gets some from them.
I also tried to stay away from white birds since there are theories that they are more susceptible to hawks and such, being very easy to see from the sky. We have a lot of hawks here. One of the Brahmas is turning out to be more white than I expected, though, so I may have failed there.
Breeds I passed over at the distributor were leghorns, orpingtons, old english game, and several bantam breeds. I didn't want to get anything so lightweight that they are harder to keep contained. I will probably get Orps at some point but there's a breeder near here with really nice ones so I can always gets some from them.
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Chicken update. They are living in an outdoor moveable pen with a shelter nowadays. I moved them into an expen today in an area of overgrown grass where we can't get a mower, in the hope that they would tear it down for me. So far, so good
They are about 3 months old.
Light Brahma in front, Australorp to the left and Gold-Laced Wyandotte to the right.
Buff Brahma tail feathers, with one of the Australorps
L-R There's one of the Gold-Laced Wyandotte, the Speckled Sussex, Black Australorp, Buff Brahma in front (she's my friendliest hen), the other GL Wyandotte behind, and Partridge rock there on the far right.
Buff Brahma, showing off again. Feet feathering visible this time.
Partridge Rock, making noise.
One of the GL Wyandottes. They have such a striking feather pattern.
Partridge Rock again. I really like her feather patterning too.
They are about 3 months old.
Light Brahma in front, Australorp to the left and Gold-Laced Wyandotte to the right.
Buff Brahma tail feathers, with one of the Australorps
L-R There's one of the Gold-Laced Wyandotte, the Speckled Sussex, Black Australorp, Buff Brahma in front (she's my friendliest hen), the other GL Wyandotte behind, and Partridge rock there on the far right.
Buff Brahma, showing off again. Feet feathering visible this time.
Partridge Rock, making noise.
One of the GL Wyandottes. They have such a striking feather pattern.
Partridge Rock again. I really like her feather patterning too.
I know nothing about chickens so all of this sounds like a foreign language to me...
I have a question though. Is there a specific reason to have a bunch of different kinds? What are the differences between the chickens? Is it breed or just color?
I have a question though.
Is there a specific reason to have a bunch of different kinds? What are the differences between the chickens? Is it breed or just color?
Reason for me to have a variety of breeds? There are a lot of breeds in that "dual purpose" category with slight variations. I wanted an array of breeds so I can easily tell them all apart without banding or any of that. And it's fun