gobbledegook

I sold my chickens a few weeks ago. I learned many things with my first foray into the backyard poultry biz. I really did enjoy it. The biggest and really my only problem was my backyard is a bit on the small side and I gave my hens the entire back yard to live in. which they literally tore up. That was my fault and ignorance. However, the back yard has already returned to an even greener status than before the chickens.. (lots of fertilizer comes with raising your own chicks. : ) )

The other problem and it wasn’t really a problem but we let the girls be pets, we even named them which made it very hard to let them go. However, I did find a really nice family who already had a small flock of hatchlings and wanted a small ready laying flock to teach their babies. so the girls moved on to probably a better situation.. I have my green lawn in my backyard back and a refridgerator with store bought eggs. : (

These are Partridge Cochins, originally bred in China… Cochin is actually Chinese for Chicken.. Partridge is actually the color scheme of the birds… These girls were very late in laying eggs about 9 1/2 months but they are mild mannered, quiet, very pretty and having a huge amount of feathers are extremely soft. They lay about 4 to 5 eggs each per week. The eggs are med. to large and a light brown.

Lucy was the second chick to start laying and her 4th egg was huge… larger than the large eggs we bought from Kroger. Anyway when I cracked it into the skillet for my breakfast there was not one but two yolks. Pretty cool…

In another couple weeks and the girls should start laying. Here is one of my two Rhode Island Reds (this one is Ruby). I guess the biggest news was that Lilly ended being a Willy and was sent to a farm in Paradise, Texas where she is free ranging with about a hundred other chickens. I will try to add more about the girls especially when they start laying. If you were wondering, the snowman cup is filled with oatmeal (raw) that I feed the girls as a treat. It has been very hot 108 yesterday and I have been spending more time with the girls making sure they are ok. I bought them a swimming pool and a mister (yeah I know, they’re not ducks) lol but I have been trying to keep them healthy and happy.

The chicks have grown a lot probably quadrupled in size. And have lost their cute fuzzy little chickiness lol (invented word)... I have never been around chickens very much but find them very interesting little creatures.. They have an amazing amount of curiosity and wonderful personalities. I have to fight the urge to intervene when they start to quarrel with each other but the “pecking order” is actually a useful and fair tool in deciding the social order.. None of the chicks take it personally and seem to accept their lot in life.. And the squabbling is very brief.
I have purchased the supplies to make a little run for them so they can enjoy the outdoors more and we can get them out of the living room. Hopefully, that project will get done in the next couple of days….here is an updated picture of Ruby at 4 weeks. She is a Rhode Island Red.

Inspired by an entry from another goal (Do 43things I’ve Never Done Before!). I plan to record and journal my experiences in backyard egg farming. I purchased 6 chicks (pullets) about 2 days old from a tractor supply store on April 23, 2011. From what I have read it will take 4 to 5 months to see the first egg. I will keep you posted on the progress of the coop and the growth of the egg makers. Any suggestions or war stories from fellow egg farmers will only enhance this goal.