Chickens?

[BitsyNaceyDog]

I want chickens so badly. We were planning on getting chickens this spring, but we decided to wait until next year after the baby is born and is a little older.

[Twisterdog]

They don't creep me out, but I don't want one. I took care of a LOT of chickens for my grandma when I was a kid, and I'm just over it. The babies are ADORABLE, though, of course.

I do, however, really like ducks! I had three pet ducks when I was a kid. I'd certainly get more ducks if I had the place for them.

[Taz_Zoee]

I voted no, but we always had chicken while I was growing up. They weren't pets though. Just a source for eggs. I liked them though. When I'd go in to get the eggs, I'd pet them if they'd let me.

[SemaviLady]

We love having chickens around the yard and the barn.

Easter egg chickens


Aslan watching out for chicken poachers!


No, chickens don't always wait their turn! I'm in the background waving a stick to keep them from eating the pup chow!


Uncle Aslan watching Silky Rooster and the pups.


A dog surrounded by molting chickens. LOL.
He ate the eggs if they laid them in his house.
The trench there is a product of canine excavation.

[SemaviLady]

If you answered that you would like to have chickens...
What breeds would you have if you could choose?

I would probably always have Easter Eggers, Light Brahmas and maybe one or two other breeds. Most of mine have been Easter Egg chickens which are really mutts with some (incompletely) dominant genes that make them such interesting chickens to have.

The major attractions of muttly Easter Eggers are that they are easy to find (some hatcheries sell mixed quality "Americaunas" which are really Easter Eggers), wonderful 'no two alike' appearances (some will have beards or ear muffs, some have both, or not). They can make such a wonderful, colorful flock and a main attraction is their colorful eggs! Easter eggers lay eggs that range from pale green or pale bluish, to shades of green, through shades of olive, to pinkish khaki! When you collect the eggs, your basket can be quite colorful!

Extra eggs are easy to give to friends who will be amazed at the colors. I used to give them away at work. This isn't my picture, but if you use pine shavings or straw in the nests, the eggs will nice and clean unless your hens get all muddy.

I've had Lakenvelders, Silkies, Wyandottes, Light Brahma, Buff Orpingtons, Polish birds and other breeds. Of the non Easter Eggers, I love the Light Brahmas. They are colored similar to Lakenvelders but are very large, densely feathered and even have feathered legs -- like a Clydesdale horse.


Here's an Easter Egger and Lakenvelder with a clutch of chicks (there were about two dozen babies!). The dad was a Banty rooster that adopted us!

At the time, we had only ever gotten pullets (hens) and avoided roosters. But one of our Easter Eggers disappeared for a month. When she came back, she brought home a boy friend. He was a mongrel, a small partridge colored bantam. Skittish with people (we never could get very close to him) he was ever so sweet. Our hens (there were a couple dozen, assorted breeds) loved him. If I brought out some melon rinds and kitchen scraps for the hens, he'd come over and check out the goodies and call the hens to come check out the goods. They would come running and all enjoy the treats.

An especially memorable vignette I have of him... I had some cantaloupes that were over ripe. Too mushy and grainy to me. Fermenting a little too, lol.


I sliced them open and took them out to the flock. After putting it all down, the hens clustered around and gorged away.

The rooster came to one of the melon halves that was off to the side... and picked out some seeds from the center, he placed the seeds and the bit of membrane that held them together, on the ground next to the melon half. He called one of the hens from the group over -- One came, she checked out the seeds he had laid out. She started chowing down. He'd watch her eat, then reach into the melon half and take out more seeds as she got close to finishing the ones laid out, and he' lay more seeds on the ground for the hen. He did this over and over, fondly watching the hen enjoy the melon seeds.

Ripe bananas? If I had more than I cared to freeze for banana bread, I'd lay the bananas out and he'd peel them and break off bits and call one hen over and feed her. It's interesting that with several hens all chowing down, one would respond and he'd give exclusive attention to that one for the while.

Isn't that sweet? NOT all roosters are like this! I'm so glad this boy adopted us for a while. He lived with us for about 6 more years, then one day he disappeared from the flock. We think he may have gone off to find his resting place. We never did get to pet him. He had spurs that were over three inches long!

[crow_noir]

If you answered that you would like to have chickens...
What breeds would you have if you could choose?...

LOL... I wish i knew my chicken breeds. If i seen the type in front of me that i like i could point it out and say "I like that one!" :- D

I know there are some medium sized dark orange ones i like.

My favorite Rooster was a Rhode Island Red mixed with something else. He didn't look like a RIR though. He was really dark red (bay or chestnut if he were a horse?) with black, and i think i remember some dark green either in his head or in his tail. He had spikes just under an inch. It was the claws on his wings that you had to watch out for though! (Not me though... He saw me as one of his hens. LOL)

[SemaviLady]

LOL... I wish i knew my chicken breeds. If i seen the type in front of me that i like i could point it out and say "I like that one!" :- D

You can get a beautiful catalog from McMurray hatcheries. I use to buy my birds from them but since mine were around so long, I just used the catalogs as eye candy.
http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/cate..._chickens.html

I know there are some medium sized dark orange ones i like.

I wouldn't be able to guess what many of the standard sized orange ones are either!

[lute]

[QUOTE=SemaviLady]You can get a beautiful catalog from McMurray hatcheries. I use to buy my birds from them but since mine were around so long, I just used the catalogs as eye candy.
http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/cate..._chickens.html
QUOTE]

HAHA!!! Me too! I carry my McMurray catalog everywhere with me. I want to order some chicks from them next year.

[crow_noir]

Hey, look what i found! http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/...?petid=8336322 The Rooster i was talking about sort of had the coloring that this one does. (and since i know this won't be up forever it says it is an Old English Bantam rooster.)

Found this link and thought he looked like these sort of. http://www.cacklehatchery.com/bb_red...am_rooster.jpg http://www.cacklehatchery.com/wheate...bantam_roo.jpg
Had more of a head shape like this though http://www.cacklehatchery.com/Grey_Japanese_Rooser.jpg

Hmmm... I was told he was mixed with a Japanese something or other... I wonder if it was a Japanese Bantam?

LOL... I wish i knew my chicken breeds. If i seen the type in front of me that i like i could point it out and say "I like that one!" :- D

I know there are some medium sized dark orange ones i like.

My favorite Rooster was a Rhode Island Red mixed with something else. He didn't look like a RIR though. He was really dark red (bay or chestnut if he were a horse?) with black, and i think i remember some dark green either in his head or in his tail. He had spikes just under an inch. It was the claws on his wings that you had to watch out for though! (Not me though... He saw me as one of his hens. LOL)

[critter crazy]

If you answered that you would like to have chickens...
What breeds would you have if you could choose?

Oh I have 30 birds, so some are ones I have and some are ones that I want to add to the flock.

Birds I have
Delaware
Silver Spangled Hamburg
Pheonix
Barred Rock
New Hampshire Red
Buff Rock
Black Australorp
Ancona
Auracauna
Cuckoo Maran
Buff Orphington
White Crested Black Polish
Mille Fluer D'Uccle
Rhode Island Red

Birds I Want
Silkie
Blue Laced Red Wyandotte
Black Tailed Buff Japanese
Golden Campine
Silver Seabright
Golden Seabright


Gosh there are way too mnay breeds to choose from!!

[Pawsitive Thinking]

Used to have 4 of the darn things - Charlotte, Ken, Mumra and Shep. Noisy, smelly and hard work (and I don't even like eggs)

[lute]

Used to have 4 of the darn things - Charlotte, Ken, Mumra and Shep. Noisy, smelly and hard work (and I don't even like eggs)

Chickens can be hard work. I think that's why I like them so much. I love working FOR animals. I wish they paid money though. Actually chickens aren't all that smelly if they are cleaned up after enough. My four heavy breed gals are sleeping in a storage tub right now. I have to spray it out atleast twice a day. I go through a crap load of wood shavings too. I LOOOVE eggs! I actually just got my first batch of fresh farm eggs last week from a friend. They are definatly way better than factory eggs!

[CathyBogart]

I've had chickens before...I cheched "Not a pet for me", but only because I don't think I'll ever be living in a place that would be suitable for poultry. If I had some property that I could predator-proof, oh yeah, I'd have more hens! I've never looked at store-bought eggs the same way since I had my two laying hens. They were wonderful pets....especially my rhode island red.