Three new Hens

My last post about chickens was when eagle and fluffy and hawk and tulley and nutmeg were still with us back in early 2014.
A lot has happened since.
Nutmeg was the next to go with complications of a heart defect.
All that was left was old Red mama and her hatched chicks.

Hawk declined and was euthanized. She had reproductive tumors.

Tulley fought hard to get over an infection (lash egg) but the complications did her in a few months later and she passed in her sleep one night. Leaving us with Fluffy and Eagle.

So, I needed more chicks and decided to order pure breeds from a NPIP certified hatchery to get the feather colors and patterns I wanted and to get all females. The chicken as pets movement is gaining popularity and there was finally a place or 2 you could order small batches of chicks from.

Awe... just look at them... soooo cute!

The "fantastic 4" arrived in late June 2015 and grew in a brooder in the garage.

Sue (black australorp) was not the strongest and died quickly.

They were slowly introduced to the big girls and were put out in a modified run in the big run.

After months of trying, eagle just would not accept them. I couldn't trust her around them as she would try to attack them every chance.
So sadly, I decided to try and re home her with her sister fluffy (so she would have a friend). Found the perfect match for them luckily.

Now, the flock was soooo much less stressed. It was so quiet and peaceful and red and the new crew get on just fine.

3 years have passed and here is their story so far...

Bennie.

The cutest thing made me just absolutely fall in love with Cochin. She is the bottom of the order. Loud, let's you know it if anything is amiss or if she just wants out. Very vocal! Tough as nails, fearless. Attacks anything that moves. Kills mice with a precision bite to the back of the head and a firm shake. Attacks my feet with the same fervor. She of a bit of a little toot. I think she thinks she is a cat. She will fall asleep on my lap but only when she wants to. She lays more eggs than I was hoping for. She keeps up with the rocks.
She turned out a little darker than I was hoping for but it's a good because she looks allot like tulley and has great markings and lots of fluff. And that fluff makes it tough when the temps get above 80F.
At 3 years old, she is a grumpy old lady.

Johnnie.

Lives up to her namesake as a super fast one. She is athletic, fast. Super scratcher. Sweet but scared of everything! She whines like a little chihuahua. Other than that, she is fairly quiet. She takes forever to lay her eggs. She has had a skin problem with her feet though every since she was chick and I have to check her and treat her with meds often. She hatched some eggs for me (that is another story). Was not the best mom. She comes eagerly when called. Likes to bite legs and feet of others.

Reede.
Oh my reede. <3

 She was top of the order, after Red, of course. Although, sometimes she forgets and it's kinda funny seeing the look on red's face before she retaliates to remind Reede of the order.
She can be a bit of a bully. She loves people and people attention. She literally begs me to hold and pet her. She loves wing and shoulder massages. She talks a lot and trusts her mama and wants to hang out with me. Every few weeks I've got to bathe her because her neck isn't long enough to reach her backside. But, she loves drying time because it means she gets to  sit on my lap and get pet and blown dry with warm air - she just loves it and falls asleep while leaning up on me. Reede feathers have blurry barring and some of the darker bars have brown tint. She took over mothering the chicks that Jonnie hatched, thank goodness. She tried to steal the babies from the moment they were put under Jonnie. She was a great mom! They had no choice to accept her when Jonnie kicked them all out from under her because she was too hot. Reede gladly accepted!
My heart just shattered when I lost my sweet Reede this past summer to internal laying. The vet was awesome and I got to spend some time with her before she was peacefully euthanized. She was a very very special one! She loved her momma, loved to snuggle and seemed to know when I needed a chicken hug most.

Red Chicken died the summer before last. She had heart failure and died on the exam table before the last injection could be administered. She was a pal to me. Never liked being held or pet. But had to be nearby. She just wanted to hang out. She was a perfect chicken. Quiet unless something was wrong. Survivor. Fair and just leader. Great mother. She was a chicken that seemed wise. Laid eggs like a machine until she ran out. Then, enjoyed the retirement she deserved.

12 weeks old happy chickies - A Farewell

I guess these guys would be called cockerels and pullets now. But, chickies is so much easier.

I have finalized my keepers and the rest have gone off to their new homes.

Lets start with the keepers.

These guys all get along well together. I have been separating them into groups to see how they interact with just each other and the big girls. The following get along well and are not timid of me. This is a very important factor as I do not want to chase chickens around to get them in the coop or tractor when I want.

"BB" (black beak) or "Mr. Crow"

He will be my test run for roos. I still don't really want a roo but, he is sweet and the feathers are beautiful!

I figure he can help me keep an eye out on the girls when I free range them.

If we find his crow too much or he becomes aggressive to the girls or humans he will have to go.

He has a cute little adolescent crow (for now). He practices almost every day.
It has not bothered us so far. I caught him the other day trying out a dance move. I don't think he quite knows yet why he got the urge to dance.

The girls are so cute when he crows. They all stop to look at him. One is super curious and gets up in his face and intently looks at his beak when he crows.

"Eagle" f.k.a. "Trinity"

This is the one with the beak malformed. She is good at the feeder and waterer but has trouble getting good bites of green on the range.

She is also a sweetie and has a pretty voice right now even though it is starting to get deeper.

She is curious and a "talker".

"Hawk" f.k.a "HiLite

I needed another hen in the bunch and she is sweet and gets along with the others I chose. She is starting to "bok bok" too. 

What a cutie! Look at those poofy cheeks!

"Sunny"

The neighbor boy  fell in love at first sight with the other buff bird so this one stays with me.

She seems to have adopted me. She will hang out nearby and when she is scared or confused she will run to me. She had barred feathers on her wings but is starting to loose them as she gets her adult feathering in.

 She is also super sweet and will get under foot.

"Lucky" 

I wanted to keep one of the Young birds so, I let my daughter choose between this one and "Dusty". So far she is the underdog. She is tiny but a sweetie. She will let you pick her up and carry her around without a fuss. She tends to wander from the flock and that worries me a bit. Hopefully Mr. Crow will do his job and keep them together when they are out.

The ones that were adopted:

These 6 went to the neighbor I got the 4 1st hatches from. They will have tons of free range room to roam and other barnyard animals to keep them company. Bear, Ned and Dusty are back "home" to live with their biological "family".



The photo to the right is their temporary pen in their new home. Just look at all that fun chicken playground space they have back there to fly and roam and hide!

Look at them all relaxed in their pen - they love it already!

Bear - roo  - getting used to people and will come right up to you but still hates being picked up.




















Ned - little firecracker - she is one bully of a hen - mean. Not keen on people but will get somewhat close with the group.














Dusty - sweet little hen, just doesn't like being picked up.




















Ex - new roo suspect or aggressive hen - not too keen on people but will come fairly close

Brindle - wild little hen - flighty, nervous, absolutely wants to be the furthest from people as possible.















Rusty - This is the one the neighbor boy chose. She is a sweet little hen and loves to be near people. She is the first to get in her "big girl" voice. She will tug on your pant leg if she wants a treat.



















Splotch - a little roo  - really people friendly, will let you pick him up, alert and full of character. What a fun little guy. So far, I think he would make a great family rooster pet. He went to a home with some nice pre-teen boys and their 16 hens and small group of ducks.

video of rooster play fight

UPDATE 7/28/13
Ex had been caught trying to crow. I suppose my daughter was right on suspecting her to be a he.

8 weeks old Happy Chickies

8 weeks old and the chickies are officially "out of the nest".

Since my last post at 5 weeks old, nothing much changed to do a weekly post.
They had juvenile feathers and were learning the ways of a flock.

I went on vacation to visit family in Texas for a week 11 days and left the chickies in the capable hands of my hubby.

Nutmeg and Puff

 A few days before we left, we lost Puff to internal laying. That left us with mama Red and poor lonely Nutmeg :-( out of our original crew. Luckily, it killed her quickly and she died before I could get the hatchet out of the shed.

Those pullets (and cockerells) grow so fast.
Boy did they change in those 11 days!

When I got back they were HUGE!

They were sleeping on the roost. Or, at least, trying with Nutmeg and Red making it difficult for them.

Mama Red chicken was no longer mama! She got back her Red chicken voice and was biting and chasing the babies.  She had ENOUGH!
She laid her 1st post-mama egg yesterday and is already back to her every day egg. (8 weeks to the day after the last chick hatched). Can I clone this bird!?! Although, a whole flock of alpha hens would not be pretty.   Red is back to hanging out with Nutmeg and Red is still THE BOSS!

I wish I could have been home to document the transition from mama to flock-mate.

Nutmeg is a lot happier now that she has her only friend back and she is not on the bottom of the pecking order.

Here are the not-so babies. (re-homes and he/she's are subject to change).




Bear - one of the Young eggs and of the 1st to hatch.
Rooster suspect. Really thick legs but I couldn't get them in a shot.
Bear will be re-homed.












BB - "My chicken" Yes, I do have a favorite and this one is it! The only full-black chick out of the bunch. One of the Tucker eggs. Full of personality! And just look at that gorgeous iridescent black plumage.
UGH! I just saw "her" crow 3 times. Rrrrrrr.... Hoping it was just because she was startled.
Dang it! I might have to waive my no roo policy?

Started out as the tiniest of the bunch but shot up to be one of, if not the biggest.









Brindle - one of the Tucker eggs. One of the smaller birds. At first a rooster suspect. Everytime I picked her/him up, the hackles would raise. Still a very "flighty" and quick bird. This is why Brindle will be re-homed to a free-range flock (good traits to avoid being eaten).









Dusty - one of the Young 4. At  first I was keen on Dusty.  Now, she seems to have gained some flightiness and is back on my list for re-homeing. She is also a pretty small bird.









EX - a Tucker egg. Not too much distinguished about this one. She looks as though she will turn out to be a pretty girl. She is on the list for re-home.











HiLite - another Tucker egg. This girl is sweet. On the list to be re-homed.











Lucky - a Young egg. She is pretty tiny and sweet.












Ned - a Young egg. The smallest of the birds now. Great for free-ranging. Brave.









Rusty - a Tucker egg. One of 2 "golden girls". AKA "Austyn's chicken. This is a sweet and pretty little chicken. She will be re-homed to a boy Austyn who fell in love with her.

Splotch - a Tucker egg. Rooster suspect because of his tall stature and early comb. He is really sweet, Not dominating but will defend other chicks when they are picked on. If he does turn out to be a rooster, I feel he will be a keeper.

Sunny - one of the Tucker "golden girls". This one I am keeping. She is sweet and has barred feathers on her wings and laced feathers on her tail.










Trinity - one of the Tucker eggs. She sounds like a robin if you pet her. She has a really pretty white face and beard. She is developing and under-bite which is causing me to keep her since she might not make good reproductive stock because of this defect. She can still eat and drink well. She does better at the feed than foraging.

5 weeks old Happy Chickies

Just a video of the babies at 5 weeks old

They try to hang out with the big girls.
They are almost half the size of the big girls.
I am starting to narrow down the one that I will be keeping. I base it on my personal favorites of course but also who seems to get along with who best and who is better suited for a "pet chicken" life vs a free range farm chicken life.

Happy Chickies 4 weeks old

4 weeks old now.

They have most of their adolescent feathers in and are starting to look like mini chickens.

They are wild and crazy. Testing each-other, approaching the big girls, flying around. They are starting to "tat tat" at the doors and wire. That is what my daughter calls it when they pace and tap the beaks on the wire or door.   I can't go in with them without them flying up on my lap or shoulder. Of course there are a few that are less trusting of me and do not like to be handled.

the big girls trying to keep from the wrath of Red

Awe... cute sleepy baby birdies