Oh, it starts out innocuously enough. You get a couple birds. Maybe even are given some birds. That's how it began for me. I was given 6 hens and a rooster through a friend of a friend. Full grown laying hens. They were very nice - 3 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Buff Orpington and a Sex link hen (this is a bird whose father was a Rhode Island Red and mother was a Barred Rock) along with a Barred Rock rooster.
We built a pen with inside and outside space. They have a perch to sleep on at night and 3 boxes to lay their eggs in the day. And they do only lay during the day. They actually only ovulate in the sunlight hours. And, It takes about 26 hours for the next egg to come along.
At first it was just really cool to go out and watch them. They like going out to scratch in the dirt for bugs and grass and rocks. Yes, they eat rocks. Chickens don't have teeth. They eat their food whole and then they eat small rocks from the yard and the "grit" (ground limestone and oyster shell) that we provide. It all goes down into their gizzard to be ground up into digestible size bits.
I have learned the meaning of certain phrases like "hen pecked", "pecking order" and "mad as a wet hen". Believe you me, they do not like getting wet! In fact when they "bathe" they do it in the dust. They scratch out a place in the dirt and kick it up and over themselves to get it in their feathers.
Chickens are just generally interesting to watch. We sit out in the yard an just relax with a coke and watch their interaction. They dogs and cats have mixed reactions to them though. Bo and Mooch could care less. Precious can't decide if she wants to eat them or mother them. Oliver loves to "surprise" them but has enough sense to stay out of pecking range. But Daisy, well Daisy likes to chase them. It's a game for her. Fortunately for the birds, they are totally fenced in. Unfortunately for one of our hens, the door proved too much a temptation and she and Daisy had a problem. Daisy won. Thus Daisy and the chickens are now completely separated by 40' of fencing. That was a lesson learned the hard way.
So, how does a few free chickens turn into obsession? Well through the internet of course. We started reading articles, researching breeds (of which there are over 963!) and we joined chicken chat groups (yup there are chicken chat groups!). We found several kinds of birds that we think are really cool. Then we found people who breed them. Then we started to dream about expanding the flock.
We decided to stick to one breed and with in that breed 4 varieties. We like the breed called Orpington which originated in Orpington England:
Orpington (chicken)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Orpington is a large bird from the English class of chickens. It is a bold, upright breed with a wide chest, broad back, and small head and tail. The Orpington was bred as a dual-purpose breed (meat production and eggs), but its popularity grew as a show bird rather than a utility breed. Their large size and soft appearance together with their rich color and gentle contours make them very attractive.
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[edit] History
The original Orpington (the Black) was developed in 1886 by William Cook. He crossed Minorcas, Langshans and Plymouth Rocks to create the new hybrid bird. Cook named the breed after his home town in Kent. The first Orpingtons looked very much like the Langshan and were black. Between 1889 and 1905, Cook also created white, buff and blue colored Orpingtons. The breed was famous for its great egg-capacity.
[edit] Appearance
Some characteristics of an Orpington are:
- Heavy (7 to 10 pounds),
- Soft, profuse feathering, which almost hides the legs of the bird,
- Curvy shape with a short back and U-shaped underline,
- A small head with a small comb.
- Large and usually tame
- Its fluffy feathers that makes it look distinctively large.
[edit] Colours
Besides the original colours (black, white, buff, blue), lots of other varieties exist today, e.g. porcelain ( = Jubilee, speckled), red, mottled and birchen. The original colors are still the most widely bred varieties. Many colors are still being thought of and bred today.
Thank You Wikipedia!
See I told you they were cool. We really like the Black, Blue, Splash, Chocolate and Lavender varieties. However, we have learned these colors are fairly rare in the US, especially the Lavender and Chocolate. So that is where we have begun our program.
It started out simple enough. We bought a rooster who is Black and carries the lavender gene. Then we bought some chicks that are also black and carry the gene. Then we bought some more chicks, and some more chicks. We are waiting on our last batch of black/lavender chicks to arrive this week. In total we have 6 Black Orpington chicks.
But wait, there is more. In my quest to find good Blue and Splash birds I hit the internet. I found a gal who sells her eggs on ebay. So I bid and I won. So I am expecting 24 BBS(Blue, Black and Splash) eggs to arrive very shortly. Yes, I do have an incubator. Currently there are 5 eggs in it. Hopefully they will be hatching by the end of February.
Speaking of hatching, that is another fascinating thing about chickens. They go from egg to baby in 21 days! It is amazing to witness the development of these creatures. This video is incredible..... http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1446848/chicken_egg_defies_evolution/
Watching our first little chick hatch was totally cool. I couldn't believe how impatient I was for it to pop out. By day 19 we could hear him in there peeping away. I was so stressed waiting for it to hatch out. So many things can go wrong in those last few days. But it did hatch and now it is now of the bigger babies we have. Baby count: 1 RIR/Barred Rock, 6 Black Orpingtons, and 6 Turkens.
What's a Turken? Well it is my husband's little "want" of the month. Let us consult Wikipedia again.....
Naked Neck
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Naked Neck is the only breed of chicken that is naturally devoid of feathers on its neck. Originating in Central Europe, the breed is also called the Transylvanian Naked Neck, as well as the Turken. This latter name arose from the mistaken idea that the bird was a hybrid of a chicken and the domestic turkey. Naked Necks are fairly common in Europe today, but are rare in North America.
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[edit] Characteristics
Despite its highly unusual appearance, the breed is not particularly known as an exhibition bird, and is a dual-purpose utility chicken. They lay a respectable number of light brown eggs, and are considered desirable for meat production because they need less plucking. The breed is also reasonably cold hardy despite its featherlessness. Naked Neck roosters carry a single comb, and the neck and head often become very bright red from increased sun exposure. it is not to be confused with the churky or chicken turkey
Lovely ain't it? So I have 6 of these little chickies in my hatchery too. They are way cuter as babies but still U-G-L-Y!
So that brings the baby count up to 13. I am still waiting to hear about my 5 last Black Orpingtons. And next week we are picking up some Polish chicks (another husband thing) - Wikipedia take it away....
Polish (chicken)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Polish is an European breed of chicken known for its crest of feathers. The English language name of these birds is a misnomer, as they do not originate in the country of Poland. Instead, the oldest accounts of crested chickens comes from the Netherlands[citation needed]. In addition to combs, their heads are adorned with large crests due to a cone (called a protuberance) on the top of their skull. The crests cover almost their entire heads.
Polish chickens are bred primarily as a show bird, but were originally egg layers. Accordingly, Polish do not go broody and are noted for their white eggs. They may be bearded or non-bearded. The different colors of Polish are listed below in bearded and non-bearded varieties. Hens weigh around 4.5 pounds, and roosters 6 pounds. Polish are very skittish due to their feathered heads, and may be easily spooked.
So that adds 3 more babies. Don't forget I have 5 eggs in the incubator and 24 on the way. Oh and did I mention I was ebay-ing another 1/2 dozen from a different breeder? Oh yeah, I am winning that one as of this morning. That's a total of 35 eggs! I'm hoping for at least a 75% hatch rate. Do the math!
Lastly, I will be buying 2 more roosters - Blue Orpingtons this time. I'm driving down to Georgia Sunday to pick them up.
Now, I have sold some birds. Fear not good reader, I know I can't keep them all. I have to make room for my breeding birds so I sold most of the hens and the Barred Rock rooster. I only kept my good laying hens - the three RIRs. We will eat those eggs. And of course I have Boykin - the Black Orpington rooster.
So, chicken count - 4 adult birds with 2 more on the way, 13 chicks with 5 more on the way, and 5 eggs with 30 more on the way. See, I am crazy!! This is worse than SARS...there is no cure for this disease!
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