Chickens

The idea of raising our own eggs really appealed to us.  We knew nothing about chickens when we got started.  We rescued 4 chicks from being eaten by lizards at a reptile show last spring.  We raised them from hatchlings.  We cared for them in the house.  The boys (just Evan and Sam at the time) helped with all the chicken care.  Then, we got Rosie, a full grown Rhode Island Red hen.  We absolutely adored her.  She took care of the chicks when we put them outside.  We were novice, inexperienced "micro-farmers" and had no idea what we are doing.  We put them in an insecure structure, and two of our precious chicks were eaten by raccoons who got into the pen.

Rosie and the other 2 chicks did very well for several weeks.  Rosie as laying 1 - 2 beautiful brown eggs a day.  She was so tame and a wonderful pet.  Then, Strauss (RIP), our lab mix, got into the pen and killed Rosie.  Tipper, our other lab mix, got one of the chicks who ran away.  

All we had left was Foghorn Leghorn, who we affectionately named at the time.  We got 2 more adult chickens, Rosie 2 and Sally, and had them for several more weeks.  Our last original chicken, Foghorn, was killed by a raccoon another night.  Finally we figured out how to secure the chicken pen and eventually traded Rosie and Sally for the flock we have now.  

We have 8 chickens, 3 Buff Orpingtons, 2 bantam ornamental mixed chickens, 1 buff orpington mixed chicken, and 2 Aracaunas.  So, we have 4 brown egg layers and 4 green egg layers, YES, I SAID GREEN!  They started laying eggs this week, since we got them as chicks.  Now all of our hard work is finally paying off.  We got 15 eggs in just a few days.  Go Hens!

This is a small intro to our life with chickens.  We really enjoy them, especially now that they are producing!