Providing helpful information regarding our feathered, feline, and canine friends while also sharing fun stories. And locally we provide pet sitting services.
My name is Kristina, and when asked why I started blogging, I easily answer, “Because I love to write.” However I’m not a published author. Although I have no lack of things to fill my time. Such as: I’m a part-time employee, wife, and mother of three daughters. Two of whom are still at home. And now I manage two websites, my husband’s and my own.
Ever since I was little, I loved writing and animals. Also, I used to want to be a veterinarian when I was small until I found out there were certain things vets were required to do to treat the animals. And like veterinary medicine I wanted to be a writer or an author when I ‘grew up’. Though I don’t remember my dreams being encouraged, so I pursued something I didn’t really have the heart for. In any event, I stayed with it, and I have enjoyed it.
I began my blogging journey when I started reading numerous articles about women pursuing and succeeding with their ‘side hustles‘ during the pandemic. So I decided blogging was something I could certainly try, because my passion for both writing and animals has not waned in the least. And living in such uncertain times right now, hopefully my efforts are successful.
Furthermore, I have numerous things I’d like to write about. I even have a work of fiction, though it’s unpublished, because I’m still working on the prequel. Anyway my most prolific subjects right now, and the ones I will spend more time focusing on, are my chickens. Although at times I will blog about the other animals we have and even include recipes.
I would love to hear from other people like me who are where I was when I first started out owning and raising chickens. There’s definitely a lot of hands-on learning involved with backyard chicken-raising. However I gained so much wisdom by reading what other people went through, and I still do! I would also love to get feedback from other bloggers.
If I achieve my goals with my blog, I will be extremely happy. And I might even start a new blog, one completely unrelated to chickens.
Have you ever experienced both the good and bad side of a rooster? You know, where one day he’ll attack you and the next day he does something amazing for his flock? When you get attacked by an 18 inch tall bird, you may ask yourself why you even have him there. So, what is the point of a rooster anyway?
In one of my posts I brought up how our first rooster would attack every member of my house any moment we walked outside. If you’ve experienced this, you understand it gets tiring real quick.
Many people may wonder why we didn’t just get rid of the rooster, and the answer to that is twofold: no one would take him, and he served a purpose. So that’s the focus of this post.
The Point of a Rooster
There are a few points to having a rooster, that bear getting attacked by him. And they include
To get more chickens
I get asked all the time if you have to have a rooster in order to get eggs. And the answer is a resounding no, because hens will produce eggs whether or not there’s a rooster. But if you want chicks, or more chickens, from your own flock, without purchasing them from a breeder or feed store, then yes, you need a rooster.
Incubating your own chicks can be an amazing experience, especially if you have children. Even if you don’t incubate, you might have a broody hen at some point. And you know all about your chickens, any illnesses they’ve had, their whole history. Whereas, with store bought chicks or adult birds, you know really nothing about them. However that’s not the only reason to have one.
Communicate with and protect his harem of hens
Another key point in keeping the rooster around is the different sounds and calls he has. Roosters have particular sounds they make which can mean different things. From warnings about danger to letting his girls know about goodies he’s discovered, his calls are distinct. For example,
Food sounds
A rooster will make his very own clucking sound that signals to the hens that he’s found something especially nice. A good roo will often sacrifice eating so he can give treats to his girls but often with ulterior motives. Many times you can notice roosters mate with a hen after making his “Look, look, look” sound. The rooster entices the hen with treats before enjoying the fruit of his labor.
Noises about danger
A good roo will make an ‘oo oo’ sound which indicates danger. Unfortunately our first rooster wasn’t skilled at looking for actual danger; he was too busy thinking his humans were the sole source of peril.
Both roosters and hens will squawk when they are alarmed.
Responding to the hen song
Another familiar sound roosters make is the egg song. However it isn’t limited only to roosters; both hens and roosters participate. The egg song is when a hen lays an egg and then she sings a song about it. Or cackles and squawks for a long time. And in the middle of her singing, the rooster joins in the melody. Some claim that the hen is proud of her work, but not all agree.
Likewise, others think the birds may be trying to lead predators away from the eggs by drawing attention to themselves. I suppose, simply on an instinctual level, anything is possible, but I know my birds. I know that if a dog started running after my hen, she would run back to the coop, not away from it. Not out of a desire to get the dog to eat the eggs and spare her. I don’t think my birds think that deeply. No, I know they would be extremely scared, and they run to the coop when there’s danger.
Another possible explanation is that the hen is signaling that she’s done laying her egg; and trying to find out where everyone is, and thus the rooster answering back. A lot of times our rooster will run to the coop to get her.
What does the all too familiar cock-a-doodle-do mean? He could be announcing that he’s the boss, or he could be talking to distant roosters. Maybe the roosters are challenging each other or trying to establish the boundaries of their own kingdoms.
Teach the hens
Sometimes, not always, a rooster will get in a nesting box, because he’s showing the hens what to do. He’s teaching the hens where to lay eggs. Casanova, our first rooster, took his job very seriously, and he was the only roo we had that did that.
Cass in a nesting box.
The older hens usually teach the younger ones how to look for food and where to lay eggs. However, roosters have also been known to do this as well.
Another Purpose in having a Rooster is
They maintain order in the flock
The rooster is at the top of the pecking order. No one, except you, outranks him. Most roosters will keep and maintain peace in their flock. If there are difficulties in flock members, he will settle it. So having that order makes it worth it to have a rooster.
I observed this about my roo one afternoon, as I was watching my birds. He was good with relationships. At least with his own kind. A couple of the older gals were dust bathing, and they have certain favorite spots for doing that. Well, Chopper, one of our Ameraucanas, saw a Black Sex-Link in the bathing hole. So she grabbed the hen by her comb, with her own beak, and commenced dragging her out of the dust. Less than 2 seconds later Chopper realized her mistake. She erroneously thought she was forcibly moving one of the younger Sex-Links. But she actually did that to Loki, our oldest Sex-Link, and probably higher on the totem pole than Chop.
Our Sex-Link Loki.
Loki was ready to clobber Chopper when she was on her feet, and Chop was right to be afraid. Because Loki was a lot heavier than she was. Chopper made a huge mistake, but Casanova stopped the girls from getting into anything. He was right there, this midget, smaller than Loki, except for his tail feathers. It was like he was talking to both of them, only I had no idea the exact words he was saying.
He would look from one to the other, bob his head up and down, make some noises. I know he was talking to them, calming them both down, and it worked.
He Maintains Order With His Dance Moves
Another thing you want to consider when keeping a rooster is they dance. There is the big showy dance where he’s putting himself on display for a mate, in hopes of luring one in. And then there’s the smaller two-step one where he just makes a couple of steps around the hen.
Our youngest holding her arch-nemesis.
The second type of dance is for keeping his girls in line. And that’s more typically the kind of dancing I see from my roosters, current and past. The hen might have disagreed with him, rejected his offer of love, gone off on her own, or started to get in a fight with another hen. But, whatever it is, he will go get her and do his two-step little dance. Rarely does he have to bow up and show her who’s boss in such an aggressive display.
He Maintains Order by Getting a Wayward Hen
Speaking of hens going off on their own, good roosters will bring back a wayward hen. Or at least join her to make sure she’s protected.
Megatron, my Ameraucana, is a very good roo as he shepherds his hens well. He reminds me of the parable in the bible about the shepherd leaving the 99 sheep to retrieve the one lost lamb. He does that for his girls.
I have many more stories I can share about roosters and hens, but I’ll stop here for now. I would love to hear your comments.
There are so many things to think about when starting your small backyard flock. Or even your large backyard flock. You get the chicks, the heat lamps, the different feeds. But one of the most important considerations is the coop. What kind should you get? Should you buy pre-made? Or should you build it yourself? And there’s a ton of info on the types of chicken coops out there.
I already mentioned in a previous post that when we had our broilers we only had a temporary shelter. Very temporary, because they were thrust upon us, and we had nothing to work with. We just moved into our house, so we were tight with our money. Buying a pre-made coop wasn’t an option. However, when our daughters brought home 7 chicks from East Texas that summer, my husband had to come up with something better.
Building Your Own Coop
If you have a small flock and don’t have time to build something, buying a pre-fabricated shelter is a great option. Although, if you have a bigger flock, you’ll need to either build the coop yourself or hire someone to build it. Most pre-made shelters are designed with smaller flocks in mind. Think under 7 birds.
My husband has been involved with art, design, and different stages of construction most of his life. He enjoys it, so it was a no brainer for him, deciding to build the coop. The hard part was finding time and coming up with a suitable design. He checked out some books at the library for different designs and got a basic idea before gathering supplies.
Coops Out of Re-Purposed Materials
There are so many different ways to make a chicken coop. All you really need is creativity; you don’t even need money in some cases. Although, you need to make sure predators can’t get into it.
When we were thinking about a chicken coop, there had been a tornado that touched down less than a couple minutes away from us. So there were a lot of fences down. A friend of mine went through her neighborhood and constructed her coop out of old fence.
My husband didn’t want to do that. He said it’s more difficult to use wood that’s already been used. But due to our budget, we couldn’t afford to get what we wanted. So, he went to the new home subdivision near us and asked the builders if we could take their ‘trash’. They said we could have it, which consisted of the wood we would use to build our first chicken coop. The only reason they threw it out was because they made a mistake with it. Instead of trying to fix their mistakes, they would just throw out the wood and start with new.
We got the shingles from someone else my husband worked with. He just re-roofed his house, and all we had left to do was paint it. I think the hardest part of building that chicken coop was my husband getting the telephone poles into the ground. That’s what the coop stands on.
Completion of the first coop with a ramp for the birds.
I have seen coops made out of discarded trampolines. Again, the most important element is making them predator-proof. You can check out some ideas here.
If you plan on starting small or have a small flock, you can find manufactured coops on Amazon. You can also go to your local feed store. One year we even saw some at our Sam’s Warehouse.
The chickens helping to dig the foundation for our second chicken coop.
When our first batch of incubated eggs started hatching, we didn’t have a coop big enough for 20-something birds. It only had 9 nesting boxes but no run. It was basically just a small shelter from the elements and a place for the birds to lay their eggs. However, with the certainty that we were going to have more birds, we needed a new place for all of them.
Temporarily we placed the chicks in a big Rubbermaid box with a heat lamp, pine shavings, plastic waterer, and chick-starter. We left them in this setting until the adult chickens had a new home. At that point we could bring the new chicks to the first coop we built; it was the perfect size for bite size birds.
Our chicks.
It took my husband and son-in-law 4 or 5 days to build the new coop from start to finish. And when it was completed it was like a penthouse compared to what the birds had before.
Whether you purchase a prefabricated coop or build your own, make sure it’s the right size for your flock. The coop is where the birds rest at night, the hens lay their eggs, and where they run to when there’s danger.
Nesting Boxes
Chickens don’t necessarily need an abundance of nesting boxes, unless you have a very large flock. We currently have 29 chickens, 1 guinea, and 4 ducks. And only 2, or at most 3 boxes, get used. Ever. They sleep on a roost, so installing some roosting poles is also important. You would be surprised at how some birds want the whole roost to themselves. Our first roo was like that. He would peck the claws of whoever was next to him, making them jump off. We currently have a hen that’s like that; she doesn’t want anyone next to her on the roost.
Our big coop only has 12 boxes. In our experience the hens usually like to lay their eggs in the same nesting box, so we didn’t figure that would be an issue. And it generally isn’t. They always have plenty of space; they just choose not to use it, preferring the space someone else is occupying instead.
The guinea pair, roo, and a couple of hens.
Mobile Coops
We have a run attached to our big coop, but we didn’t with the first one. I have seen some that are detachable; I’ve also seen coops that are mobile. This can be beneficial, because it can be moved around the yard due to its light weight. Also, the birds won’t denude the grass in just one area. It also means less clean up for you, equating to fresh air for the birds and less disease. But if you have one that’s attached or are purchasing/building one that’s attached, it’s not that big of a deal; it’s just another area to clean.
There are pros and cons to having either a permanent or mobile coop and run. Though, probably one of the biggest arguments against the tractor design would be dependent on where one lives. If, like me, you live somewhere where it gets super windy or experience frigid winters, including ice and snow some years, this option wouldn’t be ideal.
Once September rolls around, we can get gusts of up to 40 mph or more. Not to mention the threat of tornadoes in the Spring. The last thing you want is the hen house being knocked over. A few weeks ago we had an early winter storm which downed power lines. Ours didn’t go out, because ours are buried, thankfully. But people were without power in several areas of our state for weeks. Then two weeks ago, we had one of those terribly windy days that we have, and power went out again. What makes the tractor design ideal is also what makes them unsuitable in contrary weather.
Something else to consider when designing or buying a coop and run is how to predator proof it. I have had friends that never locked their birds up at night, just letting the chickens fend for themselves. I’ve also had a friend who had a window on their coop for their birds. One friend just had a coop and no run made entirely out of fencing material. In all three instances the birds were killed by predators. Rather than placing chicken wire on the run, my husband placed hardware cloth or wire mesh, which is extremely strong and durable. The only things that can get through, besides bugs, are mice. A lot of people think chicken wire is a good option. But it is very malleable and snakes can fit through the holes. You need something tough and wire mesh is it.
Size
The last thing to take into account when deciding on a chicken coop is the size of your flock. There’s a lot of different material online on how to figure out the size of your coop based on the size of your flock. Are your birds free-range? Or are they going to be in the run all day? When we first built our big coop, we only had 8 birds. Then we expanded to 20 for a long time. And now we have 29, plus ducks, and chicks. But not all the chicks will stay. However we still have our small coop, that we use for broody hens.
A good rule of thumb is 2-4 square feet bird, unless your birds will be confined all day; then more space is better. Since our birds stay out all day until they put themselves in at night, they have enough space. Although, if we ever increase our flock, we’ll need to build an addition.
Do you have a preference for your coop and run? Do you live somewhere that isn’t as windy? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Have you ever wondered why roosters attack? Or have you ever been attacked by a rooster? Well, it was after our daughters brought home our first batch of chicks that we started noticing changes in our rooster, Casanova. He seemed highly interested and invested in the chicks, I suppose, because it would be more variety for him once they matured.
Well, one day when we let the chicks out in the sunshine, they pulled out some of his tail feathers, flustering him. They could have been considered adolescents at the time. But, as we were putting them up, he got upset with us and started showing typical rooster behavior.
Why Roosters Attack
I’m sure everyone is familiar with a rooster attack. Or has seen it, either in real life or on a show or a movie: where the rooster will start pecking the ground, get this crazy look in his beady eyes, and seem to square up, before he actually bows up with his neck feathers flaring out. That’s how far Casanova went with us and the chicks, which he now regarded as his property.
Our small flock in their first coop.
Once the new birds were big enough and used to our property as their home, we opened the coop up so that Casanova and Natalie could get in there with them at night as well. We had a plank board, that rested from the entrance to the ground. This was so they could walk up and down as they pleased, except at night, when we closed it up.
Thus began what seemed like a lengthy, almost daily, battle with our 1-foot high roo.
Why do roosters attack? At the time I didn’t know, I couldn’t fathom why he went from a docile creature to something I wanted to beat in an instant. If you’ve ever had a rooster or experienced their behavior, you will understand where I’m coming from. I went out there to feed and water them, bring them treats, and take care of them, which the girls seemed to appreciate. But he literally bit (or pecked, in this case) the hand that fed them.
Every day, sometimes several times a day, Casanova would attack, not just bow up. And he would use his spurs. Thus he attacked everyone at my house. Not equally, no. But none were spared. My youngest daughter was scared to go outside. Even though he was small, he still scared her.
Different Opinions
I looked up information on this bothersome problem, and there were many different opinions out there. And there still are. I read that I needed to: dominate my rooster, love my rooster. Or my personal favorite: act like a rooster, just a tougher one, because that’s supposedly how he viewed me.
Let me just tell you that none of that worked on that bird.
Maybe Casserole (nickname we started calling him) was just stubborn. Or maybe the people who wrote those posts had different roosters. I don’t know, but he wasn’t going to change.
I had heard that roosters are supposed to protect the flock, so it was confusing when I would see this pipsqueak run through the flock of girls for cover when a hawk was flying over, yet attack one of us when we brought goodies out.
Casanova, sitting in my daughter’s lap.
It wasn’t until after Casanova died, and we already had a newly matured, replacement rooster, that I figured it out.
My rooster, Megatron, has never attacked me, and I don’t think he ever will. He respects me. Casanova saw me as a rooster and wanted to challenge me. Daily. He wanted to challenge all of us that he considered roosters. I didn’t understand that until he was gone and Megatron acted so differently, almost gentlemanly. He also sees me as a rooster, however he doesn’t want to provoke me. Because he knows I’m the boss. Also, he never fought with the old tiny roo and never even crowed till Casanova was gone.
My roo Megatron.
Do you have any experience with a rooster attacking? How do you handle it? I would love to hear your comments and how you handle your own disorderly roosters.
While my daughters were in East Texas visiting grandparents, they decided to get some chicks. These new chicks ended up being quite different than our first batch of birds. Additionally, the girls decided on a mixed flock: Ameraucana, Silver-Laced Wyandotte, and Black Sex Link.
When the birds were brought home, we kept them inside with a heat lamp for a few weeks. Then we brought them outside to their new home. This was the first coop my husband made out of upcycled wood, telephone poles, new nails, shingles, and a coat of paint. And originally it was for Casanova and Natalie to call home.
One of our Black Sex-Link chicks.
It didn’t take long for our girls to name those little chicks. However they didn’t keep their original names. Because, as they got older and got some personality, their names had to fit.
We had two Silver-Laced Wyandottes, which were the oldest chicks in the bunch. They also became the dynamic duo leaders of our little fledgling flock. In addition, we had three brown-red Ameraucana chicks, and two Black Sex Links, bringing our flock to nine members.
From left to right, Echo, Casanova, Natalie, Loki, Fives, and Chopper.
Soon we and the birds got into a routine. For the 9 of them, they had a nice green backyard and plenty of space. And we worked on getting more trees. They would serve as shade for the summer months, and hopefully add to everyone’s diet.
It wasn’t until that Winter, when the birds were locked in their coop, due to a heavy snow, that we got our first eggs from them. It had taken around 6 months for the first eggs, and we were so excited.
Deciding to Add More Chicks
The following spring we decided to increase our flock. But, being uncertain about how and when hens go broody, we bought an incubator and started collecting eggs. At the time I felt like we went overboard. I think we had around 20 eggs to incubate on the likelihood that at least half would be cockerels. And if so, we wouldn’t keep them, as I explain why in another post.
Our first home-grown chick and the remaining eggs.
We ordered a simple, inexpensive incubator for our eggs. Thus, we were responsible for turning the eggs. Although it had a mechanism to adjust the temperature, there was no way to know what the temperature was. Therefore, I ordered a digital thermometer with a humidity gauge on it. But there are many different kinds of incubators out there, depending on how much you’re willing to spend and what your needs are.
It takes 21 days for a fertilized chicken egg to fully develop and hatch. Consequently, we dated all of our eggs from the day we took them from the nesting boxes. And because we had such a small flock, my daughter, Hannah, and I knew which chicken laid which egg. I can’t say that about all of our chickens today.
Candling one of our hen’s eggs.
After a week, we candled the eggs. That’s where you take a bright light, like a flashlight, up to the egg in a dark room. It’s to see whether the egg is fertilized after it’s been incubated for a few days. It’s called ‘candling’ because candles were originally used. Though how they could see anything is beyond me. We now have Cuckoo Marans, and we still have ‘Caunas. Both have thick eggshells, making it difficult to see if the egg is indeed fertilized.
Our first pipped egg.
When the first chick was ready to hatch, it pipped, or started pecking the shell with its beak tooth. That’s a horn-like projection on the end of its beak, that falls off a day or two after hatching. Next, the chick unzipped the shell with his beak tooth, around the circumference from where he started his pip.
Only One Canoli.
Chicks that Hatched
13 chicks hatched within a day and a half. And we lost only 2, besides the eggs that were never fertilized. One egg never hatched, while 1 chick died either from stargazing, which is a thiamine deficiency. Or it had wry neck, which is also a vitamin deficiency. The other option is it could be genetic. Either way the chick only lived 1 week no matter our efforts.
I vividly recall being mesmerized by this batch of chicks, really invested in almost everything they did. Perhaps that’s because it was a completely new experience for me. I soaked up everything I learned about them and chickens in general.
Two newly hatched chicks.
We took eggs from each hen, fertilized by our Cream Legbar. But mostly we stuck with the Ameraucanas. Even though we only took 2 eggs from our Sex Link, one of those chicks was one we lost. Though we still have the other one that we named Oddball. She resembles a Barred Rock, however she has her dad’s huge comb.
We got a couple of pullets from the Wyandotte hens as well. One was the second chick to hatch out of the clutch. And she is healthy, and still today tends to be a bossy hen like her mom. However, the other one hatched with one foot/claw not fully formed. We surmised that it was a genetic issue. And since we don’t have chicken vets where we live, that wasn’t an option to see one.
If you’re a pet lover like us, then you understand why we didn’t put Kix down. She could get around, and she adapted easily. Further, the other chickens didn’t bother her once they established their pecking order. Not to mention, she had a special place in our youngest daughter’s heart. So we kept her, and she lived 2 years.
Then, after her good foot got infected, we knew it was futile to give her antibiotics. Because she lived outside, and her foot would only get reinfected. Letting Kix go was one of the most difficult and saddest decisions we had to make. But we knew it was better for her.
Kix, our Cream Legbar/Wyandotte mix.
The reason the one Sex-Link hybrid didn’t live is simply part of the risk. I’ve read instances where many chicks were hatched from a similar pairing, Cream Legbar and Black Sex-Link, with one or two losses. It’s a risk that there will be genetic issues, though I didn’t really understand that going in. Since then I haven’t incubated any more Sex Link eggs.
The first thirteen chicks we hatched.
Unruly Cockerels
Only One Cannoli was our first chick to hatch, and he was a cockerel like 7 of his brothers. Although, he was the only one who bonded with us the way he did, most likely because he was the first-hatched. So when he cheeped and peeped, we came immediately. And by the time the others were hatched, they had each other. Only One Cannoli only had us for the first few hours of life.
Only One Cannoli with my second daughter. He liked to perch wherever.
We kept the cockerels for 3 months before they totally got unruly. But then we had to slaughter them, because the hens come first. We tried to find homes for them, however where we live, no one wants roosters. They weren’t broilers, so they weren’t fat. Though I was still able to make a few dishes with the meat we got from them. I made roasted chicken, which didn’t hide the gamey taste. However King Ranch Chicken (or Cannoli in this case) and chicken soup tasted good.
Since our first batch of home-grown chicks, we’ve incubated several more times. While I try to go with more manageable numbers, my husband thinks more is better. Also, we purchased more Sex Links, but locally and only once more. And I’ve bought more ‘Caunas, which I’ve driven from 2 to 6 hours to get the ones I wanted, because they are my personal favorite. And last but not least, some of our hens go broody. Yet we still only give the moms-to-be 2 to 3 eggs each.
I would love to hear from you if you have any comments or any stories about your own adventures with chicks.
We inherited our first birds when we moved into our current home on an acre. And we were told they were Leghorns, and were supposed to be good layers. So, we were excited. There we were, just getting started with chickens.
I live in a small town southwest of Oklahoma City with my family. But originally I’m from Dallas. Therefore, I was more familiar with fashion and makeup trends than with a farm and chickens.
Furthermore, my first experience with chickens was several years ago on my mother-in-law’s ranch in East Texas. Unless you count eating chicken. She ordered some Rhode Island Reds, which at the time, I had no idea what that meant. I certainly wasn’t aware of all the breeds out there. Or that I would end up having my very own flock.
Getting Started: First Steps
To say we were unprepared is a gross understatement. We had no feed, no waterers or feeders. And we didn’t have a coop either. But at least we had a fence around our half-acre backyard. That was something. However, my husband was, at the time, busy working as a fireman/EMT.
Thus, with his schedule, and lack of immediate funds from buying our house, we decided to make do with a temporary shelter. We made sure there was good ventilation, a roof, and that the shelter would keep them dry. Also, it kept critters from getting them. Although, it was nothing like our birds have today. It was just an emergency shelter.
Getting feed, waterers, and feeders was the easy part. And once we had the temporary shelter in place, along with their necessities, we put the chickens in their shelter.
The Chickens: Not What We Expected
Our first hen Natalie was actually a broiler.
It was maybe 2 or 3 days after we got the chickens that we noticed they didn’t seem to do anything. None of them did anything. Except if you consider laying down an activity.
We didn’t so much as inherit the eight chickens as someone my husband worked with gifted them to us. And the local feed store, where he lived, told him the birds were Leghorns.
Well, shortly thereafter, we did some reading and educated ourselves. Then soon discovered that what we had were not, in fact, Leghorns at all. They were broilers!
After the kids recovered from their disappointment of having named the birds, we changed their diet to what they were supposed to eat. And three months later might have signaled the end of that adventure. But in the time we had with our lazy, fat broilers, my daughters and I learned some things about chickens. And some things about our meat chickens too.
We soon realized that most of them were cockerels, who I might add, wouldn’t live to see adulthood. Although there was one pullet in the mix that we were determined to save from her fate. So we called her Natalie.
Our chickens, such as they were, liked to sit or lie in the shade at the fence-line that separates our neighbor’s property from ours. In addition, our neighbor has a couple of dogs, cats, goats, etc. Thus, one day, when all but Natalie and one cockerel were gone, one of my neighbor’s dogs was busy digging under the fence to get at the remaining broilers.
Natalie was smart for a broiler; smart and different. She didn’t stay in the shade at the fence. She would walk around the property and stop sometimes to look at the chickens on the other side of our property. Therefore, when the neighbor’s dog attacked, she got up and ran for cover (as much as a broiler can run), while her brother got snatched under the fence and perished.
This is our first official rooster, Casanova, a cream Legbar.
Getting Started: Layer Breeds
Our neighbor felt very bad about the loss of our last meat bird. Consequently, he vowed to repay us for our loss with another rooster.
Natalie and her first egg.
Natalie laid her very first egg during the few months that we waited for our new rooster. And she continued to make her rounds around the half-acre.
Before the new rooster arrived, we had a real coop for the couple. And we were definitely prepared unlike with our first birds.
The new rooster was a short little thing, compared to other roosters I’ve seen and had, but very colorful with beautiful tail feathers. For a while we had no idea what breed Casanova was. When I asked my neighbor for incubating purposes, he guessed at game hen. But then I saw pictures of birds like him, along with his progeny, so it’s no longer a mystery.
Being a broiler, Natalie was a lot bigger than Casanova. As such, it was interesting to watch them together, especially at first. They seemed to get along. And our first experience with a rooster overall was not a bad one. Though, that started to change when we got chicks.
Casanova and Natalie in their coop at night.
We now have almost 30 chickens, 3 adult ducks, and 2 guineas. And since it’s late spring, the hens are in full broody mode. Thus, we have 3 or 4 broody hens, of which 3 or 4 chicks have already hatched. Additionally, Paul, my husband decided to incubate again this year. So, there’s a mixture of duck, guinea, and chicken eggs. Thus far, we have 3 keets and ducklings each and only one chick.
How did you get into chicken keeping? Your comments are appreciated.
Chicken Girl 