Friday, December 16, 2011

My Feathered Friends

One of the biggest purposes of blogging for me is sharing my challenges and triumphs of living with chickens. I hope I will make some fellow poultry-loving friends!

I'm going to start off stating that Dixie is my favourite. Is that wrong of me? She's the sweetest of the eleven.. She goes out of her way to get my attention, and comes running when she's called. She's made poultry-keeping all that more enjoyable for me. She came to live with us on August 3rd 2011 and gave us the first egg on September 11th 2011! It was perfectly formed (though tiny)..
My nephew, Parker, was quite thrilled to be there when we discovered it in the corner of the coop, in a bed of shavings. Dixie didn't think the nesting boxes were good enough apparently. She has since laid an egg every 3 days, takes a break, etc. 
I'm quite proud of my baby girl! Dixie, you're such a doll!
On to our second hen.. Wendy.. Named after Wendy's the fast food restaurant.. What?! We were hungry! lol. Wendy looks pissed in this photo, but really, she is a sweet-heart. She loves attention as well. She has this issue with her left eye. Not sure what causes it, but we have to apply ointment whenever it seems to act up.
This is the worst of it. Thank God, it's cleared up. She just has a little droop, no smell, and can see fine out of it. I'm wondering if someone pecked her, or if she just got some sand lodged in it.. Hard to say, but she's a trooper!
This is McDonalds. She doesn't like us.. But we like her! :D She's a mix between a silver spangled hamburg and a buff laced polish. Her father was the BLP. She's flighty, shy, and nervous. She's beautiful though <3

Carl - our buff laced polish (rooster/hen mix) lol. He was sold to us as a rooster.. We wanted him to be a rooster.. but he is just.. not roosterly material. 
He's special.. You may notice me calling it a he, but it's just habit. Even when he is laying eggs, it will still be a Carl to us. He's the most laid back of the chickens. He passes out when I hold him like so.. He's a bantam, and very tiny..
I did cut his crest.. He had a bad encounter with mud.. He looks like he's wearing a bonnet now, but he's happy.. That's all that matters, right? 
Nacho.. Our departed little Mille Fleur D'uccle. She had some kind of illness that we are unsure of.. She didn't grow, her comb was pale, her feet always cold, she peeped like a baby, and almost died from bullying the day after we brought her home. She passed away peacefully in Susan's arms 9-23-2011.. she was only 5 months old ='(
Who can have pet chickens without a silkie?! Honestly.. Lorraine was purchased August 9th 2011 - One week after we started our flock. No one seemed to care much about her arrival.. other than Nacho, who seemed insanely jealous for an hour. Was she a chicken, or a cat? They didn't know.. XD She wasn't handled much prior to us bringing her home. She now handles cuddling very well. When we got her, she was around 8 weeks old (supposedly), but I think she might be a month or so older. This picture was taken  September 2nd.. She should have been 11 weeks - almost 12.

On a side note, this is our gay co-farmer, Dylan. He purchased the gender confused cockerel, Carl. No wonder the poor thing is confused. *rolls eyes*
In case you were curious, here is our home-made coop. We call it Fort Cox. :) Clever, yes? 
I painted the sign myself!

Next post I will introduce the other six members of my flock. They were integrated on September 24th 2011! SIX new members.. Two of which are roosters :D 

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