We are getting baby chicks. We can’t decide which breeds and how many of each though. So, lots of chicken obsessing going on at our house. Jonny is especially excited. We are considering Black Australorps, Buff Orpingtons, Barred Rocks, Ameraucanas, Golden Comets, or maybe a few of each. Or maybe five of each. Twenty five chickens, and one rooster? Is that crazy? Maybe so. We eat a lot of eggs though. Anybody else have chickens??
Next on the list: honeybees.
I wish we were allowed to have them in F'burg city! That's so cool–good luck! I'm keeping you and your family in my prayers! 🙂
If we move back to the country we are considering chickens. I'll be anxious to see what you end up getting. How did you learn about caring for them? I'd love some advice.
We have had Ameraucanas and currently have barred rocks. My barred rock rooster is VERY mean, in fact if I go out there, I carry a stick! We started with about 15 hens and currently have 11 and have MORE than enough eggs for our family of 10…except in the winter. We also have honey bees…my husband is currently working out a new design for their boxes copied from a Kenyan Top Bar Hive (KTBH). It is supposed to be more natural for the bees. You just have to make sure that the bees have enough to eat through the winter. The honey is SO much better than the honey I can buy at the store!Anyway, I love my chickens…not so crazy about the bees. Email me and I'll tell you the story.Deb
I would love to hear what you decide on and whay you decided on those breeds. Also I was just talking to my husband the other day about getting honey bees. But I don't know the first thing about keeping them. So I would love to hear from you about that too.Christina
How I would LOVE to have chickens!!! When Lydia was homeschooling we hatched eggs – at my office! I was so nervous during the days they were hatching that the whole family SLEPT there! It they hatch, but stay in the incubator too long, it can kill them…. Those were exciting nights. I doubt people using the parish library can imagine our family all camped out there waiting for chickens to hatch! We had lots of different kinds. What fun that was…but when they got their real feathers, we took them out to a farm…. and what a lovely place it was! I was also very glad that there was only one boy in the bunch! when I heard that they'd have to kill any spare rooster(lets).All the varying eggs are soooo cool! And, they are saying (the latest I've read) that eggs are not all that unhealthy.Good news! They are one thing ALL my kids like, which is ironic as I hated them. My stomach would heave at the sight of smell of a fried egg. As an adult I've gotten to like scrambled, but never a fried one!I hope we get lots of photos!
I don't have chickens but I grew up with them. Had to feed them and gather the eggs every day. The ratio of male to female ought to keep the rooster happy! All kidding aside, I think that's pretty typical. We only had one rooster too and we had a coop full of hens. Did you know that chickens make great pets? It's true, they do. They're loving and faithful and appreciate the attention. I had one that followed me around everywhere I went. We let ours roam on the farm during the day and then penned them up at night away from any predators. If you get too many eggs, try selling them. People love eggs from range chickens. –Marj
Oh, I am so jealous. I wished we lived out in the boonies.