Here are my hens coming up to the door to say hi.
The tan ones are Buff Orpingtons, the white with a little black ones are a Leghorn mix, and the red one is a Rhode Island Red.
This is the run of their coop. This was last summer before they scratched up all the grass.
These are the newest additions. Five Buff Orpingtons and five White Leghorns are in there. They are getting big enough to divide up into separate totes. They are about two weeks old now and already have wing and tail feathers.
We have all girls. Unless one of the babies was sexed wrong, we won't be having a rooster.
Girl chicks are called pullets and boy chicks are called cockerels.
Chickens are pretty easy to take care of. They do get to free range part of the day and they love it.
They make noise when laying eggs. It's the egg laying song.
It will be 16-24 weeks before the pullets start laying.
I also have baby ducks.
One might say they were a parting gift for buying all the chicks.
We think the yellow ones are Pekin and the brown/yellow are Rouen. They came from the assorted bin so that is what we are guessing for now.
They were given to my husband because they were getting picked on and they were not doing too good. If we didn't take them, they would be taken back to die and tossed in the garbage.
Since he is a softy, he brought them home.
Lucky ducks.
ReplyDeleteYou know why.
They are, Al. They are pretty happy too.
DeleteThey really quack me up.
DeleteLast night we gave them a big water pan. They had a ball. It was hilarious and Honeyman is irritated cause they were just flinging water everywhere.
DeleteGotta love me some duck! Are these going to make it to the table for Thanksgiving - or are they pets?
ReplyDeleteI love how cute and fuzzy chicks are when their so small. And, nice of your hubby to bring home those ducks - I would hate to think they were just tossed in the garbage. How inhumane, and also wasteful.
Great C post.
Cheers, Jenny
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Jenny, the plan is for them to be pets. Since we don't know much about ducks, we aren't sure if we have males and females. When they get a bit bigger we will be able to tell from tail feathers. Both Kiddo and Honeyman think it would be neat to have a mated pair and get babies. But, the females will lay eggs like chickens and they are supposed to be tasty.
DeleteMy female Swedish Black duck, LuLu, laid eggs almost as good as my chickens. Bigger too. Just a bit richer but not too much different in taste.
DeleteThanks, Jeff.
DeleteAl stole my lucky duck line. hmph lol Good of him to save the poor ducks indeed. Regular chicken run at your sea.
ReplyDeletePat, That man is such an animal lover. It is at that.
DeleteWe always had leghorns on our farm and a few times we raised ducks. They do grow up fast.
ReplyDeleteSusan Says
Susan, We have never had chicks or ducks before. We got the hens last year from a guy my husband works with. People told us they grew fast, but I didn't realize it was this quick.
DeleteVery cool- one of my sons has 5 chickens- one for each kid!
ReplyDeleteNice, Lynn. Chickens are good for kids.
DeleteVery cool- one of my sons has 5 chickens- one for each kid!
ReplyDeleteSo sweet! I wish I didn't live in an apartment I would love to raise chickens!
ReplyDeleteC, maybe someday it will happen. :)
DeleteIf you had a male and a female chicken you could hand them to somebody and say, Here, hold my cock and pullet." (Al, can't even come close to that one!)
ReplyDeleteHopefully that wasn't to bad of a comment. I have 4 laying hens right now. My oldest girl "Peeka" is so tame she will sit on my shoulder or in my lap around the campfire. Sadly her sister "Boo" passed away this winter.
Jeff, I bet Al wishes he had come up with that one. I can pet a few of mine. Those are cute names. I am sure Peeka misses Boo.
DeleteMy gosh; they are all so cute!! I hope they lay plenty of eggs when they are ready to do so!
ReplyDeletebetty
Betty, they are! We should get plenty of eggs. We won't go hungry.
DeleteThey are lucky ducklings. That is sad what would have happened to them. Little chicks are so cute and soft
ReplyDeleteBirgit, yes they are so cute. The little ducks are so sweet and friendly, but they make a big mess. There is only 4 of them to the ten chicks and I have to change their bedding three times as often.
Deleteso make sure that you spend time picking out the best ones. play bazaar
ReplyDeletesatta king
play bazaar