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Lovely Ladies & Gents

November 15th, 2014

This summer I had two broody hens hatch out 15 chicks. They’re all grown up now, one of the new roosters replaces our Mr Rooster who died suddenly. We were sad to see him go as he was a really great rooster. Luckily he passed on his Silver Laced Wyandotte genes to some of his offspring. They are quite lovely ladies to be sure.
chickens 2
I love these black and white ladies with vibrant red combs, they’re quite lovely indeed. Hopefully they have the same temperament as Mr Rooster who was a laid back bird.
chickens 1
It was certainly a great experience watching broody hens hatch eggs and raise them with the rests of the flock. There are five roosters that will end up the freezer and the pullets will remain as our egg layers. They will replace any older birds that die or any that are lost to predation. I’m not sure if I have a favorite color/breed of chicken, though the black and white ones are really pretty. I keep thinking I’ll narrow down my flock to only Silver Laced Wyandottes so I can sell chicks, but that’s not going to happen any time soon.

Do you have a favorite color/breed of chicken?

7 Comments to “Lovely Ladies & Gents”
  1. kristin @ going country on November 15, 2014 at 6:09 am

    Our best chickens were mutts, bred by some lady who was trying to create her own breed. We started with six and ended up with two hens and a rooster. Never had any trouble with them, even the rooster, and the hens were good layers.

    Then we got Rhode Island Red hens. Total pain, kind of feral, could escape any enclosure, laid all over the place, and ended up pilfering in my garden.

    When our beloved rooster disappeared, we got a Welsummer rooster from someone else. Nightmare. Super aggressive. After he tried to spur every adult in the house and successfully spurred my toddler, he ended up as dinner.

    We are currently chicken-less, which is actually kind of nice. The eggs from the Mennonite farm up the road aren’t QUITE as good as our own, but good enough.

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  2. Myra S. on November 15, 2014 at 9:08 am

    Over the years, we’ve had white leghorns, Rhode Island reds, comets, but by far, my favorite were the fluffy buff Orpingtons. Good layers, gorgeous ladies rummaging around in the yard. They interacted with us and followed us around in the yard like puppies. We don’t have any right now until we build a new coop, but we’re thinking about the wyandots or barred rocks for next time. Kristin is right, there’s no eggs like your own!

    Reply to Myra S.'s comment

  3. Nebraska Dave on November 15, 2014 at 11:05 am

    Susy, as you know chickens are just not my thing but I can remember the soothing sounds of contented hens scratching around in the barnyard. Even after all these city years without chickens, I can still remember the calming effect those sounds had on me even as a child. Almost makes me want to get some. …. Nah, just a fleeting thought. :-)

    Have great chicken raising day.

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  4. Charlie@Seattle Trekker on November 15, 2014 at 4:54 pm

    I like the continuity that your chickens creates, they are part of the support community.

    Reply to Charlie@Seattle Trekker's comment

  5. Chris on November 15, 2014 at 6:00 pm

    I’ve had Gold-lace Wyndottes, and they were very tame and lovely to have as a domesticated chicken. I was surprised by the roosters too – all of them got on with each other and didn’t harrass the ladies like others I’ve had at a young age.

    They weren’t as good layers as my New Hampshires, but still a lovely bird for temperament.

    If I had to pick a favourite breed, out of the Pekins, Bantam Orpingtons, Araucana, Barnevelder, Gold-lace Wyndotes, Australorps, Isa Brown and New Hampshires I’ve owned, it wold have to be the latter. They were the best performer for food to egg convertersion, temperament and were extremely hardy.

    Of course, it all depends on your breeding stock. If the breeder didn’t select the same traits in their breeding stock, then it may be a different experience for someone else. If I had to pick a favourite bantam breed though, it would be the Orpingtons. Excellent temperament (especially roosters) good feed convertion, and laid a good sized egg for a bantam, which I was pleasantly surprised by.

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  6. bangchik and kakdah on November 16, 2014 at 3:53 am

    beautiful ladies….enjoying the space and privacy

    Reply to bangchik and kakdah's comment

  7. andrea on November 17, 2014 at 12:27 pm

    Lovely hens you have there. Keep in mind that the light colored birds are more susceptible to predation from hawks as they stand out more in the landscape. Then again, when the trees are leafless in your neck of the woods, you are probably likely to have the white stuff on the ground, so it might camouflage them more. For us in MA, we stick with the darker colored birds (barred rocks, golden-laced wyandottes, australorps, welsummers, easter eggers, and one remaining buff orpington).

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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