Meet the Flock

The first animal we owned when we moved here were 5 Buff Orpington hens. 1 got mauled by a dog down the street before we moved in. 1 got mauled by our very own dog. (In his defense, he was in training and didn't know any better). She did survive the "play time" but was paralyzed, so we had to put her down.

We learned more about chickens in the first 2 months than we've learned about chickens our entire lives, combined! They're awesome. We've had many die. Want to know why? Read my post The Reality of Farm Chickens. But, the ones that are going strong now are definitely fun to have around. They each have their own personalities, and there are definitely cliques in our flock. One day Mr. Smash and I will do a fantastic youtube video with voice overs starring our chickens, but for now here is our flock (most of them).

Sunshine.
Old English Bantam.
We bought him thinking he was going to be full size. We were told wrong and paid way too much money for him. He thinks he's huge. He attempts to mount our full size hens and they fight him. I don't blame them. His poor excuse for a crow is not attractive.
The guy has his own set of Bantam hens we bought specifically for him. I guess he's just a bit picky. He prefers the big girls.

The red hens.
That is their name. We have 4 of them that look exactly alike. They are a mix of brahma/wyandotte/jersey giant. They hang out together most of the time. There is 1 that tends to flock towards our head rooster, Blaze. But they kind of keep to themselves.

 Lilly.
Easter Egger
Poor Lilly. She has been through a lot. She was in the batch we bought with Blaze so they naturally "hang out". But she's like a sister to him so there's no hanky panky. She had a growth on her eye that we constantly watched. One day her eye was bubbly and she was very lethargic. She went to ICU. She got a little pep in her step but her eye still looked horrible. A few weeks after the antibiotic A1 noticed a white thing in her eye. We attempted to wipe it away assuming it was puss. She didn't like us messing with it so we left it. It's gone now and the growth is smaller. She's super sweet and mainly hangs in the barn.

Whitey
Brahma X
The A's named her because of obvious reasons.She hangs with Anna (a BrahmaX) and is like her little shadow. BFF!

The Girl Thunder
Barred Rock X
Again, the A's named her. She doesn't like roosting in the coop. So, every night we have to pry her claws from around a post immediately outside of the coop. Maybe she wasn't accepted in the flock at the time. She's proven herself worthy of a roosting spot. She likes to hang with Bardy.

 Larry
Guinea Fowl
The captain of team Ugly! He's our lone guinea and desperately needs a lady friend. He's a big bully to everyone but his buddy Bardy. They have a weird bromance thing going that I can't even explain. He chases everyone out of his 3 foot circle. He's a fantastic flyer with beautiful white feathers under his wings. He doesn't make that much noise because he was raised with chickens. I don't think he really knows that he's a guinea.

 The Pretty Black and White ones
Brahma X
Her and her friend look pretty much alike. The difference? One now hangs out with Butter and one hangs out with Blaze. I guess sisters don't always have the same taste in boys.

 Ruby
Barred Rock/Jersey Giant
What an in your face sweet heart! Ruby will perch right next to you and just hang out. She does think amber necklaces are food, so watch out crunchy mamas! A4 has gotten several pecks from Miss Ruby. She likes Bardy. Maybe it's because they have so much in common. Ruby is a big girl and she's going to get a lot bigger.

 Blaze
Easter Egger
Blaze is our head rooster. A natural leader. He has been seen searching for food and calling for his hens to come enjoy his finds. He does well at mounting and is not very aggressive towards the other roosters. He doesn't like to be pet and prefers chickens over people. So, we keep our distance from Blaze. We will be trying out the process of removing spurs when his get big enough.




Maisy
Ameracauna
Maisy was in the batch of 6 chicks we bought right after we moved here. Her 5 brothers were dinner. She is very sweet and soft spoken. She just started laying beautiful blue eggs. And, they're fertilized. This is Blaze's sugar momma. If you see Maisy, Blaze is close by. Those fertilized eggs are going to hatch out some pretty babies one day.

 Lucy
Australorp
We bought Lucy super cheap because she was in the middle of a hard molt. She had no tail feathers at all and looked very sick. But, she wasn't. She got the name Lucy because she "loosed"all her feathers. The goofiest chicken we have. She will walk around the coop just because. She will fly up next to your head and just stare at you and cluck at you. Then get down. She does this when there is food on the ground. I think she has the "chicken version" ADHD. She is a great layer and is well liked by all the roosters... very well liked.

 Fancy
Mutt
Her name says it all. Beautiful colors all over her. She's not very photogenic. She loves to be pet, but on her own terms. She likes Blaze as well, but can occasionally be seen with Butter. No strings attached.

 Butter
Brahma/Barred Rock
This guy came out of nowhere. He was on the list to be culled then all of a sudden got taller, thicker, and started crowing. He has moments of greatness, and in those moments the hens really respect him. But his moments are few and far between and he doesn't have the best timing. Blaze will knock him off a hen in a split second.

 Elsa
Buff Brahma
This is Mr. Smash's hen. She is the friendliest of all our flock. She hangs out with a buff orpington. The only Rooster she ever followed was the late Thunder. The poor girl is in a molt right now. But when she's not, she's beautiful. Her top feathers are very white and full. She's a very faithful layer.

 One of the Buffs
We have 3 of these Buff Orpingtons. They are great layers and great mommas! 2 of them have hatched chicks out for us. We've learned something about these hens. They become a lot nicer once they have babies. These girls are a favorite among all the roosters.

Bertha
Australorp
This picture doesn't do Big Bertha justice. She is big! She's got that swinging skin on her breast that makes her even more "bertha-y". She's not very friendly, and she's not a very good layer (end of a molt). BUT, the roosters love her.

 Bardy
Barred RockX
The best picture I could get of this big guy. He's big. Really. He doesn't pose for pictures very well so I caught him at bedtime in between hens. He has a strong crow for how young he is. He isn't very efficient at mounting hens but he gets an A for effort! Such a sweetie. Will let you pet him for a little while and then goes on his way. Mostly to walk around with Larry or something. He is getting quite the assortment of female groupies though.




There you have it. A basic introduction of our chickens. A few that were missing; there are 4 hens that run in the same general direction. 1 can be seen with Blaze some. They are Jersey Giants. They all are black. They are named "one of the black chickens). We have 5 young roosters that will be dinner in a few months. And of course we have our ducks. Chickens are a fantastic dual purpose animal to have. And here the chickens aren't primarily pets, they have a purpose. If you don't lay an egg or protect the ones that do, winner winner!