As many of you know, Becky and I got 9 laying hens last May from some friends of ours. They raised the birds from
chickhood so they were full grown and already laying eggs when we got them. That made for a nice gradual transition into raising birds. This is most likely the last summer for most of the flock since they are getting old and their egg production is dropping.... I have a feeling we will be eating lots of chicken soup this winter. Keeping chickens in the arctic is not necessarily easy in the winter when it's -40F for weeks on end, but it's fun. When summer finally comes around and the ladies are able to be let loose in the run it's even more enjoyable. With that in mind, this year I could not resist getting more chickens.
One of the local feed stores in town sales day old baby chicks this time of year so I went down and picked some up. We got a variety of breeds primarily based on egg production and cold hardness. Those are what I call my business birds because they are doing what they were hired to do. We also got a Polish for her fashion statement with her crazy head feathers. She is still pretty small so her adult plumage has not developed yet but when it does she will look like someone combed her hair with a firecracker. We started out by getting just 9 chicks just barely larger than a fuzzy golf ball. A week went by before I lost all restraint and went back for 4 more. We now have 13 chicks and 8 adult birds.
The pictures above were taken just after we got them. They've doubled in size in the last week and a half and started flapping their wings. All our ladies are layers so we won't be eating them any time soon but each time they stretch their wings I can't help but picture them covered in hot sauce on a plate with ranch dressing.
One of the local feed stores in town sales day old baby chicks this time of year so I went down and picked some up. We got a variety of breeds primarily based on egg production and cold hardness. Those are what I call my business birds because they are doing what they were hired to do. We also got a Polish for her fashion statement with her crazy head feathers. She is still pretty small so her adult plumage has not developed yet but when it does she will look like someone combed her hair with a firecracker. We started out by getting just 9 chicks just barely larger than a fuzzy golf ball. A week went by before I lost all restraint and went back for 4 more. We now have 13 chicks and 8 adult birds.
The pictures above were taken just after we got them. They've doubled in size in the last week and a half and started flapping their wings. All our ladies are layers so we won't be eating them any time soon but each time they stretch their wings I can't help but picture them covered in hot sauce on a plate with ranch dressing.