Chickens do grow so darned quickly. My baby chickens aren’t babies any more. They’re all so funny to watch.
The little black and white Dominques are wild as can be. They run into the far egg box every time they think I’m coming to see them. All six of them huddle inside the egg box and leave one chicken to watch to see what I’m doing. They also all sleep in this one egg box. I sure hope they figure out some day soon that they’re supposed to be sleeping on the roost and laying eggs in the egg boxes. Of course, the roosters won’t be laying eggs anywhere! 🙂
The bantams . . what funny chickens! They’re still pretty scared of me too. The rooster, Roscoe, sleeps on the second floor alone . . every night! He sits right on the very edge . . I wonder how he keeps from falling off when he sleeps. I know I sure would if I were right on the edge of something trying to sleep! The other four . . just like the Dominiques . . they sleep in a nesting box instead of on the roosts. It’s funny because out of the 5 bantams, there are four white ones and one brown one. There are four Silkies and only Roscoe isn’t a Silky.
Then there are the 6 Red Stars, the 7 Production Reds and the 1 Buff Orpington.
Can you see how much larger that one Buff Orpington is? She is so much bigger than the other chickens. Look how much thicker her legs are! (And, then, let’s not talk about thick legs, ok? She’s probably saying . . hey, have you looked at YOUR thighs lately?) I feel kind bad for her. She has to duck to get through the little door that leads outside for them. Our other chickens don’t even come close to needing to duck.
It’s funny that the different breeds have such different personalities. The one Buff is scared of me. She watches me and she doesn’t run or fly away from me but she won’t come up to me unless I have food in my hand. No way will she let me pet her. The production reds think they’re going to scare me. When I reach to pet them, they peck me about three times in a row and then they stand there and let me pet them. The Red Stars . . they’re every bit as sweet as my Red Stars in MO. They would stand there all day and let me pet them. They fly right into my arms when I open the coop door. I wish all my chickens were so sweet and loving.
But, mostly . . I wish they would start laying eggs! I’m thinking I should start getting eggs from the Red Stars about mid July and it will be probably the first part of August before the Production Reds start laying and probably mid-August before the Buff Orpington starts laying and, I’m afraid I’m being a bit optimistic about those dates. The bottom line is . . I’ll get eggs when they start laying . . not much I can do about hurrying them along.
ga447 says
Thank you for the update, us bloggers will be so happy when you post your first eggs, can’t wait to see the photos. The gang looks wonderful and a great home and loving parents they have.
Hilary McDaniel says
Hey Judy, I have silkies and they don’t roost like other chickens. Mine huddle in one tight space on the floor of their coop. They never went to roost like normal chicks. I tried to teach them the ladder was to get them to their roost. They wanted nothing of it. Every time I put them up, they just flew down. BTW, I think our chicks are bout the same age. My pullets just starting laying. Silkies are not steady layers. Mine are basically for pets. We have Aracanas for our layers. The silkies lay tiny eggs as pullets but they get larger as they ate. By the time they are yearlings, their eggs are almost normal size. I have noticed our silkies lay a more gold yolked egg. I think they are really tasty.
SarahB says
Your chickens are well loved and well fed therefore they should start laying a little earlier than “normal” chicks because they are happy. I know that’s like an old wives tale but it has worked on all of ours. The ones that were stuck in the old coop for too long took much longer than the 8 that were in the new coop! Now we moved them again and they are all trying to learn to be friendly together and so eggs have dropped back drastically. Out of the 8 that are currently laying we are getting 3 to 4 eggs a day. Before the move we were getting 6 to 7 eggs a day. Hopefully in the next month or so we will get back up to what we were getting before. Meanwhile, our wyandotte babies should be laying about late July or early August. We’ll see since they weren’t too happy about being stuck into the coop with the bigger ones. Although they are getting along really well…
Brenda B. says
Wow – you got a lot of chickens. Wish you were close – to buy some eggs 🙂 Have a great weekend!
Janet says
Is the big buff colored chicken the one that follows Vince all over for grasshoppers?
Vicky says
They’re gigantic!! I can’t believe how much they’re grown and so quickly!!
Oh, BTW, thanks for your post a while back about the Kindle cords. I have two. I picked up one last night to check it and it practically fell apart in my hands. So I looked at the other one and it was the same way. Just called Amazon and they’re sending two new cords. Wow, that might have started a fire! Thanks again for your info on this!
Anne G says
I just love it when you post pictures of your chickens. I can’t believe they’ve gotten so big. I love that buff colored one with the thick legs, so pretty. And the bantams are so cute. Enjoy them and hope you get eggs sooner rather than later. 🙂
carol c says
Roscoe is gorgeous, and full of personality. How wonderful. I was watching tv this afternoon , and one guy had chickens and a mountain lion got his favorite layer, and I sure thought of your brood. The boxes they laid in looked just like yours. Take care Judy!
Sally H says
OK, useless animal fact (which, my husband insists, I am full of ): birds do not fall off of perches when they sleep because, when they sit down, a tendon in the back of their leg contracts and curls their toes. Sitting down automatically makes them hold on. They can’t let go until they stand up. Pretty cool, huh?
Brandy M. says
I love your chickens! Those silkies are sure gorgeous!
Now, I think I remember you saying your chickens are just for the eggs, is that right? I love “chicken,” but I’d get way too attached – even to the mean chickens. LOL.