Chickie pic's and a friendly hello!

I come over every so often and lurk a bit but I don't post often. I thought I would post a few pics of the girls and introduce myself. When my children were young we had a dozen or so hens that provided us with eggs and a small menagerie of farm animals, horses and house pets. But that was a very long time ago and the chicken coop is long gone and the small barn is filled with tools and equipment. We only have one old dog and one old cat left from the pack that use to live here.
Every so often I think wouldn’t it be nice to have a pony for the Grans, or how cute are those baby goats, or wouldn’t it be nice to have a few chicks again. Then I come to my senses and realize that I love the fact that Ric & I have few responsibilities and can pick up at the drop of a hat and travel.
My son and his wife started raising a hens and guineas a couple of years ago. They thought I might enjoy having a few chicks and last Easter gave me 3 chicks and built me a small hen house. They said if I got tired of caring for them I could send them back anytime.

I have a Barred Rock (Henrietta, Henry for short), Here she is hanging out on the back patio.

Buff Orpington (Sally) standing guard at the front entrance.

(Pat) the Partridge Cochin. Check out those Bell Bottoms.

They are all pretty tame as they are more like pets than livestock. Pat follows us at a cautious distance and will scoot out of my way if I approach her. To pick her up I’ve got to corner her somewhere. But once caught she is easy to handle and never aggressive. Henry and Sally are much tamer.Picking them up or petting them is never a problem.
Here they are hanging out on the back Patio with the Grandchildren.

This message was edited Aug 31, 2009 10:02 PM

Such pretty girls. Pat has such beautiful feathers. How old are they now?

We put the hen house in the veggie garden for the summer and set up a small temporary pen. They haven't done more than share a few tomatoes and we have plenty to share. They roam the yard for most of the day on bug patrol. Every so often they come around back to the bird feeders. But are more interested in bugs.

They are under foot and quite often under nose when I am weeding and really like to hang out front in my raised bed. Usually I have a real slug problem in this bed but not this year.

They stick their beaks into anything Ric or I am working on.

They have started to lay for us and Sally produces an egg everyday, Henry isn’t as consistent yet but we get several eggs from her a week and Pat a bit younger than the other two just laid her first egg last week.
Looks like the girls are going to stay so we will need to put together a larger pen for them as they will be more confined once the weather gets colder.

Great Pic's Holly and thanks for sharing with us. I am glad you hopped aboard. Haystack

Such "helpful" chickens! Cute grandkids too.

Love to look at anothers chickens

They look great, Holly :). They shouldn't tie you down too much, surely someone could be found to care for them if you want to vacate for a while. After all, how much trouble is three chickens? Of course, I find they're like potato chips....

No they won't be a problem my youngest son (he's the one that gave them to me) comes and cares for the house and our 2 house pets when we travel. They only live a few miles away. We also have some neighbors with adult children that still live at home and sometimes they just move in while we are gone. You are right about them being like potato chips. I've been thinking about silkies for awhile now and love the pics that Batflower posted of her buff Brahmas the other day.

Love the pic with wheelbarrow, pitch fork etc & of course the girls. They are so like children, into what ever your are doing. JUST GOTTA KNOW.

Aha! So we have another crazy motorcyclist on our hands huh, Want to take mine for a spin Holly? next pic.

This message was edited Sep 1, 2009 7:15 AM

Don't tip this one over.

I use to have my own little putt putt that I would run back and forth to work. Ric has had several bigger ones over the years. It's been along time since we had one though I think about it from time to time. Ric's last bike was an old antique 1947 Harley with a suicide clutch. He has a very shallow shoulder socket and can dislocate his shoulders pretty easy. You drop your shoulder and reach down under to shift the gears and after several instances where his shoulder just popped out while moving he decided he needed to sell it. We never did get another one.
Oh yes, they are always helping around the yard. Most times I need to move them out of the way just to do a little weeding.

Haystack, what IS that vehicle?

Haystack, if you tip that one over it will take 10 people to pick it up..nice bike!!
Nice babies Holly..mine are getting so big now..one batch is now officially hens, the second ones are still pullets, even tho ya cant tell them apart!!
cindy