Three Years Old!

 

Three years ago yesterday (Oct 21, 2007), our first batch of chicks arrived from Privett’s hatchery in Southern, New Mexico.

This month also marks the third year we’ve lived here on Laughing Orca Ranch in the mountains of Central New Mexico.

As for the chickens, these were our very first chickens and the first animals to grace our little ranch. My parents had chickens when I was kid, so I wasn’t completely a stranger to poultry keeping, but I was still excited to own our own flock and wanted to do make sure we did everything right.

I started off with 13 chickens, going in together with a friend so we could split a larger order and get an interesting and varied selection of chickens:

• 2 Rhode Island Reds (Rita and Rhoda)
• 2 Barred Rocks (Betty and Bertha)
• 3 Ameracauanas (Annie, Fertile Myrtle, Angelina Ballerina)
• 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes (Suzie, Sandy)
• 2 Speckled Sussex (Spotty Dotty, Kipper) 
• 2 Brown Leghorns (Brownie, Beanie)

A year later I decided I wanted to add a few more chickens to our flock and chose some unusual breeds, just to amuse and entertain…..a little ‘Coop Candy, if you will:

• 2 Polish (Phyllis Diller and Sid Vicious)
• 2 Japanese Silkies (Mr. and Mrs. Cotton)

(This lovely lady is Phyllis Diller, our Golden-Laced Polish Hen)

One of the Silkies turned out to be a Rooster, and one of the Polish ended up being a rooster, too, which we decided to name Sid Vicious, after the punk rocker.

(This is our Silky Rooster, Mr. Cotton. He’s a sweet roo)

Before the handsome Sid Vicious decided to live up to his name, he fathered 4 chicks: two roosters and two hens. We gave away the roosters, even though they were very handsome boys. And we kept the two hens. One of the hens grew into a lovely black hen with gold highlights, and we named her Ebony. While the other became a carbon copy of Sid Vicious, and we named her Pat Benatar. I’ve been very pleased about how beautiful Pat’s become because I sometimes miss that gorgeous Sid Vicious and wish he hadn’t of attacked me and became so vicious.

(This is Pat Benatar, Sid’s daughter. Her photo is also in my blog header, too. )

When Pat was a chick, the rest of the eggs in the clutch didn’t hatch, so she was born alone. So, I went out to the feed store and adopted two more chicks to keep her company:

• 1 Black Sex-Link (Liza Minelli)
• 1 Buff Orpington (Matilda)

(Here’s our pretty Buffie Hen, Matilda)

And then last Spring, I attended a Poultry Sale and bought some new pullets to add some more color to our egg harvests:

• 2 Welsumers (Cocoa and Hershey)
• 1 Cuckoo Marans (Snickers)

 

(One of our Welsumer Hens……..What’s up, Chicken Butt?!)

Over the past three years, we’ve lost 8 chickens to sickness, predator attack and re-homing. And we now have 18 chickens in our flock: 17 hens and 1 rooster.

The older hens have slowed down on their egg-laying duties and are just dear pets now. But we still get between 5-8 eggs per day from our flock, which keeps us from having to buy any store-bought eggs for our baking, while also allowing us to enjoy delicious green chile breakfast burritos at least a couple times a week.

I’m so glad we have chickens, not only to give us tasty, fresh eggs, but also to enjoy their entertaining antics and behavior. I can’t tell you how many times my chickens have relaxed me and brought me joy just by watching them peck and scratch, waddle around and take dust baths, and cluck and mutter to each other. Just stroking their feathers while they sit on my lap can be very peaceful. I can’t imagine not owning my own chickens.

Yay! For Chickens!