who has chickens

Our new chicks this spring.  We got them last week of February and they have been living since then in our mud room.  At last they are out in the chicken coop.  They are Lakenvelders and quite flighty.  Right after this picture one of them disturbed a hen on a nest and got pecked. Poor Baby, she ran and hid in a corner for a while.

Is this the first time for this breed?

Beautiful feathered ladies! Can you tell us why you picked them and what special qualities they possess that caught your eye? Also, I just noticed, why do you use straw, I like pine shavings, but am always looking to improve what I have.

We have never had Lakenvelders before, but we once had two Hamburgs, and these seemed similar. They are a smaller breed, similar to a Leghorn but a little smaller, but not a bantam. They are known for being very active, flighty, good foragers, wary, and lay eggs too. I saw them at the feed store. I do not know how well they will handle the cold here. They are an experiment. Our four 1yo Barred Rocks from last year are laying well, and our 12 yo Americana is laying again this spring.

I only use straw and old hay for bedding in the coop or barn. Wood chips get into sheep's wool and are impossible to get out. I usually put lightly used straw in with the chickens.

Hi Turan, your babies are adorable !

Turan - A TWELVE year old chicken is still laying??? WOW!!!

Llama Momma, How are your hens this spring?

Marie, for us Americanas are probably the best breed. They produce well, are active and wary enough to survive, and live to a ripe old age. But a friend of mine bought Americanas at the same time, from the same source, as this old lady, and they had quit laying and started dyeing off at 5 yo. I do not know why the difference.

Turan, 5 of my hens are doing great.  Lost one a month ago.  Looking back at her behavior I noticed she sometimes seem to briefly stare and stand still.  I didn't think anything of it but now I know that is not a good sign.  Anyway she suffered a sudden death.  She would bully the others when it came to treats.  Consumed more than her share of scratch, sunflower seeds, and mealworms.  Too fattening for her liver even though her weight was good.  The pathologist called it fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome.  He said my Silvia was a beautiful girl but her liver literally collapsed. Pathologist said she passed away very fast and didn't suffer. She perched one evening with the others and was gone the next morning.  I watched the necropsy.  She had a lovely perfect egg ready to lay that day too.  She had a little pad of fat on top of her heart, not good either.  The other girls are doing great and treats like I mentioned above are scaled back to make sure nobody else will bully their way to an early death. Scratch isn't given at all with the warmer temperatures.

I am sorry to hear this, Llama Momma. She was a beautiful bird.

So sorry to hear this, LM. She was beautiful....

I'm so sorry, LM. We lost one of our old rescue hens last week. She was the sweetest of them all. We miss her. 

CountryN
So sorry you lost your sweetest one, it's very hard.  
Thank you everyone for your responses.
These sweet and funny little twerps sure do find a place in our hearts.

llama momma wrote:CountryN
So sorry you lost your sweetest one, it's very hard.  
Thank you everyone for your responses.
These sweet and funny little twerps sure do find a place in our hearts.

I love to hear them coo and watch them snuggle. 

If I had chickens, I'm afraid I would get so attached to them.

Oh, CN, I'm sorry!

I'm like Sanderson - I'm afraid I'd get really attached...

When chickens find your SFG beds. I don't know what the owner is going to do, but I would leave one, cool summer box for them. The owner gave me permission to use the photos on the Forum.

sanderson wrote:If I had chickens, I'm afraid I would get so attached to them.

We do get attached and they break our hearts. 

Sanderson wrote:When chickens find your SFG beds. I don't know what the owner is going to do, but I would leave one, cool summer box for them. 

We had a big, fenced garden at our last farm. Every fall, when it was all done, we opened the gates to the free-range chickens. It was like watching kids at Disneyland all winter. 

sanderson wrote:When chickens find your SFG beds.  I don't know what the owner is going to do, but I would leave one, cool summer box for them.  The owner gave me permission to use the photos on the Forum.  

It looks like the recommended spacing is 1 square foot per chicken?

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:

sanderson wrote:When chickens find your SFG beds.  I don't know what the owner is going to do, but I would leave one, cool summer box for them.  The owner gave me permission to use the photos on the Forum.  

It looks like the recommended spacing is 1 square foot per chicken?

Good luck with that! 

Meet Omelet! (No, I didn't name it).


Omelet was part of a kindergarten experiment, hatched in the classroom, but born "splay legged." When it didn't respond to standard treatments after a few days, it came to the sanctuary. Katie took it to the vet, where the whole staff immediately fell in love.

It would have been difficult for us to care for it, since it still needs a heatlamp, therapy, splints, etc., but one of the young lab assistants begged to adopt it and all the rest promised to help. They named it Omelet and it will now become their "office chicken." I signed off on the adoption as long as they promised to send updates, and now you all are officially part of Omelet's foster family.

Since I can't have chickens for so many reasons, I'm glad I am now a foster mom!

+1, lol! This one brought a smile to my face. That's saying a LOT since I haven't had all of my coffee yet this morning...