My Fabulous Flock

My Fabulous Flock

September 13, 2020 


(Our pullets in their run!)

Chickens, in my opinion, are the best pets to keep! They are as docile and domesticated as dogs, but they provide breakfast for you every morning, just like a farm animal. Their friendliness and delicious eggs can't be beat. I remember the day when we first decided to keep chickens after a long "wait period" from our parents. Finally, they said yes this past summer, and it has been quite the journey since then!

It was a hot summer Sunday. After church, we went to pick up our chickens from a friend who was raising 
them. We brought home a boxful of peeping pullets. 

A few days before, we had built a coop and run and had set it up in our backyard. As soon as we arrived home, we filled the coop and nesting boxes with shavings, and then let our pullets explore their new home. 

We decided to name our chickens after characters from the Broadway play Hamilton. Our Rhode Island Red is Hamilton, our tougher Buff Orpington is Eliza, our calmer Buff Orpington is Angelica, and our French Copper Maran is Lafayette. Our girls who had boy names had to put up with it! 

After a couple weeks, I began to get in the routine of everything. Every morning at dawn, I would let the chickens out, then fill the feeder and waterer, clean up their messes, and spend some quality time with them. In the afternoons, we would let the chickens free-range under our careful eyes. In the evenings, I would empty the feeder and waterer to be safe of certain predators looking for food, hence the reason why have to fill the feeder and waterer every morning. 

Soon, our pullets grew, and we started to familiarize ourselves with their pecking order. Hamilton is our head hen, Eliza is under her, then Angelica, and finally Lafayette, our runt who gets picked on quite a bit! 

As the pullets grew even more, we realized that Lafayette started growing rooster features! She had bigger legs than the rest of the flock, had copper coloring on her cape, (which is exclusive to French Copper Maran roosters only), and she had a giant comb and giant wattles. We sent photos of her to the friend that raised our pullets, and she confirmed that little Lafayette was indeed a roo! And he has a boy name! For now, we have decided to keep him. We'll see how it goes. The entire flock is very sweet to us. They are the best!

 Keeping chickens can teach you a lot of things! Take it from me- I've become a chicken encyclopedia ever since we started keeping them. It's been the greatest adventure yet! Will you decide to embark on this adventure?

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