My Chirpy Chicken Coop

Top 20 Heat-Hardy Chicken Breeds September 26, 2021 (The flock free ranging in the heat of the day!) Chickens are more likely to suffer heat exhaustion in the summer than freezing in the cold, so if you live in a warm climate, choosing breeds of chickens that are heat-hardy is a good idea. If you live in a place that experiences both extremes - cold winters as well as humid summers - you should still consider the heat-hardy breeds, since nearly all chickens are cold-hardy to an extent. Certain breeds, such as those with smaller body masses and larger combs (the comb on a chicken acts as as "air conditioning" and helps to eliminate heat from the body) fare better in the heat than those breeds with larger body masses and smaller combs. Fun fact: Interestingly, most of the white egg-laying chickens are heat-hardy breeds! My top 20 heat-hardy breeds include: Appenzeller Spitzhauben Barred Rock Bantam Black Faced White Spanish Black Sumatra Blue Andalusian Blue Hamburg Buff Orping

  Top 5 Kid-Friendly Chicken Breeds September 19, 2021 (A pic of my sister hanging out with our Buff Orpington, Eliza!) Raising backyard chickens is a fun family affair that everyone can play a part in. Small kids love to collect eggs, refill feeders, and help to keep the chickens out of flower beds. Plus, they can treat the flock to their favorite delights ! They can have fun sprinkling herbs in the nesting boxes, and picking weeds and edible flowers for the chickens to nibble on. On the other hand, older kids can help haul water buckets and bales of straw or bags of shavings, be assigned to coop cleaning duties, and be given the responsibility of letting the chickens out each morning. And everyone loves to watch the chickens run around in the yard! Over the past year or so, I have grown super close to my flock, and now, they are comfortable with me picking them up, and feeding them treats!  If you're considering starting a flock of backyard chickens, then choosing some of the mor

  A Year In Review September 12, 2021 (A year's worth of memories!!!) Woah. One year???  Already?!?!?! YES! It's been a year!!! One WHOLE year of this blog's existence!!! The flock and I have had our epic moments and our happy moments. We've also had our sad moments. But it's been quite the journey since that first box of peeping pullets arrived.  So, in honor of this special anniversary, I've put together the top 10 blog posts most read this past year. Check them out!- 10. Eliza ~ Our Golden Goose Kicking off the list this year in the #10 spot is my profile post about my Buff Orpington, Eliza. She's my lovable yet crazy hen! We call her our golden goose since she is golden-feathered and honks like a goose!!! Read Now! 9. All About Fertilized Eggs Have you ever wondered about the mating process? Or how to know whether an egg is fertilized? Check out this post at #9! Read Now! 8. What Can Chickens Eat? Ever wondered about the diet of a chicken? This post come

  A Rainbow Of Colors September 5, 2021 (A rainbow of eggs from my flock!) Wait WHAT?!?!?! Chickens can lay BLUE EGGS???  It's true.  Common chicken eggs come in all shades of blue, green, pink, brown, cream and chocolate brown. Although all eggs start out with white shells, the dye applied to the shells of some breeds results in eggs that come in almost all the hues of the rainbow. And even brown eggs come in a wide variety of shades when they come from different breeds of chickens! Brown Egg Layers Barred Rock Brahma Buckeye Chantecler Cochin Delaware Dominique Java Jersey Giant Golden Comet/Production Red/Red Star New Hampshire Red Plymouth Rock Rhode Island Red Tan Egg Layers Buff Orpington Lavender Orpington Red Laced/Silver Laced Wyandotte Speckled Sussex White Egg Layers Andalusian Belgian D'Uccle Campine Catalana Hamburg Lakenvelder Leghorn Minorca Polish Russian Orloff Sabelpoot Sebright Sicilian Buttercup Silkie White Faced Black Spanish Cream Egg Layers Dorking Easte