Wednesday, December 29, 2010

As You Know..

..Don and I bought 6 Plymouth Barred Rock hens from our local feed store. Buying them from the feed store means they are production hens...(for eggs and/or meat). Don't worry, Don would never allow anything on our farm to be culled! All are still alive and doing well, even though 1 turned out to be something called a sex link (??), also a hen that is solid black.. Oh well - she produces nice eggs too. This is a picture of a Plymouth Barred Rock hen.

















After owning them for almost a year, completing their coop, which is large enough for about 20 hens, we decided to get a few more. So many of our friends chip in to help us, especially when Don is in the hospital..that it makes me feel good to have more than enough eggs to give them! Before we go back and get more hens from the feed store, I wanted to go to a stock show and see different kinds of chickens. I am not interested in anything Frilly - This is called a Frizzle:
















..or Fancy - This is called a Silkie:

















I am pretty sure we want to stick to the larger sized hen that produces LOTS of nice big eggs! Well Plymouth Rock chickens come in many colors..not just the barred color. These are our favorites, called Columbian Rocks. This is a show quality hen.

















...and this is a show quality Columbian Rock Rooster.
















While our coop is done, we are ordering a shade covering for the run so that not only will the chickens be cool in the summer, they will be safe from the hawks! I will post pictures of it soon.

Also- I am hoping to be able to go to a local stock show soon. If I go, I will post lots of pictures and I am sure have lots of stories to tell too!

3 comments:

Analise said...

Our BO likes Ameracaunas. Plus they make neat blue-green shelled eggs (but still tasty!).

donna baker said...

Barred rocks and auracanas have great personalities and the little banties too. But, the sweetest chicken I ever had, she was just like a puppy and would come up to the house to sit with me on the back porch, was a black turken. I loved her, but alas, the darn dogs killed her.

SmartAlex said...

We've had a lot of different varieties. The Ameracaunas are very nice, as are the Rocks. My favorites have been the New Hampshire Reds and the Golden Comets because of the gorgeous HUGE brown eggs. After visting Greenfield Village last year, I think my next batch will be Dark Brahmas. To me they look like fussy old ladies in a country quilt. Also, they are supposed to be very cold hardy which is a consideration for us.