More for our records as much as anything else, here is a line up of who we have where, Winter 2012.
Main Pen sans inhabitants:
The rooster night box in the run.
“Clock” Light Sussex cockerel, around 7 months old. Named by our three year old.
Light Sussex hens: “Adelaide” (front), “Penelope” (middle) and “Henrietta” (back). Sisters, just under 2 years old. As far as we know unrelated to Clock.
Two Blue laced silver Wyandotte hens: “Juniper” (L) and “Pepper” (R); and two RIR hens: “Scarlet” and “Carmine”. Anyone’s guess as to which is which without looking at their legbands. All around 18 months – 2 years old.
Our reliable layers: “Barnadette” 3 year old Barnevelder, and “Blue” nearly 2 years old, BLR wyandotte hen,
The little brown one at the back is the only one I couldn’t manage to photograph on her own. She is a LS x RIR (sex-linked) pullet of our own hatching, 6 months old. She was the only girl hatched with about 8 boys (who were delicious…) and we decided to keep her to see how she lays.
In the aviary (the grower pen):
Araucana x GL Wyandotte cockerel & RIR pullet. Hatched Feb 2012. These two were rejected by Blue who was broody at the time. She took a huge chunk out of the cockerels back but he healed up fine. He probably will be eaten in a month or so, she will move to the main pen. The third is a Welsummer pullet (around 6 months old) we are adjisting for a friend.
The green house is currently empty.
In the Araucana pen:
At the front “HughGrant” (so named for his hair). Cockerel, nearly a year old. The other two lavender Araucana’s in this pen are “Tinsel” his full sister (also nearly a year old) and “Lavinia,” their mother (2 years old). Hiding at the back is “Imogen”, black bantam Araucana, 2 years old. The last pullet is “Houdini” Araucana x GL wyandotte, hatched in Feb and just come on the lay. She was raised by “Blue” (the very same who rejected the two in the aviary). As her name would imply, “Houdini” has a bit of a knack for escaping.
“Houdini” lays a lovely green egg, “Tinsel” and “Imogen” blue eggs. Lavinia is still moulting, but she lays blue eggs too.
And a temporary resident of the Araucana pen – this black cross breed cockerel, full sibling to “Houdini” and also raised by “Blue”. He doesn’t have a name, and will probably only be around another few weeks.
In Craig’s Pen we have “Craig” (obviously), “Thyme” and newcomer “Gypsy”. “Gypsy” is about 7 months old (just come on the lay) and is some sort of Araucana cross from several generations back. She unfortunately doesn’t have the blue egg gene but I think she might be splash so she will hopefully make interesting coloured babies with “Craig”.
This is the pen we are breeding for temperament and/or interesting colours.
Our final pen is the brooder. It currently has 8 five week old chicks; 7 pure lavender Araucana one RIR x Wyandotte. Two of the Araucanas have twisted beaks and are missing an eye each. No doubt we will lose some of these chicks as they get older to cocci etc. The two twisty beaks and one other look a bit cocci at the moment. They are all being treated for it but it with meds in their water and a coccistat food but it never seems to do much good and we are mostly just resigned to losing a few as they get older.
They are nigh on impossible to photograph as they move around too fast!
And as an extra we are adjisting another four and a chicken tractor for a friend for a few months.
In the tractor there is a lavender Araucana, an Australorp and two Salmon Faverelles. No idea about ages. The Araucana and Australorp are laying.
suburbanite farm 