Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Overrun by Roosters

Changes have come aplenty for my backyard flock since our last rendezvous!  I'm beginning to think I have quite a knack for randomly picking roosters out of large congregations of chicks.  Go ahead, just put 50 chicks in front of me and I'll venture that I can pick all the roosters out for you.  Skill?!?!  Who needs skill?  I got the best "rooster luck" anyone could ever ask for.
Well, to briefly recap our last adventure, I delivered our first rooster to a man that may have transmitted "the disease" to me.  I came home with 4 more chicks. 

Since that time, my 2 remaining Americauna chicks have also turned out to be roosters.  So 3 out of 3 Americauna chicks all turned out to be roosters.  At least these adopters sent me home with 2 Rhode Island Red pullets.  Maybe I just deal with heartache & loss a little differently than most people.  Some people mourn.  Some people acquire more chickens.  Meet Myrtle & Mildred. They are identical twins except for their tails.  One is stumpy (Myrtle) and one is pointy (Mildred).

Our favorite family chicks are also on their way out the door.  These are gonna be some beautiful roosters someday.  If you've never seen a mature Partridge Cochin or Light Brahma rooster, I highly recommend you Google them.  These chicks were best of friends but they are beginning frequent evil stare downs.  Chilly has also started to crow.  Chilly continues to be the friendliest chicken we have and I suspect he'll make someone a nice friendly rooster.  Party endeared himself to us through his crazy antics.  He is the most uncoordinated chicken I've ever seen.  He can barely balance on a stick.  And sometimes when you set him down on his feet, he promptly falls on his beak. Today my son saw him shake off after a dust bath and he had to take several awkward steps sideways so he wouldn't fall over afterward.  Silly guy!

5 roosters so far and I think we have 3 more amidst the 4 little chicks.  Here are some updated photos of the little ones.  They are growing FAST and are now turned out in the yard during the day.

Old English Game Bantam- We named this little girl Werna but you can call her Verna for short.  My grandma's name is Verna and grandpa always pronounces his v's as w's.  I guess it's a PA Dutch thing.  I always got a kick out of that.  They owned a big Chevy van when I was a kid so it was common to hear him say "Werna, let's get in the wan."  But there would be big trouble if grandpa saw anybody laughing!!  We love our little grey Werna.  My youngest son has adopted this chick has his own.
Easter Egger/Silky mix- We named this chick Flora.  She was a wild child at first but has tamed down nicely.  She does the little mock fight thing with some of the other chicks.  In hindsight, all the Americauna chicks did that and Chilly & Party always did also......and all of them turned out to be roosters.  Could this be rooster #6?
Polish/Silkie mix- We named this chick Pearl.  She has feathered out from that dull gray to a beautiful white with a nice afro. 
Frizzle/Silkie mix- We named this chick Jemima.  Those feathers sure are funky!  Seems like a lot of exposed skin which could be nice over summer but I wonder if she can keep warm over winter.  She can be a real bugger to catch too.  I'm 75% sure we're looking at rooster #7 right here.
UPDATE:  We delivered Chilly to his new home this morning.  He has an awesome farm to live on now with 3 Buff Orpington hens to call his very own.  And best of all........we didn't come home with any new chicks! 

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