Thursday, April 7, 2011

Flock Increase

After months of searching, we finally found some young-ish layers. It's surprisingly difficult to find hens that are pretty young (don't want to get a hen that's too old, cause they decrease the number of eggs they lay as they age), and we aren't equipped for chicks yet. Anyway, we finally found some -- our flock is now up to 17 hens and our first rooster!

King George and his harem

The new chicken run, still unpainted

Our flock now consists of Comets, Jersey Giants, and Leghorns. Comets are a hybrid of Buff Orpingtons and Rhode Island Reds, Leghorns are the breed most often used in industrial agriculture (not my first choice, but they came with the rest of the flock and the only rooster we could get was a Leghorn), and Jersey Giants are the largest purebred chicken. I'm particularly interested in the Giants because they're on ALBC's watch list and I believe in the importance of preserving old breeds for genetic diversity. Eventually I'd like to maintain a pure flock and rooster of an old breed.

Now that we have a rooster, we can hatch our own eggs to grow our flock!

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