I Love My Chickens

I started raising chickens for eggs about two years ago.  I've had to learn as I go, and have made a few mistakes, but have been fairly successful.  I have only one bird left from my original flock, Big Red.  We've had to experiment with fences to find one that works against predators.  We lost all of the original flock, except for Big Red, to raccoons, coyotes, and the idiot neighbor's dogs.  We finally constructed a fence that has kept out predators for a long time now.

I have only two birds left from the second batch of birds I bought to replace the first flock, Bunny and Buffy, Ameracauna's that lay blue eggs.  I now have 12 birds; one Dominecker rooster name Big Boy, Bunny, Buffy, and Domino (Ameracaunas), seven New Hampshire reds and Rhode Island Reds, and one Buff Orpington named Buttercup.  I bought six new Dominecker pullets to fill out the flock.  As the birds age, they don't lay as well, and it's good to introduce new birds to the flock about once a year.  I lost my favorite Dominecker, Betty, to a coyote.  She was from the first flock, with Big Red.  Domineckers are good layers, gentle and easy to tame.  Betty liked to fly up and sit on my shoulder.

I recently started raising bantams in a different pen.  I've lost several of these as chickies, which often happens.  But, I think I have a healthy flock of Seabrights, Silkies, Splash Rosecombs, and other assorted.  I have 11 bantams, having lost four in the past two weeks to illnesses.  It pains me when I lose a bird.  Some of the chickies hang on for a day or so once they get sick.  The spark of life in animals is amazing.  They struggle to live, and keep on taking one more breath, trying to move one more time, chirp one more time.  They want to live, but nature decides otherwise.  God in His wisdom puts that spark in all of His creatures, even to the smallest in His kingdom.

So goes my adventure with raising chickens.  I get a lot of pleasure and satisfaction from them.  I let them out of their pen every afternoon to graze in the pasture.  Near sunset I can look out my front door and see 12 little chicken heads looking in, waiting for their treat of cornflakes.  When they're done with their snack, I herd them to the safety of their pen for the night.  A calming, peaceful routine - creatures of habit with the spark for life that exists in our little world here on the farm...