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Officialish Chicken Photo Thread!

186K views 2K replies 114 participants last post by  ChieTheRider 
#1 · (Edited)
Show your girls and guys!

Here are my RIR's (19)! Hatched September 25th, 2011. Today I got my first two eggs! I've had chickens since I was 20, even had two laying hens in my historic downtown apartment when I was in college! Spring 2010 I was out of town for two days and there was a horrible uncommon gnat outbreak. I lost my three laying hens. So now with an improved coop, and yard we are BACK in business! Please post your eggers! We just love ours!!





I have a running contest with my Co-op friend Mary to see who can keep their hens laying the longest. So far I'm the winner, hint it's all about fresh clover! Keep it a secret! LOL!
 
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#2 ·
Just curious...what happens when they stop laying? Do you eat them?
My chickens all got eaten by coyotes when they started to stop laying, so we never got that far:3 They laid for a good year and a half though!
 
#3 ·
I don't have pictures of mine.... we have a motley crew of 9, all different breeds, that free-range the property.

Mine are obviously happy, everyone at the feed store is whining about how they are spending a fortune feeding their chickens who stopped laying for the Winter and I've got eggs coming out my ears! I can't give 'em away fast enough!
 
#7 ·
Delfina I don't know where you are at but if they can feed their hens clover it will get them back on track. We cover crop our garden with clover and I pick a ton each day and feed it to them. So excited! I have 45 old egg cartons to get ready to fill up! My family buys a bag of feed for them each month to help with costs and I in turn will be providing them with eggs. I don't know what I'd do with 17 eggs a day!!! So far on my diet I'm eating 4 store bought ones a day, can't wait to be eating farm fresh organic eggs again!
 
#9 ·
All we have here is dead grass, snow and ice. It's pretty bleak.

Mine are doing fine on layer feed, a bit of cracked corn, bits of alfalfa, Timothy hay seeds (the cow hay I bought had gone to seed before baling) and whatever cow grain they steal. I think the biggest difference is that I have an insulated coop and a heat lamp that runs 24x7... they can go in and get warm whenever.
 
#10 ·
Thats hilarious Susan!
Our two roosters are nice enough, but if the day comes.... WHAMMO!
I had a rooster named Rojo once and he was the sweetest thing. He would perch on our shoulders when we were gardening. Then one day he started getting evil, and I'm talkin we had him for 5 years! He started to perch on our shoulders like always then all of the sudden he'd spur us in the head or ear!!! My Papa took care of him, he's in the freezer (has been there 3 years!) none of us had the heart to eat him, stupid!
 
#11 ·
I have about 24-30 free ranging chickens. I started out with "game"(you know the fighting breed) chickens because we have hawks and other preditors here so bad that everything kept getting eaten!!

I mostly got them to turn my horse manure into dirt quicker. I now have more laying breeds and love getting and giving the eggs.

One good thing about free ranging hens.... it makes the horses less spooky about something flying around them.

some days the horses will come into the barn when I'm feeding and the chickens are scattered all about.. the hens will fly up and swak loudly.. The horses spook slightly but nothin like they use to!

Rhonda
 
#12 ·
Once my girls reach 18 months or so they usually go through their first molt. After that molt is yearly and I have never had a hen not lay again after molt was done.
I always have a hen or two that will still lay during molt so I just wait it out and before I know it I'm knee deep in eggs again. Most of my girls are heritage breeds and they are tough birds. I haven't had to use heat lamps or anything for them.

Here is a Speckled Sussex and Americaunas...

Chicken Vertebrate Rooster Bird Fowl


Baby turkeys....
Bird Beak Organism Adaptation Galliformes


Sorry, couldn't resist!

Duck Bird Water bird American Black Duck Ducks, geese and swans
 
#26 ·
I love chickens. So beautiful. I am looking for a really nice, colorful photo to use as a reference for a paiting with my watercolor pencils. Post away, ladies, and guys! I like the RIR rooster, and hope to see some other good ones.
I'll post some more pics, but here is a site chock full of chicken pics!
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html

They have pictures of just about every breed there is. Enjoy!
 
#14 ·
i will have to post pics of my 3 girls :) they are so friendly its disgusting... lol they come running when you get out of a car or they see you coming down to there shed.. then once next to you they squat and wait for you to pick them up... what loive bugs they are and all 3 are still laying all winter... no problems... free range plus some meat and chicken feed is a good source for my girls lol
 
#16 ·
Lockwood! Your flock is beautiful!
I wanted Americaunas so bad but hub is traditional and insisted on rir's.
Ducks??? What do you do with them? Sooo sweet!
 
#17 ·
I wanted Americaunas so bad but hub is traditional and insisted on rir's.
I didn't ask the hubby... just brought home chicks that I let the girls pick out, so we ended up with some of each.

2 Buff Brahma
1 Partridge Cochin
1 Black Cochin
2 Production Red
1 All White Americauna
1 Americauna
1 Speckled Sussex

I'll have to get pictures, it's the most random, hilarious bunch of chickens.
 
#19 ·
I can't get pictures in the dark!

Well I could.... but I am not about to walk across the yard since there are packs of Coyotes out there! Don't worry, chickies are safe.... they have a fenced yard that gets closed at night as well as the coop being locked up.

I'll get some tomorrow!
 
#24 ·
Mudpie they make great pets if you can keep them safe!
My apartment chickens were kept in a large cage with a roost. We would let them wander around inside for a bit for exercise and they followed us around like puppies. When I moved I kept the cage inside and let them out in the yard during the day and they would peck the door to come in at night.
I called them my chickakeets.
 
#30 ·
Love our chicken diddles!

We purchased 6 Rhode Island Reds from TSC last year... I honestly didn't think I would enjoy them so much! They are really cute and funny. A happy chicken is one with fresh food and water. :) We ended up losing one, but the remaining 5 are very healthy and produce so many beautiful eggs that we have to give most of them away. I think we may buy some more when they get in their hatchlings! How long do they typically lay for? Ours will be living their lives out in their chick condo. ;)
 

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#31 ·
I would like to try keeping three or four chickens in my suburban backyard. we are allowed 3 by law, no roos. Could some of you turn me onto a good , very simple, BIY chicken coop for a small flock, and I might need to build a simple "tractor", because they need to move around but I dont' want them pooing all over the lawn.

Do I need to have electricity to the shed? in winter time for heat or light?
Consider me an absolute newbie to chicken keeping.
 
#35 ·
I would like to try keeping three or four chickens in my suburban backyard. we are allowed 3 by law, no roos. Could some of you turn me onto a good , very simple, BIY chicken coop for a small flock, and I might need to build a simple "tractor", because they need to move around but I dont' want them pooing all over the lawn.

Do I need to have electricity to the shed? in winter time for heat or light?
Consider me an absolute newbie to chicken keeping.
I'm a little familiar with where you live. I've been up that way several times from Eugene where I used to live there. (GO Ducks!)
Depending on the breed of chicken, you should be ok having a coop or pen without heat. If what you end up building with doesn't have electrical access your winters should allow you to just put out hot water two or three times a day during the "freezing" parts of winter.
My winters are much harsher in the NE and while I use heated waters for our 5 months of winter, my girls love to sip on warm water like tea on really cold days.

Certain breeds are known for being more hardy and laying through the winter, no matter the conditions. I personally have never used a light in the coop as heritage breeds aren't affected by daylight length as much as commercial layers. It is the length of day that slows or stops winter production, not usually the temps.

For three or so hens it should be very easy to make/convert something into a "coop." I'm pretty sure Seattle still has an annual Coop Tour that might give you some great ideas. I've seen the pics and some of the coops are amazing, but I've also seen some great coops that were made from all kinds of recycled materials.... old windows, doors, paneling, dog houses, campers, kids play houses, fence panels propped together in an A frame, truck camper shells attached to a movable pen, under the kids trampoline, cheap shed from a home improvement store, and on and on. The question is more of what are you trying to keep out of the chicken area? Are dogs, racoons or hawks a problem?

All my good coop sites are still on my other pc, but if you google DIY coops, homemade hen houses and such... you will find some great sites out there.

This a really good site for- A. chicken pictures and B. researching breeds for cold heartiness, personality, rate of lay, and all the quick facts on a breed. Grab a cup of java or hot chocolate and click on each breed that interestes you and enjoy. Researching birds is fun! (To me anyway)
I think there is also a little quiz somewhere where it will tell you the best breeds for you/where you live.
Chicken Breeds
I'll try to remember some more of the sites I used in my research and post them when I can find them.
 
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