Chicken Collection

We integrated eight new chickens, all various colors and varieties of Araucana/Americauna, into the flock this week. We now have 31 chickens.

To the left are seven of the new chickens.
To the right are 2 Red Stars from the original chicken purchase.
Outside the pen (behind the T-post) is the chicken introduction pen.

It's a very diverse and colorful flock. We now have the following breeds (and quantities) "in stock":

1 White leghorn Rooster (every other chicken is a hen or pullet)

3 White Leghorns

1 Rhode Island Red

1 Barred Rock

2 Partridge Rocks

2 Buff Orpingtons

10 Araucanas

1 Ancona

4 Red Stars

6 Black Australorps

In addition to the Araucanas, you can also see a Buff, the rooster,
and a Partridge Rock in this shot.
They're hiding under the coop in the heat of the day.

The best part is that our eggs are not all various shades of tan anymore. We have white, blue, dark brown, light brown, tan, and different tones of all of the above.

Today's eggs.

Despite the losses we've endured, the chickens are doing great. One major modification recently was switching the order of the pens in the rotational system. I now have the chickens going before the pigs (which oddly was how I originally envisioned it before I let the internet talk me out of it) so they can enjoy maximum bugs and greens, leaving the ground mowed very low for the pigs to start rooting deep right away. It is MUCH better this way. When the chickens followed the pigs, the yolks became paler. They have returned to the rich yellow/orange hews we've been accustomed to.

We have another 50 chickens (meat birds and a few more egg layers) on order.

Whose idea was it to collect chickens again?