Winter

Winter

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Farm Friend Friday with Verde Farm


Today I am linking with the nicest lady, and I think those who
know her would say that Amy is the best. She has a lovely farm
filled with wonderful animals. She has Verde Farms and if you
get a chance go see her wonderful pictures and meet her
wonderful animals.


Today I am sharing a story about my hens. It has been awhile since
I had a chicken post. In the very first picture of this post is
one of my new hens that I got a year ago. She is a Cuckoo Maran.
I have three of them. The only way I can tell them apart is that the combs
are different. They are the best chickens in that they would rather
spend time with me than anything else. But the one
in the picture is nosy and she has learned to fly to the top of
the fence around the swimming pool. None of the other hens do that and
you can tell when she is up there she is saying, " Look at me, look at me."
The other hens just shake their heads in disgust.

My story is about this part of my flock. That black in in the front
is a New Jersey Giant. I like that breed so much I have five of them.
The red one behind her is Welsummer. I bought my Cuckoo Marans
for the chocolate colored eggs that they lay but those Welsummers
lay just as dark or darker eggs.
When I go to get my chicken feed I always leave the gate open so they can follow
me and scratch in the dirt on the outside of the fence and they always follow me
back inside. Well, I noticed one day that Sasha the dog doesn't like it one
little bit. In fact I noticed she lays flat in front of the gate and won't let the hens
come out the gate. I noticed that my three Cuckoo Maran's and one of my New Jersey
Giants were standing off by themselves having a quite a discussion. I just kept
on doing what I was doing and the next day, I noticed those four hens were together
giving dirty looks towards the dog.
Again, she wouldn't let them out the gate. So this time as I came in with the feed,
and Sasha was walking ahead of me the 4 hens all rush the dog, and they had the meanest
looks on their faces. They all four pecked her with all of their might. Sasha turned around
and looked me with a look like " What do I do now."
I just laughed and my silly hens. They have such an attitude.

Where would my chicken post be without my Silkie.


They are finally all finished molting and I am starting to
get eggs again.

Of all of the things I have done, I think getting chickens
has been the best. I know I talk about them all of the time,
but I didn't have chickens until my kids got married. Then it
was because my daughter got married and she couldn't take her
chickens with her and someone had to feed them. So it was me,
very, very reluctantly I came into this chicken thing. The next spring
I got chicks and I became smitten. I love spending
time with them and I still love collecting eggs and I would
love to have more. Sometime. Just a few more.
Have a great Friday. Stop by and See Amy.
~Kim~

18 comments:

Verde Farm said...

Oh Kim I love your chickens. The Cuckoo Marans are so pretty. I love brown eggs too. I can see that hen on the fence by the pool so proud of herself. So cute. Good for those hens, teaming up to get out of the coop and intimidate the dog...how funny :)
Thank you so much for linking up with such a great post. You are so sweet and I am blessed to have you :)

Meg said...

You have the best animals stories ever. The best!

Miss Debbie said...

I love "hearing" you talk about your hens.You speak with such affection...it is sweet! I'm so glad your son was surprised with his gift. I always enjoyed surprising my kids...the looks on their faces were always priceless. We managed to capture a few on film and video...so grateful for that! Hope your Friday is happy!

Patrice said...

Your stories are my favorite!

Maureen said...

What great cast of characters! Never a dull moment around your house.

Kessie said...

Oh man, I read the bit about the hens pecking Sasha, and I just laughed and laughed. I had to read it aloud to Ryan, and he laughed, too. I didn't know chickens ever took revenge! I've only ever seen the guinea do it!

TexWisGirl said...

Chickens may have tiny brains behind those glaring eyes, but they must have strength in numbers to go up against the dog! :) So cute. I know you love to spend time watching your hens. It must be so relaxing. :)

And yes, I adore Amy and all of her critters and her fantastic place!!!

Maura @ Kisiwa Creek Photography said...

Hello Kim,
I came over here to say hello from Amy's Verde Farm Friend Friday. I love your chickens...they're very pretty. I love chickens and have a few myself..can't imagine life without them! Love the story of how your hens ganged up on the dog..would have loved to have seen that ;) I still have two of the first chickens we bought 3 years ago. My favorites are no longer with us unfortunately...I think they weren't as young as the people told us they were! I haven't gotten to know the new chickens from last spring that we raised from chicks...at the time we had over 60 of them so it was too difficult to get to know any of them better. We raised most of them for meat but sold some of the hens and kept the rest for ourselves. Right now we've got 25 chickens including our beautiful gentle rooster Romeo. Our chickens are Buff Orpingtons and Black Australorp with two Rhode Island Reds. I love all 3 breeds but a few of the Buffs seem to want to go broody often. They're all good layers of brown eggs. Have fun with your chickens and I look forward to seeing more of your posts over at Amy's. Take care.
Maura :)

Debbie said...

Good morning! I loved this post! This city girl doesn't know a thing about chickens, and I found this very interesting. They are really quite pretty, and how funny that they would gang up on the dog, haha...Do brown eggs taste different? I have never had one...probably sounds like a really dumb question, but I really am pretty clueless on all this stuff. = ) Have a wonderful week-end. HUGS

Kim said...

I love seeing your chickens again. I'm not a farm-girl so the only chickens I usually see are....well.....crispier than yours. Ohhhh, I feel guilty now~~~
But it would be amazing to have "fresh" eggs. I have to admit I have never (knowingly) eaten a brown egg. I don't know why but my Grandma never wanted them so none of the rest of us ever bought them. Do they taste different?
PS I know you are laughing at me right now :)

Old Hen with a Pen said...

Your Silkie is absolutely gorgeous! And I love your blog...and your header pic. :)

Yolanda said...

I love chickens and had them growing up. They are such funny creatures as are goats. I love seeing your pics of them.

Dog Trot Farm said...

Love your chicken stories Kim. Do the Cuckcoo Marans have the feathered feet? I would love a Silkie, but am wondering how well she would do in the cold weather here in Maine. We are bracing for yet another snow storm. I adore Amy and simply feel in love with Verde Farm. BTW how's the hooking going. Your friend from snowy Maine.

Nancy said...

Stopping by from Verde Farm -- and yes, Amy is the nicest farm lady.

Your chickens are beautiful! We have mostly barred rocks, but also have a few RI Reds and some Black Sex Links. Very hardy here in Nebraska.

Love your Silkie -- but I too wonder how they would do in cold weather.

Love your blog -- hope you have a great weekend!

Julia said...

Kim, thanks for your sweet comment on my blog.

We used to have chicken when I was young and couldn't keep them over winter as it was so cold so they were eaten and we got new chicks every spring and kept them for eggs and meat.

I love your chicken post and I also like my chicken crisp, or in a lots of receipes.
...Sorry,
I appreciate your love for your chickens, they are so beautiful and I can see how ou can get attached to them. How long do they lay eggs?

Our city has a law against keeping chickens because the people complains of the smell. We had chickens when we were young and I can't remember them smelling as we didn't had any more than a douzen. JB

myletterstoemily said...

oh, we would be lost without your lovely chickens.
if only you spoke 'chicken' you could tell us the
horrible things they were saying about your sweet
dog.

Simple Home said...

I enjoyed your hen story. I hear they all have their own unique personalities. That little silkie is beautiful :-)
Blessings,
Marcia

Razzberry Corner said...

Love your chicken posts!!! And the story about the hens vs the dog! And the hens won! Yeah!