Countin' Chickens: The Life of a Backyard Farmer: April 2015

Lucy and her three littles peeking through her wing.

Spring time is my absolute favorite time of the year. The grass is green, the sun is warm and inviting and bluebonnets and other wildflowers line the roads and fill the pastures around us. Plus, not many can think of Spring without thinking of baby animals coming into the world. Chicks, foals, calves, lambs, ducklings and so many other precious creatures. What can I say... I am a sucker for a fuzzy newborn animal of any kind!
Around our little backyard farm, we usually know that Spring is near when the hens start going broody (getting an urge to sit on eggs). This year was no exception! In early March our Bantam Old English Game hen, Lucy went broody. Well.... I couldn't resist setting her up with a few eggs to hatch! :) So, 21 days later... we have 3 baby chicks!

The first chick to hatch from Lucy's clutch.

Now, before I go on, I need to explain something to you. CHICKEN MATH.... this is when a chicken keeper can't resist to add "just a couple more" to their flock. I mean, really, what can just a few more hurt....Right?! Well believe it or not chicken math is a REAL things and those who keep chickens will know exactly what I mean! If you still don't believe me... Google it! You will find several explanations on this topic.
Back to my flock.... Before Lucy's eggs hatched our chicken count was at 27.....+3 chicks = 30 chickens for the The Bar Rafter C! Then Ethel, Lucy's sister, went broody...... and you guessed it, we gave her some eggs, two to be exact! :) Of the two eggs we gave her, only one turned out to be viable and it hatched on Good Friday, which prompted me to name it Friday! This particular chick we suspect to be from our favorite girl Maggie, a Silver Laced Wyandotte, and our blue wheaten Ameraucana rooster, Chili. Our count is now at 31! Hopefully we will have a break from the broody hens for a little while.

Friday and Ethel

Now that Spring is here it's so very hard for me to go to the feed stores! They are filled with the little peeps of chicks saying, "Take me home, take me home!" It's so hard to resist temptation and I usually have to pick one up to cuddle a little. Hmmmm.... Maybe that's why my husband hasn't let me go unaccompanied to the feed store recently!
Well my itch to have my own chicks to cuddle will soon be scratched! April 20th we are expecting a shipment of 16 chicks to arrive from Murray McMurray Hatcheries. I know what you're thinking! But, I am to the point in my chicken raising that if I am going to get more, I want to get the breeds that I want, and McMurray has a order minimum of 15. Plus they throw in an optional Free Exotic chick! I mean, it's free! So I might as well right?! This is chicken math at it's finest! After the 20th we will have a flock of 47!! Yikes, that seems like a lot now that I type it. However, you can always expect a few chicks to not make it, a few are sure to be roosters and my older hens will slowly start dwindling away at some point as well. Plus, we have the room for them and they make us happy!

On the 20th we will be getting some pretty neat and fancy new additions to our flock that I am pretty excited about. Our assortment will include; White Faced Black Spanish, White Jersey Giants, Golden Polish, Partridge Rocks, Blue Andalusians, Gold Laced Wyandottes, and Columbian Wyandottes. All of these are white or brown egg layers. I am most excited to have more white egg layers in my flock. As of right now my only white egg layer is my Appenzeller Spitzhauben hen, Sushi. Stayed tuned for an update and pictures after the 20th!

Here are some pictures of the breeds we are expecting!