Name that Chicken

That's right, name that chicken.  I tried to look them up, but I got overwhelmed. Which is why I'm hoping you will help me! 

Let me give you some background.  Last year, we ordered baby chicks.  There was a surprise rooster in there.  I decided to keep him, hoping to incubate our own.

Fast forward to this spring, we got our incubator all set up. Many eggs were viable. One pipped and hatched but didn't make it. We waited for the others, to no avail.

I thought I did something wrong with the humidity.  Tried again.

This time around, same thing happened. Many were viable but we waited, waited and waited some more. One pipped, hatched, but didn't make it.

Checked the temperature.  BOTH thermometers were off. BOTH of them! 

Used the fancy LL Bean thermometer and BOOM. Chickens hatching right and left! Some we got into the incubator, some more were pipping, all so exciting! And then while I was out and about with the kids...the *^& cat turned up the incubator to 117 degrees and cooked the rest.  I cried.  I was so defeated that I ordered 25 baby chicks online.

But then, the next day, I decided to give it one last whirl. Eggs are only supposed to be hatchable if collected 10 days prior to incubating. I had many more collected from days prior to the 10 day mark.  I decided, why not try?  I filled the incubator.

Two days before the baby chicks were supposed to arrive, the incubator was bursting with excitement.

Long story short, we ended up with 47 baby chicks.  In a brooder in our play room. Plus the 13 layers in the barn.  We turned into a crazy chicken family overnight with 60 chickens.  Oops.

Oh my. 

Alas, most all have made it and they are pullets now!!  I think we have 7 roosters that we must do something with. And our mail orders...we need help figuring out what they are. I ordered 'assorted brown egg layers" and they threw in an extra 'rare breed'.

So....what we have now...

Mostly Rhode Island Reds. That's what we hatched. Plus some of the mail order ones were Rhode Island Reds too.


 Goodness, the roosters are huge. And they scare me around the kids, but the kids are not afraid.  These kids are not without me with these 7 roosters, I tell you.
And then we got Buff Orpingtons, (yellow) which we have as layers already.  And we also have Australorp (black), which we have not had before.

And then (1) we have what I think are White Orpingtons (?).

(2) Then we have this one, which is lighter than the Australorp but darker than the Rhode Island Red.  The head feathers are different from the body feathers. Guesses?
(3) Then we have four of these. These are lighter than the Rhode Island Reds, but darker than the yellow Buff Orpingtons.
 (4) Then this is the rare breed. We call her fuzzy feet.  She's really interesting.

So there you have it. The ones we don't know for sure, 1, 2, 3, 4. When I look them up, I get overwhelmed, so all of you chicken lovers must help me out.

In case you're wondering, the layers....we have Barred Rock, Buff Orpington and Rhode Island Reds. We used to have Aracanas, but not any longer.

Here's one of our beloved Barred Rocks.

 
 These chickens are used to being hugged. <3
Do you notice the vintage nesting boxes?  They were in the coop I used to have as a child. My dad brought them to me (squee!!!).  Only they don't lay in them, they lay in the troughs.  Maybe someday they'll learn to appreciate vintage nesting boxes. I'll have to have a talk with them.

Anyway, how about a warm egg?...how we love thee.  And I love how they both are wearing a mama made-his shirt and the overalls I made for him, but now fit here.

Many thanks in advance for helping us with labeling these chicken breeds!



 

8 comments:

  1. Oh, I hope someone chimes in and can identify all those lovely birds! Your kids are so right at home with them. Lucky birds...

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  2. Your posts always make me smile. Hug B

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  3. How about Chicken Fingers, Chicken Casserole, Chicken a La King, and Chicken Cordon Bleu?

    KIDDING of course, you're much more ambitious than I. Chicken involved chores were the least of my favorites growing up on a "farm" full of chickens... we also had Pheasants, at least they were pleasant. I was terrified of the Roosters we had growing up, they were vicious.

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  4. I think the black one with a little brown may be a black sex link, ditto the rusty one, a red sex link, maybe. The white one may be an amber white/sex ink, I have one of those. Look for yellowing on the feathers.
    Names- rosy, pru, annie, ellie, sarah, (I like old new england names), gwyn, lulu bell, just a few :)

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  5. My rooster died and I need another..wish I was near you! I have barred Rocks and Speckled Sussex. I love them both. The last I got because I had never seen them before. They are docile and friendly and I will get more! My husband does not understand my love of chickens....I have had them since I was 9 or 10 and started in 4H.....I saw a TV show where people were buying eggs in a NYC farmers market and happily handing over $5. For a dozen of eggs....

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  6. We have four New Hampshire Reds and that is what #3 looks like to me! We had what we thought was an Easter egger hen turn out to be a rooster. Not sure how long we can keep him since he likes to use his voice all day long. I am waiting for the neighbors to say something and then we will have to rehome him.

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  7. Thank you everyone for your comments! We do love having these girls...I'd gladly hand over a rooster, however! It is interesting to hear the crows though, makes it feel more like barnyard. The eggs here the local farmstand will buy them from us for $3.00 a dozen wholesale and they sell them for $4.59 a dozen. Isn't that crazy?! Anyway, my Adrian is happy to have a better idea of what his birds are. :)

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  8. I sell my extras to co-workers for $3.50 a dz. You might try running a free ad in Craigslist, etc.?

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