#not a marans but a CUCKOO apparently!

[humming-bird10]

EXCUSE ME!?

THAT IS NOT YOUR NEST MA'AM!

[mybackyardflock]

Since you all seem interested in reading the 2018-2019 chicken project story, here it is!

The 2018-2019 project year has been a wild ride of ups and downs for my flock of chickens. There were several deaths, including two of the old ladies, but this project year also saw a lot of new life. Our silkie hen, named Cornbread, hatched a flock of four beautiful Ameraucana chicks in early July, and the arrival of the eight Cuckoo Marans in August brought lots of joy to the hens that raised them.

The project year started off well, with the departure of the New Hampshire Red hens from last year. We made good money from them, and the various items that I entered in the fair. Everything went fairly smoothly on the farm until July, when our old hen Acorn passed away due to old age. She lived to seven years old.

In early June, we acquired five eggs from a friend of ours, whose mother is a chicken breeder in Kansas. Cornbread is always reliable when it comes to brooding, so we put the eggs under her, and lo and behold, twenty one days later, four beautiful chicks hatched. We named them Fluffhead, Eos, Aphrodite, and Hercules (who we later changed to Hera, on account of being a hen.) It was late August when the Cuckoo Marans arrived. Our old Easter-Egger hen, named Angel, had started brooding. It seemed that she wanted to have one last clutch of chicks before she got too old. Coincidentally, one of our other hens, named Copper, had started brooding as well. We planned on putting the Cuckoo Marans underneath them, to get out of the time-consuming task of keeping up with eight biddies. It took the hens a while to warm up to the idea of these chicks, but they eventually accepted them as their own. They then shared the task of raising them. Angel, with her experience in raising chicks, and Copper, with her youth, and ability to keep track of them, made the perfect team.

It was around this time when our rooster, Eos, started to crow. We don’t live in a “Rooster friendly” neighborhood, so we attempted to sell him, but to no avail. Apparently, people don’t like mixed breed chickens, and we ended up sending him to processing day at the coop. However, the crowing didn’t stop there. One of the Cuckoo Marans -who we affectionately refer to as “The Boons”- was crowing. I guess something got mixed up during the sexing process. He has grown up to be a very handsome rooster, and now lives at the 4-H coop at Wickham Park.

When the Cuckoo Marans got old enough to take care of themselves, Angel decided that it was a good time to molt. She had always had a rough molt, I would take her in the house to get out of the mosquitoes when she didn’t have any feathers. Well, I guess that this molt was particularly bad, as she did not survive. It seems that she really was holding out to have another clutch of chicks. We all still miss her, she was a really great, loving bird.

It was midway through December when we noticed that our last old Easter Egger hen, named Alice, was more active than usual. Her comb was getting bigger, and very red. We thought she might start laying eggs again. Then, one night, tragedy struck. I accidentally left the doors to the chicken coop open, and a raccoon got into the hen house. The raccoon was only able to get one Boon before the ramp fell and it couldn’t get back up to the roost. I brought Alice outside the next morning, she immediately realized that something was wrong, and she started. . . Crowing? Apparently, there is a scientific reason for this to happen. Female chickens have only one working ovary, their left one, to be exact, and if something happens to that ovary, the right one can start producing testosterone, therefore turning that hen into a rooster. We have nicknamed him “Big Al”, and he courts hens and crows now. He looks at life through the eyes of an old man, and only crows if something is wrong. He’s turning eight this year, and without any old ladies around to judge him, he’s living his best life.

I’ve gained a lot of experience in taking care of sick and hurt chickens this year. We ultimately lost more chickens than I would have liked, but the flock is getting older, and these things happen. I see a lot of potential in the upcoming project year, I’m going to keep better documentation of my birds in order to ensure that they continue to live a happy, healthy life.

For a more visual documentation of the life of my chickens, please visit: mybackyardflock.tumblr.com

[tanevthehimbo]

Justin Schultz - Columbian Wyandottes.

Marcus Pettersson - Cuckoo Marans.

Jake Guentzel - Delaware. Tiny and must be protected. I love them.

Kris Letang - Egyptian Fayoumis. Look at this little shit and tell me it doesn’t remind you of Letang. Plus, they’re considered very attractive and rare in the United States.

Patric Hornqvist - Faverolles. Buff and honestly? They kind of scare me. But they also look like they’d be so soft to cuddle.

Jared McCann - Golden Campines.

Bryan Rust - Ginger Broiler. This chicken looks like it has the same energy as him.

Tristan Jarry - Golden Sebright Bantam. I think this is what breed my dear MIA Peach was :( She was a feisty lil sweetheart.

Brian Dumoulin - Lavender Orpingtons. According to the internet, these lil guys are super friendly, along with being pretty.

Sam Lafferty - Mille Fleur Bantam.

your fav pens players as different breeds of chickens -chicken anon

Fave? How about literally the entire Penguins roster. I even pulled it up so I won’t forget Jack Johnson this time. Will I explain my logic behind these? Only some of them, bc I am not a chicken expert and we’ve only owned like,,, three breeds of chickens. Without further ado, in no particular order... 

The Penguins as Chicken Breeds

Evgeni Malkin - Jersey Giant. 

Conor Sheary - Old English Game. They’re so fucking tiny oh my god short kings!!

John Marino - Australorp. Emo, but still a lil flashy.

Patrick Marleau - Barred Rock. We used to have Barred Rocks and they’re rather sweet + cool looking. 

Dominik Simon - Black Frizzle Cochin Bantam. Don’t ask why.

Sidney Crosby - Blue Cochin Bantam. Not only is it cool looking, but she THICC!

Jack Johnson - Buff Brahma Bantam. Just looks like it’ll fuck you up. 

Teddy Blueger - Buff Minorcas. I saw this chicken and my brain automatically went ‘Gasp. Teddy.’ so here we are.

Zach Aston-Reese - Buttercups. Their coloring reminds me of his hair?? They also basically have crowns so yasss king!!

Brandon Tanev - Silver Phoenix. LOOK AT THESE CHICKS!! They give me major TURBO SPEED vibes.

[humming-bird10]

Yes, that is where YOU go

EXCUSE ME!?

THAT IS NOT YOUR NEST MA'AM!