The original four Araucans were nice, but it just didn’t seem like enough. I have all this space and a big new coup that can fit 12 nesting boxes.
Why not bump it up a notch?
None of us are convinced this is not a rooster.
Thursday afternoon I put in a call to Kathy – owner of Boling Bunny Farm, “Kathy, I need more chickens.” Kathy doesn’t really deal in chickens, but she was going to be at an animal market
the next day picking up some chickens for herself. Since I was a “good bunny customer,” she agreed to pick up some chickens for me too. So Sunday morning I drove out to her farm and waiting for me there was two Buff Orpingtons and two Ameraucanas hens.
Upon arriving at 3F (read: Triple F –- what I am calling my urban farm), I set the new hens loose in the coup. The Ameraucanas ran around finding their place and squawking with the Auracans. The Orpingtons went in and immediately set up shop in the temporary nesting boxes in the coup. I left the chickens to get acquainted and headed up to the studio for a recording session.
First egg.
At 5:30pm I returned to feed the rabbits and chickens. Low and behold, laying in one of the nesting boxes, was the first egg. Seems one of the Orpingtons was ready to get down to business. She has produced an egg a day since.
Still waiting on the rest of the hens to mature and start producing.
Resources:
- Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens: Care, Feeding and Facilities
- Ameraucana History
- Araucana Club Of America
- “Ameraucana” – Backyard Poultry Magazine
- “Chicks in the City” – Houston Chronicle