Roosters growing up,

My Silver Seabright rooster, I have named him Taz, for Tasmanian Devil, he is quite a feisty little guy. His tail feathers are getting longer, he is a very flashy looking guy. The hens aren't very impressed with him as of yet, but I think they will realize he will protect them. He has a nice loud crow. Since I have over 20 hens, I usually see each rooster hanging out with a different group of hens.

Sir Olliver in attack position, yep, he is another attack rooster, but luckily due to his small size this isn't so scary as when I had a big rooster attacking me. This little guy is taking his job very seriously, my husband said the little guy attacked his shoes too when he walked through the chicken yard. He sometimes attacks my shoes, only problem is I almost stepped on him today when he got in my way and I didn't notice it. He watches very closely what I do, he attacks the bucket, the towels, but he starting to relax a bit now, maybe he is realizing he is going a little overboard with his protectiveness, I try to toss him a treat every time I go out and he runs up to me, maybe he will figure out I am not a threat. Roosters are really very interesting, and I am glad I got this little trio of mini roosters, they aren't much of a threat to the hens, and I get all the crowing and entertainment of roosters without having to be afraid of them.

Loves to crow all day long

Sir Olliver sitting on the garbage can, I have noticed that all 3 of these little roosters love to take up high spots to crow

Goldie, I wish the Seabrights would come in a larger size too, they are just so pretty to look at.

Little Goldie coming of age too, he is starting to flirt with the hens, but so far they aren't impressed

Sir Olliver is happy to watch over the hens, the two young Buff Orpingtons are his favorites.

Look how pretty these black girls are

My 4 Black Jersey Giant pullets

I rarely see any of these 4 by themselves, they like to hang out as a group, or at least two of them together

size comparison, one of my Black Jersey Giant pullets with the other hens who are over one year old. One can see the black one doesn't even have a comb and wattles yet, they are about 5 months old now and one of them has started laying eggs now

Pullet Egg

one of my two 4 months old Buff Orpingtons laid her first egg today, how cool is that?

It's a little sooner than I expected, but I won't complain. Interestingly enough my very first batch of chickens the first egg I got was also from a Buff Orpington, my little Mira who I lost this last winter, and I still miss her, she was such a little Miss Personality. Another thing that is interesting is that in my first batch I had two Buff Orpingtons, one of them, Mira, was about half the size as the other one. The two new ones I got this spring have a similar pattern, one is a lot smaller than the other one.

New baby peeps,

I really hadn't planned on getting any baby chicks this year, but I recently lost another hen after, in the beginning of the winter I lost my little Mira, so I was down to hens. I couldn't find somebody who was raising any chicks to sell to me later, so I decided to get a few now before it gets warm in the hope that they will be big enough when it warms up a bit and by the time summer comes they should be able to mingle with the adults.
I have 2 Buff Orpington chicks and 4 Barred Rock chicks, both are brown egg layer breeds,


A new little group of peeps,

wing feathers on a Buff Orpington

wing feathers are already growing

just a cute little fluffball

wing feathers on a Barred Rock chick

she has a cute expression

She wasn't too concerned about sitting in my hand

one of the little Barred Rock chicks

A little Buff Orpington chick

she seems to know that she is cute

a little sleeping beauty

The photos below are when the chicks were a week old, it's amazing how fast they grow

Here are the two Buff Orpington chicks

resting in the corner

they already have lots of feathers on their wings, the feet are turning darker

wing feathers and the tails are growing too, they are starting to practice their flying skills, at this age they often crash into each other

two of the Barred Rock chicks, it's funny how they have this little dark band over the beak

I threw in some weeds this morning thinking they would just mess around with it, but I happened to see this one eat a small leave of it

there goes the rest of the leave down

I think she looks pretty pleased with herself

they are too cute at this age

they are all checking something out

My Pullets,

almost old enough to lay eggs, they already stand taller than most of my one year olds. All 8 of them look very similar, but some have ear muffs and some don't, they are getting used to me by now and I am looking forward to their eggs, hopefully we will get a little variety with the colors, hoping for some blue or pink shades, but if they are all green that's okay too.

My chickens and their guardian dogs,


My Great Pyrenees Nanuk who came to us as a "failed" sheep guardian. Growing up on a chain and then at about a year old he was given to a sheep farm and tossed in with the sheep. He was a little too playful with the sheep and also was accused of causing the death of a few lambs. When the chickens were little he really looked like he would kill them if given a chance, but about 8 months later he is good with them and acts very appropriate, I have been watching him closely from my kitchen window, but in the last 2 months I have seen nothing but very appropriate behavior.
Doesn't he look like a proud chicken guardian?

Bella, my Golden Campine, she gets in and out of the goat pen and any other fenced off area

Lucy looking at Teddy, my Anatolian Shepherd puppy in training to be a poultry guardian, he is showing great potential. He and the other puppies in the pictures turned 14 weeks old yesterday, I kept these four who have all shown great potential as poultry guardians because they have shown very little to no desire to chase, in addition to showing an interest in the chickens. It seems like they really want to know them, without being pushy, they are all very respectful and approach with caution. I always feel that the chickens are also a good feedback, as they feel comfortable around the pups even when they puppies come storming into their yard they stay calm.

the chickens are very curious about anything those puppies are doing, they will steal bones and other treats from them and are actually quite aggressive about it, the puppies just let them do it, they have learned to respect the chickens, because the chickens have learned that they can actually intimidate the pups, one of the Delaware hens is especially assertive with them and is quick to peck them at the nose if they get close enough

My Anatolian Shepherd puppies Enya and Teddy looking for "treats" that the chickens leave behind

Enya found herself a nice spot in the chicken coop to hang out

My Anatolian Shepherd puppy Samantha gets a little playful with the chickens sometimes, but she doesn't touch them, she is very cautious about keeping enough distance to be save from being pecked at, today she ventured into the hen house and was a little bit surprised to have two of the hens fly out right over her head, she wasn't quite sure about it, but took it in stride

Leydi is the mother of my puppies in training, she wasn't exposed to chickens until she was 3 1/2 years old, she has always been very good with them after our initial introduction,

One of my barred Leghorn hens

Sophie my rooster

Tobi wearing a chicken saddle to protect her during mating, otherwise the rooster "rides" out all the feathers on their back and they are bald.

hens taking a break, the two white ones are my Delawares, in the back is Buffy, one of my Buff Orpingtons