New Chickens, Old Chickens

We bought 6 new chicks on Saturday. Here is a photo of them chillin' on their first evening. They will live inside the house, using a heat lamp for warmth for the first few weeks.

This particular batch of chicks is very friendly, which is what we like. I like to buy them when they are very young. If you pay extra, you can get someone else to take an educated guess as to whether or not they are eventually going to be roosters or hens.

Since we cannot have roosters in the city limits, (we are technically still within the city limits,) we prefer hens only. You do not need a rooster for the hens to lay eggs. They will lay them on their own, after they are between 4-6 months old, depending on the breed.

Our other chickens are older. Blondie is two years old, and the Cuckoo Marans, are one year old. Below is a picture of the older chickens. Blondie is the one eyeing the camera in the foreground. She is the only Americauna chicken that I have left out of our original batch. I have lost a few chickens over the years to natural predators, such as coyote and bobcat. The Ranch is bordered on one side by a creek. There are many animals that roam the riparian corridor that is a wildlife habitat common to creeks in our area.