Lacy Duckwing: Life With The Flock
For 10 years and on, I have been raising chickens, both Standard and Bantam, along with some other poultry and farm animals. In this article, I will talk about the poultry I've had over the years and some of the other farm life. I hope you enjoy! 
Part 1: Chickens of the Past
The Start to In Between:
Getting our first chicks in the summer of 2011, I've been raising chickens ever since. The first chicks included Easter Eggers, Rhode Island Reds, Golden Comets, and Barred Rocks. As the year went on, we got more chicks, some layers, Guinea Fowl, turkeys, geese, and ducks. The chicks were more of the same breed, and later some Cornish crosses (aka, Meatbirds), and a Hatchery mix-up, Buff Brahma named Feathers. The layers were five Tinta Tints (aka Amber Star) who were supposed to be White Jersy Giants, a Silver Laced Wyandotte (Penny I), a New Hampshire Red (Ginger I, and known for having the worst molt), and a White Jersey Giant (Queeny). Our first rooster, Kingsly, was a rescue that we got in that first year.
A picture of some of the first year's chickens in our first winter. They are standing by the Church, the first chicken coop in its original location.
With a bird count of 98 birds on a little less of an acre, it didn't take long for us to get in trouble with the neighbors. After getting Animal Control called on us, we realized that we had to downsize, and fast. We started with first rehoming the chickens who went the furthest. That was the Barred Rocks and Golden Comets. We went on to build runs for the chickens to keep them contained. Not everything was perfect, but at least we had no further troubles with that neighbor.
A coop-less run that was created in the second year of chickens. The coop they stayed in at night was somewhere else on the property.
After a couple of years, we ended up getting a coop built that was called the Red Barn, and it is still in use today. The coop had several different rooms inside and had two chicken runs on the front. On the big side (aka The Hen Coop), there was a big room with a big run, and on the small side (later known as the Disease Coop), there was a small room and a small run. What remained of the original flock, and a small flock of Buff Orpingtons from a local breeder went into the big side. On the small side, a mixed flock (later known as the Disease Flock) of Delawares, White Rocks, Black Ameraucanas, Easter Eggers, and a few other birds went in. Due to disease, most of the birds on the small side died, and the remaining ones were either given away or put in with the flock on the big side.
Parasites and Disease:
In our first year of chicken keeping, it was first discovered on my favorite pullet, Marvalo I, that there was a parasite on the flock. After some research, we found out that they had Red Fowl Mites, and we were told that they come from hay. We tried to get rid of the mites and used Deciduous Earth to 'dust' the chickens. It didn't work, and about two days after dusting the flock, I unexpectedly lost one of my favorite EEs, Tanse. With no knowledge outside of DE, we gave up on treatment and the chickens remained with the mites until I got rid of every bird I had, in 2020.
Pat (left) and Tanse (right) sit on the roof of the coop. Tanse later died and it's suspected to be because of DE. Pat (full name Pattern) later dies of what is suspected, a broken heart over losing Tanse.
As if the Red Fowl Mites weren't bad enough, in 2013, we learned the hard way why you shouldn't get chickens from a chicken swap. We had brought home Marek's Disease with our Black Ameraucanas and Delawares. The disease easily swept through the small mixed flock and killed just about every chicken in the flock, including one that had been vaccinated against the disease when it was a chick. We ended up returning one of the Ameraucanas to someone who was affiliated with the person we got the diseased birds from. (That same person's husband helped us cull some of the bad cases.) We then gave the surviving roosters to someone who was taking our diseased goats to let the goats live out their days till the disease showed symptoms. The surviving hens we put in with the healthy flock. Unfortunately, shortly after we did that, the last Delaware started showing symptoms, so we brought her to get culled.
A Delaware sits in between two White Rocks on a perch. All three later die from Marek's Disease.
Other than the mites, we had no further issues until we got six 4-month Isa Browns. There was no direct disease they seemed to be dying from, just random issues and deaths. By the time they hit retirement, 4/6 of them had died, and one almost died. During the time of the Isa Browns and after, I had two cases of Water Belly, which apparently was a genetic flaw. The first Water Belly case was Patti, a possible daughter of an Isa Brown. The last case was Marvalo II, Patti's daughter.
Something About Bantams:
In 2013, at a chicken swap, my family got a trio (two pullets and a cockerel) of White Crested Black Polish bantams. We immediately fell in love with the Pom-Poms for their cuteness, and ability to set on your lap for a long time. Unfortunately, though not disease, these Polishes came with their own set of problems. On two occasions, while they were out free ranging, our gander (Comet) attacked one and both times, nearly killed it. Thankfully we were able to save the Polishes on both times and they had no known issues as a result. Come that winter is when we decided that the Polishes were something that we couldn't deal with. We did the best thing possible to keep them warm without using heat lamps or bringing them inside, but their crests got extremely dirty, which only proved they were 'high maintenance'. As winter was nearing its end, we rehomed them. (And sadly, we think they didn't go to a good home, and may have not survived the first night there.)
The trio of White Crested Polish with their dirty crests hanging out in the Hay Barn while free ranging on a warm winter day before being rehomed.
Come to a couple of months after rehoming the Polishes, on my birthday in 2014, I got five Silver Duckwing Old English Game bantam chicks. They were two cockerels, Perch II and Chester, and three pullets, Libby, Lucille, and Lacy- the very Lacy that my YouTube Channel and my BYC username are named after. The bantams were raised in my bedroom under an old lamp. Once they were old enough to go outside, they lived in a cage in my Mom's shed. During the day, the bantams got to stay in a yard known as the Guinea Pen, and at night, back to the cage in the shed. The bantams did well, until one day I came out to a half-dead Chester with Perch II standing over him. Perch II was given to a neighbor a few days later and Chester became the rooster of the bantams until April 2020 when his son, Lester, took his place.
The original five young Silver Duckwing Old English Game bantams free-ranging together.
After Perch was gone, I only had the four, though I loved the amount of five. Summer of 2015, Libby, the queen of the bantams (and secretly of the whole barnyard), went broody on a huge clutch of uncollected eggs. Lucille, second to Queen Libby and always trying to be just like her, copied Libby and went broody, too. When the bantam chicks began to hatch, something was terribly wrong. The chicks were dying shortly after hatching and seemed like they had some type of similar injury. I didn't realize what was happening until I saw Libby hatch out her last chick and peck it terribly. As fast as I could, I threw Libby out of that coop but it was too late. It was acting like the others before they died, so I knew it wasn't going to make it. Lucille stayed broody, and unlike the hen she always tried to copy, she successfully hatched out one more chick and raised it until she went broody the next year. Lucille's chick was a pullet. I named her Lucy II after her hatching mother Lucille. (Lacy was most likely Lucy's biological mother.) Lucille went on to hatch out three Standard sized chicks the year after hatching Lucy, and that was her last hatch for they broke her heart because she couldn't keep them longer. Lucy later hatched out five TSC Silkie chicks the year after Lucille's last hatch, and three of her own chicks the following year.
Left to right: Lester, Lindbergh, Chester, and Lucy were all outside during the last winter of me owning bantams.
The bantams ended up getting rehomed after the rest of the birds on the farm were rehomed. The first to go was Chester, Lucille, and Lucille's grandson, Lindbergh. Lester was taking Chester's place as the rooster of the bantams, and Lindbergh, Lester's younger brother, was an extra rooster. Lucille left with Chester because the younger bantams were too much for her, and she was the only bantam hen of the originals who loved Chester. (The original three wanted Perch and thought they deserved him, not Chester, so they despised Chester. After Lucille's heart was shattered over the loss of her three oversized sons, she began to grow attached to Chester.) I assumed if Lucille lost Chester, it would be the death of her. She ended up flourishing in her new home. A couple of months after rehoming Chester, Lucille, and Lindbergh, I had to rehome the remaining five: Libby, Lacy, Lucy, and Lucy's offspring, Lester and Lolly. This was due to being away from home most of the summer.
The Church Bird Years:
I often mention the Church Birds, and many ask me why they are called "Church Birds". The reason is simple. The coop they lived in was called the Church because it looked like a Church. Though Church Birds was a flock that started in 2017, the Church was the very first coop built on my small farm. For whatever reason, the Church Birds stand out to me more than any of the flocks before them, thus getting mentioned/referred to more than most other chickens in the past. (They may be the reason why I refer to most chickens as "birds" instead of "chickens".) The Church Birds started when I got 7 chicks (Dutchess, Jazz, and Victoria I the BSLs, Copper-Amber, Neisha, and Lupine the EEs, and Pearl the BR) from my local feed store. I didn't want to put the new pullets in with the flock in the Red Barn and needed flock mates for my two TSC Silkies (Beamer and Basil) for warmth come winter. Thus, the Church Birds flock began.
Dutchess (far right) checks out Cave II (front) who wandered away from her mother. Copper-Amber (back left) and Lupine (back right) join Dutchess. They all stand in front of the Church.
By that fall, two pullets (Cave II and Bailey) who suffered from a bad pecking order moved in with the Church Birds, along with an RIR (Sparkles) who appeared by the Red Barn one night. They spent the winter with the Church Birds and moved into the Red Barn the next spring leaving them as the original 7 and 2 Silkies. That summer, Lucy, a Silver Duckwing Old English bantam, hatched out five Silkies from the two Church Bird Silkies. The Church Birds later received another Silkie, Izzy, along with two new pullets (Katie II and Sparkie, the daughter of Sparkles) who had been suffering from a bad pecking order and two other pullets (Anna and Jackie) who were new to the farm. The Church Bird Silkies grew with Benz replacing his father Beamer, and Benz's two sisters, Romaine and Rosemary. Sparkles the RIR moved back in with the Church Birds for the winter.
Part 2: Other Poultry
Geese for Years:
In our first year of chicken keeping, it was decided that we needed geese to help protect the chickens. We got two Sebastopol/Embden mix geese (Comet, gander, and Blizzard, goose) and one Embden/Tufted Roman mix goose named Dinosaur. They were trained to come when called by my Mom and were really great geese. Come winter, they wanted to hatch out goslings but were unsuccessful. We eventually got some Sebastopol goslings for them and the trio raised them. At a few months old, we nearly lost one that we suspect ate a tomato plant, but we were thankfully able to save it.
The geese in March 2017. Left to right: Blizzard, Comet, Dinosaur, and Jennifer.
The Sebastopols ended up being a short-time thing, though Comet, Blizzard, and Dinosaur weren't. Jennifer, who was referred to as "The Halfbred" until she was named a couple of years later, was the same thing as Blizzard and Comet, but a little smaller. In Jennifer's last winter, she broke her wing, so was given away to someone who would cull her. The trio stayed a little longer until it was decided that they should go as well.
Duck Time:
In our second year of chicken keeping, we got a free Muscovy drake (Elvis) and thought it was a good idea. Apparently not. Elvis was terrible, and the only bird I've ever been actually scared of. We got two matching ducks with hopes that he would calm down, but it only worked for a little while. We ended up selling his females and giving him to someone who just lost their male who was the same thing as Elvis.
A Cayuga drake and duck stand on chickens' covered run. They often bathed in the melting ice that was on the roof.
The following year, we got four Cayuga ducks. We mistakingly kept them in with the chickens for the winter. That Spring, we hatched out some of their offspring, and those were the only successful hatches we have had out of our incubator. We had several hatches, including some assisted. We ended up selling the ducklings, and later the adults.
Guinea Fowl and Troubles:
In our first year of chicken keeping, we got a trio of Lavender Guinea Fowl keets. The Guineas were raised around the chickens and saved the life of a meatbird. Later, when the keets were adults, we got another Lavender Guinea (Eagle) who had lost his previous flock to birds of prey. We got some Pearl Guinea Fowl sometime after we got Eagle. The Pearls weren't as friendly as the Lavenders, not to mention the Pearls included the evil Half Waddle. (Half Waddle was the only Guinea who would bite, thus being referred to as 'evil'. He also was missing half of one of his waddles.) We didn't keep the Pearls long, thankfully.
The trio of Lavender Guinea Fowl roost on the cross of the Church coop.
In April, while the Lavenders were free-ranging, something bad happened. The Guineas had wandered a little bit off the property, and we became aware of this by the sound of terrible screeching from a Guinea. The Guineas quickly returned to our property, and Eagle lagged behind. His wing somehow was broken. We suspected that the neighbor's dog did it, but there were no signs of a dog bite. We later figured the neighbor himself did it, due to something that happened later in the year to a hen, but we'll never know for sure. We did our best to help Eagle's wing heal, but he was never able to fly again.
Eagle, now flightless, lives in a small mixed flock with his friend Simon. (Simon is not pictured here.)
Due to trouble with a neighbor, and the Guineas not good in confinement, we had to rehome all the Guinea Fowl. Due to Eagle's broken wing, we kept him. He befriended a decrowed Blue Wheaten Ameraucana rooster named Simon. Simon later ended up dying, and Eagle moved in with a new flock of chickens. Having no one to be friends with and a broken heart over losing Simon, Eagle lived in the flock's nesting box and stayed there until he died himself.
Not For Long, Turkeys:
I'm including Turkeys here because I once had turkeys. Thing is, I only raised them for meat. In my first year with turkeys, I fell right in love with them. The Bronze Tom was named Wilderness, and my favorite one, a white hen, was Pip-Squeak. There was another white one, but that one was never named. Pip-Squeak often followed me around and was very friendly. I liked Wilderness, too, but he was a bad turkey. He somehow got into some chicks and sculped an EE named Fluffy. Fluffy did survive, though she had a bald spot on her head forever. The turkeys that year were the hardest to let go of.
The next year we got six white turkeys. We don't know for sure what they had, but 4/6 of the turkeys died before the slaughter date. I got another turkey from the person who sold us the Marek's diseased chickens, and that turkey died days after we got it. We suspect that they had Black Head, but we don't know for sure. We haven't got turkeys since then.
Meatbirds!:
Ever since the first year of doing chickens, we've been raising meatbirds. That is, Cornish X. We used to do 15 at a time, but the number grew up from there. The number went from 15 to 25 to 50 to eventually, 100 meatbirds at once! After the 100 meatbirds, we started doing 60, then 50 (in between those numbers in some years), and in the past few years, we've done none at all.
A flock of Cornish crosses (Meatbirds) free-ranging while their coop is cleaned.
Part 3: The None Poultry
Good Goats or Not:
In our second year or so of chicken keeping, we expanded the small farm to goats. We bought a couple of Sanaan cross kids. One was named Milky and the other was Jumper. When the goats were over a year old, we bought two more goats who were old enough to milk. They were an earless goat named Lily, and a Sanaan named Shakira. After we missed the two new goats' heats, we gave up on the two and sold them. We got a dwarf buck named Picasso in their place and to breed the two originals who were becoming old enough.
Left to right: Milky, Jumper, and Shakira. They lived in the back room of the Red Barn.
Before we could breed Milky and Jumper, the person who got Shakira contacted us. They told us that Shakira had a disease and asked us if we knew that she had it and if it came from us. We knew nothing, including the name of the disease. Fearing that Milky and Jumper might have the disease, we had them tested. The test came back positive. We were heartbroken. Though you supposedly can still breed a goat with that disease, we didn't want to see them when the symptoms start showing. We found someone who was very familiar with the disease and they offered to take the goats and let them live until the symptoms started showing.
Runaway Rabbits:
Somewhere in the first years of chicken keeping, my family got four male Mini Rex rabbits. Within a couple of months, we discovered one was actually a Dutch female. Soon, we rehomed them all. A year or so later, me and my older sister got Angora rabbits. The Angoras were better than the Mini Rex, though higher maintenance. My sister's rabbit sadly passed away, and as a result, I ended up rehoming my rabbit.
Tabitha, my Angora rabbit that I had for only a few months. She was the second rabbit I owned.
Part 4: The End Of Poultry
An Overwhelming Problem:
The Church Birds were getting sick. Anna had a wry tail, and a couple of other birds were starting to get it, too. The reason for the sickness and wry tail: Septic Water. The Church sat on the leach bed and the septic water was seeping up. The water had been seeping up for years and proved to be a problem in the past, but the Church Yard was built around that. This time it was different. It was seeping up in front of the Church's door along with a few other spots. I tried burying the spots, but the water would seep out again, and the Church Birds would dig it up (they liked the septic water better than the nice water I gave them). With this issue, we went to the landlord. The landlord said it would be dug up, and he'd make a new and bigger leach bed. That being said, means that the Church had to be moved. Because the Church was so old, not to mention it lost its floor that winter, meant it needed to be torn down (and burned).
The first chicken coop on my farm known as the Church sets under snow in the winter of 2013. It is in its second and final location.
With the Church needing to go, my favorite chickens hitting retirement, new layers that annoyed me, and not being able to decide who to keep, it was decided to just rehome all the Standards. This all became about after a hard winter where I lost a favorite EE hybrid (Marvalo II) to Water Belly (March 7, 2019) and had the just deceased hen's younger half-sister (Vienna) attacked by a dog (March 14, 2019). (That was the worst predator attack we've ever had in all my years of chicken keeping.)
The Last To Go:
I first rehomed the retireds. They were the easiest to rehome because they were free, but the hardest for me to let go of. One of those retireds was Joy, a Buff Orpington brooder who had been a brooder for years. Another special hen was Nalla, the daughter of Feathers. All the original Church Birds were at retirement age as well. Thankfully all the retireds went at the same time, and most were going to free range for the rest of their days. Joy, Nalla, and a couple of others were going to be spoiled in confinement in the care of the mother of the person who was getting them. Even though it was hard, I knew they were going to a good home.
The layers were next. They were all sold at once as well. Those were the new Church Birds, the annoying Australorps, and a Black Jersey Giant (who was supposed to be an Australorp). A month after the layers were sold, the Silkie trio was sold. They were Benz, Romaine, and Rosemary. At some point, after the Standards were all gone, it was decided that the geese should go. Finally, about a year after rehoming the Standards, the bantams ended up being rehomed.
Part 5: A New Start
Six Young Layers:
On September 2, 2020, I got five new layers. That was Princess the Buff Brahma, Aundria the Blue Rock, Jewels the Speckled Sussex, Penny II the Silver-Laced Wyandotte, and Rocky II the Golden Comet. About a week later, I get a sixth layer, a Cuckoo Maran hen that I named Maisy. After being without any birds for most of the summer, the new flock was instantly a joy. Aundria quickly became the queen and became friends with Princess. Rocky was cool and friendly. Maisy was funny and tolerant of everything. Jewels were also friendly.
Rocky II the Golden Comets reads a book in her new owner's home.
New Flock, New Problems:
Even as wonderful as it was to have a new start with a new flock, they weren't completely flawless. This flock came with its own set of problems. They were feather pluckers! They preferred to pluck thigh feathers and the fluffy bum-bum feathers. Rocky got plucked the worst. The flock got Pinless Peepers, though there were still birds getting plucked afterward. Just not as badly. Penny was later put in jail for bullying. Jewels had Sour Crop. Aundria had some eternal issue affecting her egg-laying.
Chickens and On:
The new flock has retired and there are new chickens in my flock. I hope to keep chickens for many years to come. True, there are always troubles in a flock, including the beard-pluckers I'm dealing with right now, but that's all part of chicken keeping. Currently, my flock is mite-free, and I am so thankful for that, beard-pluckers and all. Thank you for reading this all!
Author: Lacy Duckwing
Date originally typed out: October 19, 2022
Part 1: Chickens of the Past
The Start to In Between:
Getting our first chicks in the summer of 2011, I've been raising chickens ever since. The first chicks included Easter Eggers, Rhode Island Reds, Golden Comets, and Barred Rocks. As the year went on, we got more chicks, some layers, Guinea Fowl, turkeys, geese, and ducks. The chicks were more of the same breed, and later some Cornish crosses (aka, Meatbirds), and a Hatchery mix-up, Buff Brahma named Feathers. The layers were five Tinta Tints (aka Amber Star) who were supposed to be White Jersy Giants, a Silver Laced Wyandotte (Penny I), a New Hampshire Red (Ginger I, and known for having the worst molt), and a White Jersey Giant (Queeny). Our first rooster, Kingsly, was a rescue that we got in that first year.
A picture of some of the first year's chickens in our first winter. They are standing by the Church, the first chicken coop in its original location.
With a bird count of 98 birds on a little less of an acre, it didn't take long for us to get in trouble with the neighbors. After getting Animal Control called on us, we realized that we had to downsize, and fast. We started with first rehoming the chickens who went the furthest. That was the Barred Rocks and Golden Comets. We went on to build runs for the chickens to keep them contained. Not everything was perfect, but at least we had no further troubles with that neighbor.
A coop-less run that was created in the second year of chickens. The coop they stayed in at night was somewhere else on the property.
After a couple of years, we ended up getting a coop built that was called the Red Barn, and it is still in use today. The coop had several different rooms inside and had two chicken runs on the front. On the big side (aka The Hen Coop), there was a big room with a big run, and on the small side (later known as the Disease Coop), there was a small room and a small run. What remained of the original flock, and a small flock of Buff Orpingtons from a local breeder went into the big side. On the small side, a mixed flock (later known as the Disease Flock) of Delawares, White Rocks, Black Ameraucanas, Easter Eggers, and a few other birds went in. Due to disease, most of the birds on the small side died, and the remaining ones were either given away or put in with the flock on the big side.
Parasites and Disease:
In our first year of chicken keeping, it was first discovered on my favorite pullet, Marvalo I, that there was a parasite on the flock. After some research, we found out that they had Red Fowl Mites, and we were told that they come from hay. We tried to get rid of the mites and used Deciduous Earth to 'dust' the chickens. It didn't work, and about two days after dusting the flock, I unexpectedly lost one of my favorite EEs, Tanse. With no knowledge outside of DE, we gave up on treatment and the chickens remained with the mites until I got rid of every bird I had, in 2020.
Pat (left) and Tanse (right) sit on the roof of the coop. Tanse later died and it's suspected to be because of DE. Pat (full name Pattern) later dies of what is suspected, a broken heart over losing Tanse.
As if the Red Fowl Mites weren't bad enough, in 2013, we learned the hard way why you shouldn't get chickens from a chicken swap. We had brought home Marek's Disease with our Black Ameraucanas and Delawares. The disease easily swept through the small mixed flock and killed just about every chicken in the flock, including one that had been vaccinated against the disease when it was a chick. We ended up returning one of the Ameraucanas to someone who was affiliated with the person we got the diseased birds from. (That same person's husband helped us cull some of the bad cases.) We then gave the surviving roosters to someone who was taking our diseased goats to let the goats live out their days till the disease showed symptoms. The surviving hens we put in with the healthy flock. Unfortunately, shortly after we did that, the last Delaware started showing symptoms, so we brought her to get culled.
A Delaware sits in between two White Rocks on a perch. All three later die from Marek's Disease.
Other than the mites, we had no further issues until we got six 4-month Isa Browns. There was no direct disease they seemed to be dying from, just random issues and deaths. By the time they hit retirement, 4/6 of them had died, and one almost died. During the time of the Isa Browns and after, I had two cases of Water Belly, which apparently was a genetic flaw. The first Water Belly case was Patti, a possible daughter of an Isa Brown. The last case was Marvalo II, Patti's daughter.
Something About Bantams:
In 2013, at a chicken swap, my family got a trio (two pullets and a cockerel) of White Crested Black Polish bantams. We immediately fell in love with the Pom-Poms for their cuteness, and ability to set on your lap for a long time. Unfortunately, though not disease, these Polishes came with their own set of problems. On two occasions, while they were out free ranging, our gander (Comet) attacked one and both times, nearly killed it. Thankfully we were able to save the Polishes on both times and they had no known issues as a result. Come that winter is when we decided that the Polishes were something that we couldn't deal with. We did the best thing possible to keep them warm without using heat lamps or bringing them inside, but their crests got extremely dirty, which only proved they were 'high maintenance'. As winter was nearing its end, we rehomed them. (And sadly, we think they didn't go to a good home, and may have not survived the first night there.)
The trio of White Crested Polish with their dirty crests hanging out in the Hay Barn while free ranging on a warm winter day before being rehomed.
Come to a couple of months after rehoming the Polishes, on my birthday in 2014, I got five Silver Duckwing Old English Game bantam chicks. They were two cockerels, Perch II and Chester, and three pullets, Libby, Lucille, and Lacy- the very Lacy that my YouTube Channel and my BYC username are named after. The bantams were raised in my bedroom under an old lamp. Once they were old enough to go outside, they lived in a cage in my Mom's shed. During the day, the bantams got to stay in a yard known as the Guinea Pen, and at night, back to the cage in the shed. The bantams did well, until one day I came out to a half-dead Chester with Perch II standing over him. Perch II was given to a neighbor a few days later and Chester became the rooster of the bantams until April 2020 when his son, Lester, took his place.
The original five young Silver Duckwing Old English Game bantams free-ranging together.
After Perch was gone, I only had the four, though I loved the amount of five. Summer of 2015, Libby, the queen of the bantams (and secretly of the whole barnyard), went broody on a huge clutch of uncollected eggs. Lucille, second to Queen Libby and always trying to be just like her, copied Libby and went broody, too. When the bantam chicks began to hatch, something was terribly wrong. The chicks were dying shortly after hatching and seemed like they had some type of similar injury. I didn't realize what was happening until I saw Libby hatch out her last chick and peck it terribly. As fast as I could, I threw Libby out of that coop but it was too late. It was acting like the others before they died, so I knew it wasn't going to make it. Lucille stayed broody, and unlike the hen she always tried to copy, she successfully hatched out one more chick and raised it until she went broody the next year. Lucille's chick was a pullet. I named her Lucy II after her hatching mother Lucille. (Lacy was most likely Lucy's biological mother.) Lucille went on to hatch out three Standard sized chicks the year after hatching Lucy, and that was her last hatch for they broke her heart because she couldn't keep them longer. Lucy later hatched out five TSC Silkie chicks the year after Lucille's last hatch, and three of her own chicks the following year.
Left to right: Lester, Lindbergh, Chester, and Lucy were all outside during the last winter of me owning bantams.
The bantams ended up getting rehomed after the rest of the birds on the farm were rehomed. The first to go was Chester, Lucille, and Lucille's grandson, Lindbergh. Lester was taking Chester's place as the rooster of the bantams, and Lindbergh, Lester's younger brother, was an extra rooster. Lucille left with Chester because the younger bantams were too much for her, and she was the only bantam hen of the originals who loved Chester. (The original three wanted Perch and thought they deserved him, not Chester, so they despised Chester. After Lucille's heart was shattered over the loss of her three oversized sons, she began to grow attached to Chester.) I assumed if Lucille lost Chester, it would be the death of her. She ended up flourishing in her new home. A couple of months after rehoming Chester, Lucille, and Lindbergh, I had to rehome the remaining five: Libby, Lacy, Lucy, and Lucy's offspring, Lester and Lolly. This was due to being away from home most of the summer.
The Church Bird Years:
I often mention the Church Birds, and many ask me why they are called "Church Birds". The reason is simple. The coop they lived in was called the Church because it looked like a Church. Though Church Birds was a flock that started in 2017, the Church was the very first coop built on my small farm. For whatever reason, the Church Birds stand out to me more than any of the flocks before them, thus getting mentioned/referred to more than most other chickens in the past. (They may be the reason why I refer to most chickens as "birds" instead of "chickens".) The Church Birds started when I got 7 chicks (Dutchess, Jazz, and Victoria I the BSLs, Copper-Amber, Neisha, and Lupine the EEs, and Pearl the BR) from my local feed store. I didn't want to put the new pullets in with the flock in the Red Barn and needed flock mates for my two TSC Silkies (Beamer and Basil) for warmth come winter. Thus, the Church Birds flock began.
Dutchess (far right) checks out Cave II (front) who wandered away from her mother. Copper-Amber (back left) and Lupine (back right) join Dutchess. They all stand in front of the Church.
By that fall, two pullets (Cave II and Bailey) who suffered from a bad pecking order moved in with the Church Birds, along with an RIR (Sparkles) who appeared by the Red Barn one night. They spent the winter with the Church Birds and moved into the Red Barn the next spring leaving them as the original 7 and 2 Silkies. That summer, Lucy, a Silver Duckwing Old English bantam, hatched out five Silkies from the two Church Bird Silkies. The Church Birds later received another Silkie, Izzy, along with two new pullets (Katie II and Sparkie, the daughter of Sparkles) who had been suffering from a bad pecking order and two other pullets (Anna and Jackie) who were new to the farm. The Church Bird Silkies grew with Benz replacing his father Beamer, and Benz's two sisters, Romaine and Rosemary. Sparkles the RIR moved back in with the Church Birds for the winter.
Part 2: Other Poultry
Geese for Years:
In our first year of chicken keeping, it was decided that we needed geese to help protect the chickens. We got two Sebastopol/Embden mix geese (Comet, gander, and Blizzard, goose) and one Embden/Tufted Roman mix goose named Dinosaur. They were trained to come when called by my Mom and were really great geese. Come winter, they wanted to hatch out goslings but were unsuccessful. We eventually got some Sebastopol goslings for them and the trio raised them. At a few months old, we nearly lost one that we suspect ate a tomato plant, but we were thankfully able to save it.
The geese in March 2017. Left to right: Blizzard, Comet, Dinosaur, and Jennifer.
The Sebastopols ended up being a short-time thing, though Comet, Blizzard, and Dinosaur weren't. Jennifer, who was referred to as "The Halfbred" until she was named a couple of years later, was the same thing as Blizzard and Comet, but a little smaller. In Jennifer's last winter, she broke her wing, so was given away to someone who would cull her. The trio stayed a little longer until it was decided that they should go as well.
Duck Time:
In our second year of chicken keeping, we got a free Muscovy drake (Elvis) and thought it was a good idea. Apparently not. Elvis was terrible, and the only bird I've ever been actually scared of. We got two matching ducks with hopes that he would calm down, but it only worked for a little while. We ended up selling his females and giving him to someone who just lost their male who was the same thing as Elvis.
A Cayuga drake and duck stand on chickens' covered run. They often bathed in the melting ice that was on the roof.
The following year, we got four Cayuga ducks. We mistakingly kept them in with the chickens for the winter. That Spring, we hatched out some of their offspring, and those were the only successful hatches we have had out of our incubator. We had several hatches, including some assisted. We ended up selling the ducklings, and later the adults.
Guinea Fowl and Troubles:
In our first year of chicken keeping, we got a trio of Lavender Guinea Fowl keets. The Guineas were raised around the chickens and saved the life of a meatbird. Later, when the keets were adults, we got another Lavender Guinea (Eagle) who had lost his previous flock to birds of prey. We got some Pearl Guinea Fowl sometime after we got Eagle. The Pearls weren't as friendly as the Lavenders, not to mention the Pearls included the evil Half Waddle. (Half Waddle was the only Guinea who would bite, thus being referred to as 'evil'. He also was missing half of one of his waddles.) We didn't keep the Pearls long, thankfully.
The trio of Lavender Guinea Fowl roost on the cross of the Church coop.
In April, while the Lavenders were free-ranging, something bad happened. The Guineas had wandered a little bit off the property, and we became aware of this by the sound of terrible screeching from a Guinea. The Guineas quickly returned to our property, and Eagle lagged behind. His wing somehow was broken. We suspected that the neighbor's dog did it, but there were no signs of a dog bite. We later figured the neighbor himself did it, due to something that happened later in the year to a hen, but we'll never know for sure. We did our best to help Eagle's wing heal, but he was never able to fly again.
Eagle, now flightless, lives in a small mixed flock with his friend Simon. (Simon is not pictured here.)
Due to trouble with a neighbor, and the Guineas not good in confinement, we had to rehome all the Guinea Fowl. Due to Eagle's broken wing, we kept him. He befriended a decrowed Blue Wheaten Ameraucana rooster named Simon. Simon later ended up dying, and Eagle moved in with a new flock of chickens. Having no one to be friends with and a broken heart over losing Simon, Eagle lived in the flock's nesting box and stayed there until he died himself.
Not For Long, Turkeys:
I'm including Turkeys here because I once had turkeys. Thing is, I only raised them for meat. In my first year with turkeys, I fell right in love with them. The Bronze Tom was named Wilderness, and my favorite one, a white hen, was Pip-Squeak. There was another white one, but that one was never named. Pip-Squeak often followed me around and was very friendly. I liked Wilderness, too, but he was a bad turkey. He somehow got into some chicks and sculped an EE named Fluffy. Fluffy did survive, though she had a bald spot on her head forever. The turkeys that year were the hardest to let go of.
The next year we got six white turkeys. We don't know for sure what they had, but 4/6 of the turkeys died before the slaughter date. I got another turkey from the person who sold us the Marek's diseased chickens, and that turkey died days after we got it. We suspect that they had Black Head, but we don't know for sure. We haven't got turkeys since then.
Meatbirds!:
Ever since the first year of doing chickens, we've been raising meatbirds. That is, Cornish X. We used to do 15 at a time, but the number grew up from there. The number went from 15 to 25 to 50 to eventually, 100 meatbirds at once! After the 100 meatbirds, we started doing 60, then 50 (in between those numbers in some years), and in the past few years, we've done none at all.
A flock of Cornish crosses (Meatbirds) free-ranging while their coop is cleaned.
Part 3: The None Poultry
Good Goats or Not:
In our second year or so of chicken keeping, we expanded the small farm to goats. We bought a couple of Sanaan cross kids. One was named Milky and the other was Jumper. When the goats were over a year old, we bought two more goats who were old enough to milk. They were an earless goat named Lily, and a Sanaan named Shakira. After we missed the two new goats' heats, we gave up on the two and sold them. We got a dwarf buck named Picasso in their place and to breed the two originals who were becoming old enough.
Left to right: Milky, Jumper, and Shakira. They lived in the back room of the Red Barn.
Before we could breed Milky and Jumper, the person who got Shakira contacted us. They told us that Shakira had a disease and asked us if we knew that she had it and if it came from us. We knew nothing, including the name of the disease. Fearing that Milky and Jumper might have the disease, we had them tested. The test came back positive. We were heartbroken. Though you supposedly can still breed a goat with that disease, we didn't want to see them when the symptoms start showing. We found someone who was very familiar with the disease and they offered to take the goats and let them live until the symptoms started showing.
Runaway Rabbits:
Somewhere in the first years of chicken keeping, my family got four male Mini Rex rabbits. Within a couple of months, we discovered one was actually a Dutch female. Soon, we rehomed them all. A year or so later, me and my older sister got Angora rabbits. The Angoras were better than the Mini Rex, though higher maintenance. My sister's rabbit sadly passed away, and as a result, I ended up rehoming my rabbit.
Tabitha, my Angora rabbit that I had for only a few months. She was the second rabbit I owned.
Part 4: The End Of Poultry
An Overwhelming Problem:
The Church Birds were getting sick. Anna had a wry tail, and a couple of other birds were starting to get it, too. The reason for the sickness and wry tail: Septic Water. The Church sat on the leach bed and the septic water was seeping up. The water had been seeping up for years and proved to be a problem in the past, but the Church Yard was built around that. This time it was different. It was seeping up in front of the Church's door along with a few other spots. I tried burying the spots, but the water would seep out again, and the Church Birds would dig it up (they liked the septic water better than the nice water I gave them). With this issue, we went to the landlord. The landlord said it would be dug up, and he'd make a new and bigger leach bed. That being said, means that the Church had to be moved. Because the Church was so old, not to mention it lost its floor that winter, meant it needed to be torn down (and burned).
The first chicken coop on my farm known as the Church sets under snow in the winter of 2013. It is in its second and final location.
With the Church needing to go, my favorite chickens hitting retirement, new layers that annoyed me, and not being able to decide who to keep, it was decided to just rehome all the Standards. This all became about after a hard winter where I lost a favorite EE hybrid (Marvalo II) to Water Belly (March 7, 2019) and had the just deceased hen's younger half-sister (Vienna) attacked by a dog (March 14, 2019). (That was the worst predator attack we've ever had in all my years of chicken keeping.)
The Last To Go:
I first rehomed the retireds. They were the easiest to rehome because they were free, but the hardest for me to let go of. One of those retireds was Joy, a Buff Orpington brooder who had been a brooder for years. Another special hen was Nalla, the daughter of Feathers. All the original Church Birds were at retirement age as well. Thankfully all the retireds went at the same time, and most were going to free range for the rest of their days. Joy, Nalla, and a couple of others were going to be spoiled in confinement in the care of the mother of the person who was getting them. Even though it was hard, I knew they were going to a good home.
The layers were next. They were all sold at once as well. Those were the new Church Birds, the annoying Australorps, and a Black Jersey Giant (who was supposed to be an Australorp). A month after the layers were sold, the Silkie trio was sold. They were Benz, Romaine, and Rosemary. At some point, after the Standards were all gone, it was decided that the geese should go. Finally, about a year after rehoming the Standards, the bantams ended up being rehomed.
Part 5: A New Start
Six Young Layers:
On September 2, 2020, I got five new layers. That was Princess the Buff Brahma, Aundria the Blue Rock, Jewels the Speckled Sussex, Penny II the Silver-Laced Wyandotte, and Rocky II the Golden Comet. About a week later, I get a sixth layer, a Cuckoo Maran hen that I named Maisy. After being without any birds for most of the summer, the new flock was instantly a joy. Aundria quickly became the queen and became friends with Princess. Rocky was cool and friendly. Maisy was funny and tolerant of everything. Jewels were also friendly.
Rocky II the Golden Comets reads a book in her new owner's home.
New Flock, New Problems:
Even as wonderful as it was to have a new start with a new flock, they weren't completely flawless. This flock came with its own set of problems. They were feather pluckers! They preferred to pluck thigh feathers and the fluffy bum-bum feathers. Rocky got plucked the worst. The flock got Pinless Peepers, though there were still birds getting plucked afterward. Just not as badly. Penny was later put in jail for bullying. Jewels had Sour Crop. Aundria had some eternal issue affecting her egg-laying.
Chickens and On:
The new flock has retired and there are new chickens in my flock. I hope to keep chickens for many years to come. True, there are always troubles in a flock, including the beard-pluckers I'm dealing with right now, but that's all part of chicken keeping. Currently, my flock is mite-free, and I am so thankful for that, beard-pluckers and all. Thank you for reading this all!
Author: Lacy Duckwing
Date originally typed out: October 19, 2022
- Next page: Flock from 2020 to 2022
Thanks for sharing!