Once Upon a Farm Flock Adventures

[TheFatBlueCat]

Hello and welcome to my flock story. It will be about my flock and occasionally you'll have to tolerate news about my garden or general goings-on that I find interesting. Everyone welcome!

I live in the South Island of New Zealand. I have a wonderful husband and we have a mostly ☺ wonderful nine year old daughter. I currently live semi-rural on 1/3 acre with an apple orchard right behind my back fence.

I have 11 chickens in my flock. I will introduce them individually over the coming days, but for now let me introduce Toes and Widget. They are lavender araucanas and I got them as point of lay pullets in May 2020. Chickens were my gift to myself after an exhausting time as an essential worker during the first lockdown. No, I'm not a nurse! I work on an orchard and all food production is essential.

TOES:

WIDGET:

I recently lost my Instagram account I'd been working on diligently for the past year or so, and wasn't keen to put all that effort in on something that could be disappeared again. No idea what happened to it, Instagram deleted it during one of their updates and poof it was gone. Lucky for you (hehe) I shall put those efforts into this story thread instead!

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

Hello hello! Your flock looks absolutely stunning. I can't wait to read more about your adventures!

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

Well, my husband is away on a work trip so I shall take the opportunity to continue this story. Otherwise I'd just be watching Netflix or some such.

Here is a photo I found of the aforementioned Toes and Widget, being broody together. They raised two rounds of chicks together last season:

I was raised in this little country town and am a farm girl at heart. I spent my childhood roaming with my friends over 100s of acres of forest, orchard and pastures. We rode horses, rounded up cows and sheep, ran away from wild pigs, and ate cherry plums from the tops of the trees.

My family always had backyard hens, and it was my job to feed them every morning. My mother kept chickens until about eight years ago when her last hen finally got too old and died.

2020 was the year I got chickens as an adult, and I have to say it is a lot more challenging to be the one in charge rather than the one that just has to throw feed out in the morning! I've made my share of mistakes but I'm glad I already had a lot of livestock experience. I've kept horses, sheep, goats and even a milk cow and calf for awhile.

My husband was NOT impressed by my announcement I was going to get chickens. He is a city guy, and the idea of hens running about did not sound good to him. However, one hen, Floppy (may she rest in peace) found her quirky way into his heart, and now he really rather likes all of them. I shall tell you the story of Floppy soon.

For now, let me introduce Opal. She is one of my Old Ladies. A black Orpington. I got her along with several other hens from a lady down the road when I first made my chicken keeping announcement. My husband made this lovely photoshop of her. I think he doth protest too much

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

Another introduction! Presenting Boss Lady. She is a light sussex hen. I also got her from the lady down the road, she is best friends with Opal. As you can probably guess, she was my head hen, but she now lives with Opal in the Old Lady run. The addition of a mature rooster proved too much for her, and she is much happier living the quiet life. She hatched a few of the hens that will be upcoming introductions, and she is a fabulous and very protective mama.

Boss Lady

 

[The-White-Elephant]

Another introduction! Presenting Boss Lady. She is a light sussex hen. I also got her from the lady down the road, she is best friends with Opal. As you can probably guess, she was my head hen, but she now lives with Opal in the Old Lady run. The addition of a mature rooster proved too much for her, and she is much happier living the quiet life. She hatched a few of the hens that will be upcoming introductions, and she is a fabulous and very protective mama.

Boss Lady
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Beautiful!



Following!

 

[Silkie Princess]

Beautiful!



Following!

Me too!

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

Introducing Princess Fluffy Butt and Speckle Head. You get a photo of Speckle Head's butt as she is impossible to get a good photo of. The leghorn is strong in her! She is a mottled leghorn. Princess Fluffy Butt is a white orpington. These two are my very first hatchlings in late 2020, Boss Lady was their brood mama. It was pretty exciting for me, my first chicks as an adult.

Princess Fluffy Butt:

Speckle Head

Baby Photos

 

[The-White-Elephant]

Introducing Princess Fluffy Butt and Speckle Head. You get a photo of Speckle Head's butt as she is impossible to get a good photo of. The leghorn is strong in her! She is a mottled leghorn. Princess Fluffy Butt is a white orpington. These two are my very first hatchlings in late 2020, Boss Lady was their brood mama. It was pretty exciting for me, my first chicks as an adult.

Princess Fluffy Butt:
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Speckle Head
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Baby Photos

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Princess fluffy butt. This is for you @BY Bob !

 

[Obsessed With Silkies]

Following!

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

Introducing Skipper! Skipper is a barred rock, and is also one of my hatchlings from late 2020, the second hatch. Toes and Widget raised this brood together. My rooster, Kowalski, is also from this hatch.
Skipper is at the bottom of the main flock pecking order, but she doesn't seem to care about these flock shenanigans. She is most interested in getting the best food, and is very determined in this life quest. She stays up as late as possible to sneak more food, and doesn't listen to a thing the rooster has to say about this behavior. I have the most photos of Skipper, because no matter where I go or what I'm doing, she thinks I have chicken candy in my pockets.

Skipper