Category Archives: araucanas

What Breed Chicken Is Your Favorite?

Blogging to me is all about being humorous about things I face daily, and along the way share a bit of information I have learned. One of the big questions I get from people is, “What Breed Chicken is my favorite?”. I usually blog about the general group of “ladies” but today I will share about a few individuals who just make having chickens, worth the busted knuckles, sore muscles, and tired days.

For instance; can you look at this face

and tell me that you don’t want to laugh your ass off? If you don’t, then you are broken somehow. Your funny-bone has gone sour. 

That face “Elizabeth” is making is purely diabolical! I laughed so hard at her, I cried. 

She was so damn mad that day. It had rained almost non-stop for 3 long days. She’d been wet so many times her fluffy-pants were getting wet, as well as the other feathers on the outside. She was insisting that I MAKE IT STOP RAINING. I’m sure that’s what that face says…

Funny thing about it is, they do have a shelter. She wants to walk out in the rain, get soaked, and then look at me like I did it! Whew! Some of them just have such high ideals about my ability to control the environment they live in. Yes, I am a chicken Goddess, but I can’t always keep back the wet weather.

Elizabeth has always been a favorite of mine. She’s an Ameraucana and her eggs are a lovely aqua color. Her temperament is really weird. She’s a lovely huger (to me), and enjoys me picking her up and nuzzling her neck, but she’ll kick any other hens fanny if they intrude in her airspace. She’s a dominate hen. With her little body, (just under 4 pounds) it’s a bit surprising to know she has the heart of a lioness. 

      Here she is with a dry face! She looks way happier, now doesn’t she? She’s just as happy as a pig in a mud-puddle!

Anyone who feels chickens have no moods or personality, just needs to compare these two photos. It will change that idea in a moment.

I secretly knew she’d eat me, if I died, out in the chicken pen…

(Thank you Natalie Dee.com for the borrowed image)

The other hen whom makes a world of difference in my day, is Victoria.

Victoria, is Elizabeth’s sister.  Here is her sweet little face. She is one of the most docile of birds. I love her dearly. Once a Dog got in the yard and attacked her. She was pretty badly injured but I had to try to save her. She was my buddy!  We patched up her wounds and slowly she improved. Thankfully!

Victoria is also an Ameraucana. She’s darker in color but still the same breed.

One quirk about her, is that she is the worst broody hen I have.  It’s so bad that most of the time she sits the nest and I have to force her off of it! It’s useless… I finally decided she can just sit there. She’s not a violent broody hen, just quietly sits there hoping she’ll hatch out a baby or two. She won’t. I don’t have any roosters (That’s another blog).

 This is Victoria, after the dog tried to have her for dinner… Getting all fixed up. She was so calm for a wounded  bird. I’ve done many, and this is the most passive I ever remember one being. She’s just a darling…

 I really can’t even tell you how much I love this girl. Really this breed is sizing up to be my favorite breed of chicken. They have personality plus, and I’d have a whole flock of them. 

Are they great layers? Well no… They are not dependable layers. It seems to be a personal thing though, and not really an indication of the breed as a whole. Elizabeth laid her eggs regularly about, 4-5 a week. While Victoria is a fussy-pants diva and lays when she damn well feels like it (rarely). When she does lay though, she has the most stunning egg color! They are a darker Aqua and always bring a smile to my face.

The breed is fun and a novelty. However, if you want Eggs on a regular basis, I’d shop elsewhere. Speaking of Elsewhere. Soggy-Bottom is a breed chicken called Araucana. They are from South America and lay blue eggs. Not a dark blue but a pretty light blueish egg. All of the colored egg laying chickens, lay different hues of color; Some darker in color than others. Some of the greens are Greener than others.  While some eggs, bluer than the rest. Also, it depends on the day, the weather, and what they have eaten that week. It all effects the egg color of a hens egg. She is an Egg-Laying Machine. You can depend on 6 eggs a week and seldom have a bad week in laying.

Soggy-Bottom-Girl, is in her molt season right now, and she’s an old girl who isn’t really laying. I figure she’s over eight years old now. I’d easily buy more just like her. 

She has a story all on her own. I won’t take time today to fill you in. The brief of her history, is that she was (more or less) a rescue bird. A chicken man was “cutting down the size of his flock” and put them up for sale. I was the fish that bit that line. He told me, “They are 2-3 years old”, and lay nicely. Well, he didn’t lie about that. Those birds I bought from him, were laying fools. They were not in amazing shape however, and I was determined I’d take as many as I could get that day. I did, and ended up with 13 birds, of which she was one. 

 Soggy-Bottom-Girl, is called that mostly because she has a weak vent and it leaks. I’ll wait a few seconds, while you get that mental image…  

Her butt is always wet. It’s not her fault though. I think she must have had a horrible fight with other birds while he had her, because her right eye-lid is droopy and she doesn’t see as well with it. Then there’s that issue of her bottom. Even if I had the slightest idea of getting rid of her, that thought would have been dashed with her ability to lay massive aqua eggs. They were the prettiest eggs I’d ever seen… However, getting rid of her never even popped up.

Here in the chicken yard, we have 5 colored egg layers. They are, Victoria, Elizabeth, Soggy-Bottom-Girl,  Little-Owl, and Farrah. 

  Farrah

 Both Farrah and Little-Owl are a bantam weight “Easter-Egger” bird of little more than 2 pounds and they lay lovely greenish-blue eggs. I’m holding a small egg of Farrah’s.

Now, if you talk about different personality birds from the same group of eggs, it’s these two. Farrah is flighty, and unfriendly. She views people as EEEEEVIL and wants nothing to do with them, except the food we bring.

Little-Owl is Amazing!  She is my constant companion out in the chicken yard. She’s with me almost all the time, while I am working out there. If I ignore her, she’ll hop up and grab onto a finger she can reach, and then stare at me, wanting UP. If I stoop down, she happily awaits for me to lift her up and kiss her birdy face, and hug her. She hugs right back… 

Honestly, 4 years ago when I began this journey,  I didn’t know hens hugged… I do now. 

 

♥♥The Chicken Mom♥♥

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