Our backyard is the home to fourteen mischievous cold hardy chickens. They provide our family with eggs on the daily, entertainment, and weed control. We have only been chicken tenders for two years and I could not imagine my garden without them. In 2023 we started out with three adopted one-year old Rhode Island Reds and purchased one Speckled Sussex chick and two Silver-Laced Wyandotte chicks. Six chickens should have been the limit, but chicken math is real and does exist, thus why we now have fourteen in 2024. Our breeds are a combination of Mystic Onyx, Leghorn, Gold-Laced Wyandotte, Silkie, and Blue Egger. Our black lab Winston thinks he is a member of the Paw Patrol and keeps a close guard on them while they free range. He immediately knew these chickens were family and not backyard snacks.
Every one of our girls has their own personality, but they all love snacks and affection. They get along fabulous together and have fun scratching in the woods for bugs. We love them dearly and built a new hen hotel this summer. It still needs some color and decor, but I will probably wait until the spring. Their shelter is set for the winter, which is always unpredictable with cold, snow, and wind. Last year they were lucky, and it was a very mild winter. We only had to supplement with heat a couple times, which was probably not even needed, and they were outdoors free ranging every day. I am hoping for the same weather this season, but just a little bit colder so we can play hockey outdoors.
As of right now, end of October we are getting 6-8 eggs a day and I don’t even know what to do with all of them! I really need to start an egg stand and sell them. But instead, we give them away to very thankful friends and family. The shorter daylight hours will decrease egg production soon. Tuck in time is 6:00P.M. now, there have been many coyote and weasel sightings in our area lately.
I will keep the chicken posts coming throughout the winter, since there is not much garden talk going on.
What Did We Name Our Chickens?
Nothing normal, it’s what happens when six kids pick out names. Here are the Hens of Highlands Trail:
- Green Foot- Rhode Island Red – her feet are green
- Chicken Nugget- Rhode Island Red-kids favorite food
- Porsha- Rhode Island Red-character from Sing…??
- Fireball- Silver Laced Wyandotte-the cinnamon whiskey
- Sookie- Speckled Sussex-True Blood
- Fleury- Gold Laced Wyandotte- Marc Andre Fleury the goalie
- Chili- Gold Laced Wyandotte– mom from Bluey
- Bluey- Blue Egger-dad from Bluey
- Puck- Mystic Onyx-hockey puck
- Wednesday- Mystic Onyx-Addams Family
- Fluff Face- Mystic Onyx– she has a really fluffy face
- Taylor Silkie- Silkie– Taylor Swift
- Chick-a-letta 1- Leghorn– Paw Patrol
- Chick-a-letta 2- Leghorn– Paw Patrol
