40. Changing of the Guard.

Hi again from the coop!

It has been awhile since last post, but that does not mean nothing is new!
Cassanova, our Golden Laced Polish rooster who filled in for Dotte, the beloved Blue Laced Red Wyandotte we lost to a fox attack in March, will most likely be moving on next week. If all goes well he will be up in a more northern county living out yet another life as a rooster to a flock that has lost its way and needs guidance...
I have been looking for a new home for him because we decided to keep two of our spring-hatched roosters... And here they are:
Pablo (named becase he looks like a painting aka. Picasso) is up on the stump and Reubens (again, after the painter) has his back to us, to the left of Pablo. They are both quite a bit larger than Cassanova (not to mention QUIETER!!). Between the two roosters, our 17 hens should be well guarded... When Cassanova moves on there will be some adjustment, but so far we have not had any battles between the brothers so we will keep our fingers crossed!

Here is Pablo up closer:

Gorgeous!

And, good old Cassanova... May he live a long and healthy life with his new flock, making all the noise he wishes up in Duchess county!!
Be well you punk!
Even though you chased us and crowed at all hours of the day, you will be missed!

39. Growing Up & Moving Out

The little chicks have turned into chickens - although it will still be a month and a half before the new hens lay eggs. While our hatching statistics were great, the final results were not - out of the 12 eggs, we ended up with four pullets (hens) and eight cockerels (roosters)!! I recently placed an add on craigslist and at backyardchickens.com hoping for a prompt pick-up of the soon-to-be-crowers... Yikes!

With that said, we have decided to keep two of the new roos and re-home the rest, including the Golden Laced Polish, Cassanova (aka Punk), since he is quite loud and not properly congratulated for his efforts. As I write I am hoping they will all get to live out good and useful rooster lives without becoming soup too soon... but, alas, so goes the life of a rooster in these parts.

Here are some pictures of the new lovlies!
Above is an Ameraucana rooster - he is very big and just gorgeous.
The above hen is one of the four females from the new hatch. She had an Araucana mom so she will lay blue/green eggs!
These two are also keepers. Their mom was an Australorp. On the left is a rooster and on the right a hen. They are two of three we had turn out gray/blue. We were so excited when we saw that one of the blues was a girl!!

As of yet, these birds are all unnamed. We plan on going away for a week after the other roosters are re-homed, and when we come back hopefully the resettling coop drama will be over and then the naming will begin!