35 degrees outside - 10:52 pm - rain/snow mix...
Today we picked up the rest of our chicks. I should not be allowed to go to the feed store by myself anymore. We were originally only going to have 8 chickens. Since we already have 4 Barred Rocks I just couldn’t help myself and had to get 8 new baby chicks, so we would have 4 of each breed. We now have a dozen chicks, four Plymouth Rocks, four Welsummers and four Cuckoo Marans. We are still keeping our fingers crossed that they all turn out to be girls.
The Barred Plymouth Rock or “Barred Rocks”, as they are called, are one of the most popular chickens for backyards or small farms. They are supposed to be very friendly, great layers of large brown eggs and able to withstand cold weather quite nicely, which is exactly what we were looking for.
The Welsummer (Welsumer) are considered “chocolate eggers”, meaning their eggs can range from medium to a deep chocolate brown and their eggs are also speckled! The chocoholic in me loves that cool fact! They are probably best known for being the Kellogg’s Cereal Rooster. They are supposed to be friendly, good layers, and do well in all climates.
The Cuckoo Maran, similar in appearance to a Barred Rock, is also considered a “chocolate egger”. Their personality seems to vary greatly and there seems to be mixed reports on their climate hardiness, but we are going to try them out anyway.
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| Caitlyn holding a Welsummer chick |
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| the large black chicks are Cuckoo Marans; small black chicks are Plymouth Rocks; and golden red chicks with the stripe down the back are Welsummers |
