Chickens.
They are adorable when they’re little and fuzzy with their teeny tiny peeps and tweets.
So docile.
So cute.
So…innocent.
Then, they grow into beautiful birds.
Their feathers are sleek and shiny and their combs are bright red. They no longer peep and cheep. They cluck and strut.
Beady eyes.
Mean glares.
Calculating minds.
Ok, not really calculating, but they are really mean.
But…they are also useful.
They give us eggs for a healthy breakfast and meat for our freezer.
They create compost for the gardens and get rid of those pesky garden pests.
And…their antics make great blog posts.
Within the next month, we’ll be getting our new flock. This year, we won’t try to integrate them. Even if our Stars are still laying, we’ll most likely butcher them. The infighting was too stressful for both me and the birds.
The Red Stars we got last season have been great layers. Even in this cold weather we are getting, on average, 6 eggs a day from 7 birds. The Reds were good too, but there is something about the Stars that I like.
Maybe they aren’t so mean or maybe I’m still holding a grudge against the Reds for starting the Chicken Wars.
We’ll do a little research, but right now the plan is to get 15 new Red Stars.
We’ll keep them separate from the current flock, but once they start laying eggs…the 7 remaining hens will go from coop to freezer.
Here little chick, chick
So fluffy, fuzzy and cute
Time to get growing
a pinch of homestead 
Maybe ours our young, but we hatched all our chicks ourselves and they are super sweet. Even the 3 roosters are really nice to each other and us.
What kind do you have? We have been tossing around the idea of getting a rooster. They really aren’t that mean, but they do peck at my hands and feet when I collect their eggs. Maybe they are just territorial. My kiddos love them and my oldest is an awesome chicken herder.
That just sounds a little territorial to me. We have Ameracaunas (3 female, 1 male), Rhode Island Reds (3 female), 1 Barred Rock (male) and Wheatens (1 male, 1 female).
They are all extremely nice and very friendly so far, though they are almost 3 months old. It may change with time, but for now the roosters steer clear of us and the girls all come up to greet us.
That is great! I think the problem started when we tried to integrate new birds to an existing flock. We had 6 Rhode Island Reds and integrated 9 Red Stars into the flock. The Rhode Islands bullied the Stars and attacked them. Maybe we just didn’t introduce them early enough.
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