Our first “farm” animal here was chickens of course. Over the years we have owned hundreds of chickens. We have had a rare breed called Spanish Penedesencas here for awhile. They were near extinction and we had a few of the 300 or so birds alive in the US on our farm. We have had bantams and standards of all kinds and varieties. Right now, we are mainly just focused on egg laying types. I decided, pretty as some are, I mainly just want eggs!

The kids love to show chickens in 4H and enter them in the county “pet parade.” Our chickens free range on our pasture and eat so much grass their yolks are orange. We gather eggs from them daily so we don’t have to buy eggs at the store. We sell our extras at church. To us, a farm is not a farm without chickens! Have a look at some of our chickens, past and present!

The white rooster is a Chinese Silkie. They have no barbs on their feathers, so are very fluffy in appearance. They are prized in Asia for their blue skin and black bones and are considered a delicacy. Here we love them for their docile nature and the broodiness of the hens.

The momma with chicks is half silkie… I think. She was the first hen spring 2008 to hatch a clutch.

These are a few of our hens. As you can see, we have quite an assortment. The one on the right is a Dark Brahma, one of my favorite breeds! They are feather legged, HUGE, and have 8 penciled lines on each feather!

This is the kids showing at the 2006 show. It was 105 that week. HOT!

William and Jacob with their pullets at the pet parade.

This rooster was one of my favorites. These three silkie mommas raised a bunch of babies together.

We had out ducks for awhile- boy are they messy. This is Willy and his Polish chicken.

Have you ever seen a kid wash a chicken? Funny! We wash our chickens before shows.

Our Crele Penedesencas and Jacob’s Mille Fleur D’Uccle cock.

Here are the kids exhibiting their chickens at a poultry show with a judge.