Royal Ranch Royalty

Rhode Island Red and Ameraucauna

Good Morning!  Well, I mentioned them yesterday, so you might have guessed that today's royalty would be our new chickens.  Thankfully these girls are not exactly rescues, they were just in need of a good home as their family had to move back to Denver (in my opinion the humans needed rescue from the city-ha!!!) and couldn't take their beloved hens with them.  That means that we get nice, healthy animals, which is sometimes a novelty here at The Royal Ranch.

Ameraucauna

The fun part is that with the six new chickens we did get one new breed of hen, an Ameraucana, who lays bluish eggs, so we will now get a wider variety of egg color.  There are two of those girls, three Rhode Island Reds, who are great layers and also meat birds (not that we plan on eating them...yet-ha!) and one Orpington which we had only one of before.  I am hoping that the Orpingtons will make friends as I have found that the chickens tend to stay with their own breeds.  So, to break it down, we now have 9 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Buff Cochins, 2 Orpingtons, 2 Ameraucaunas and 1 mutt bantam rooster that has the attitude of any big rooster you'll ever come across!  He keeps us laughing with his big rooster actions in his miniature body.
I know I have said it time and again, but it is worth saying at least one more time; chickens are an absolute joy to own.  They cost practically nothing to feed and the joy of gathering their natural resources everyday never gets old.  I still look at each and every egg as the wonder that it is.  All of our animals give back to us in one way or another, as far as working for us in the pack business, etc., but the chickens actually provide food for our table!  They have become wonderful companions as well and we all laugh as I look like the pied piper as I do my chores with a line of chickens following behind.

Orpington

Many towns and even cities are allowing people to raise up to six chickens in their back yards now to help people become more self sustainable, and it is a move I would highly recommend.  Obviously, the first step is to check and make sure it is legal in your neck of the woods, so to speak, because the only big investment you put into chickens is in the initial set up.  But, if you are resourceful, you can build a coop out of recycled materials like we did.
If you are not into raising your very own chickens, I would highly recommend finding a neighbor that does and buy eggs from them.  It is a win win situation for everyone; you get great eggs, they get to share their bounty while making a little bit of money, and as for the chickens... well, they'll just keep on doing what comes naturally!
MMMM...I think I smell some eggs and bacon cooking.....