Integrating backyard chickens can be a bit unsettling for all involved. But I had to come home with this Sweetie, a beautiful black Ameraucana when I saw her. Look at that face. Here's how the first week went.
Name - Sweetie
DOB - February 29th, 2016
Breed - Ameraucana
Nickname - OHMYGODWHATAREYOUDOING??!!!
A few weeks ago when I went to pick up some fertilized eggs from chicken breeder Barb Dodington I picked up something else. Sweetie.
And Sweetie's been trying to kill herself ever since. More on that in a moment.
The day I went to pick up my fertilized Olive Egger eggs I had no idea what I was walking into. It was barn after barn of chickens. Some of them were romping through the yard, some of them in coops, some of them in cages ... all of it carefully planned out according to breeding, hatching and playing.
I suspect there was also some sort of magic going on because I had my mind pretty much made up as I drove there. I wasn't coming home with a chicken. Was NOT. Only eggs.
I came home with a chicken.
And 3 more eggs than I meant to.
As an actual farmer I'd be a total failure. I'd keep every chick, goat, horse, cow, worm, snail, or spider born. I would keep no centipedes. All centipedes would die from the globally accepted form of centipede murder ... a shoe to the head. Funeral proceedings would follow, which consist of picking up the now deceased, yet still writhing centipede, with half a roll of toilet paper with your arm stretched out as far as possible in front of you while making gagging sounds and hyperventilating just a little bit as you flush it's still jerking legs down the toilet.
The Lineage and Genes
Black Split for lavender - this means even though Sweetie is black, she has the gene for lavender in her and if I were to breed her with a lavender rooster there would be a 50/50 chance she'd produce lavender chicks. If I bred her with a black rooster with the lavender gene, there'd be a 25% chance she'd produce lavender chicks.
She has a pure black grandfather that came from Tom Kernan in New Jersey, who breeds championship Ameraucanas.
Her grandfather was Champion AOSB at the Clinton Fair in 2016.
Her lavender roots come from Clif Redden in Kansas, current Ameraucana Breeders Club president
So Sweetie's lineage is far more refined than my own. I come from the hardy stock of swingers and boozers.
I would have come home with a Silkie as well but luckily Barb saw me sneaking out with one on my head like a hat and told me I couldn't have it. Apparently they weren't old enough, or sexed yet or for sale, or blah, blah, blah. Whatever.
So all I made it out with, was Sweetie.
And 8 fertilized eggs of course.
The eggs didn't need to be integrated much. Really, I just stuck them under one of my broody hens and waited for them to hatch. Which they did and became what's commonly known as the cutest thing in the world ... baby chicks.
You can learn how to get fertilized eggs and hatch them under a broody hen here.
Sweetie however, needed to be integrated with the other chickens.
Sweetie will also be known as chicken 416 as per her ankle bracelet because she's official. And possibly under house arrest.
The second I got her home I knew Sweetie was the cutest thing in the world. And like most cute things on this earth, she is made up of 25% cute, 74% rabid, freakish, devil-monster and 1% clown.
Within the first week Sweetie had jumped up and down on top of Josephine as she sat on her eggs, jumped up and down on Mabel as she sat on her *imaginary* eggs (Mabel is broody too), She also got stuck in the 3" wide space between the coop hardware cloth and my fence, flattened like a pancake. If you're familiar with cooking terms she looked like a spatchcock.
In my moment of panic I tried to heave and move the chicken coop. The entire thing. Like I thought I was a tractor. So, no, that didn't work.
Instead I had to run around looking for a pair of wire cutters to literally cut her out of the spot, stick my hand under her and let her drop into it.
Now I have to repair that entire side of my coop so raccoons and skunks don't get in to finish the job of killing herself that Sweetie started.
Look at her. Just look at her. That is the look of chicken remorse with a touch of ... but look how cute I am ... sucker.
So yes. I just went out for some eggs and came home with all this. Story of my life. Once I went out for a snow shovel and came home with a car. True story.
And you know what? She's Cuddly.
Post Update: Sweetie has since died. Here's how, what from, and how to spot it in one of your own chickens.
I determined what killed her by doing a necropsy, which is just another term for an autopsy. Yes it was awful to do, but if you want to know what killed your chicken and to help make sure it wasn't something contagious, a necropsy can be a smart thing to do.
Here's my post on performing a chicken necropsy.
Robyn
She is beautiful! I am so glad I can live vicariously through you with the chickens!
monique
You'll have blue eggs?:)
Karen
I will. I already have Cheez Whiz who lays a blueish/greenish egg, but these ones *should* be just plain blue. ~ karen!
Teddee Grace
She doesn't look cuddly to me, or sweet, just p.o.'d. Do chickens get homesick? Maybe she needs a companion from her original home. Perhaps the Silkie would do.
jainegayer
You and Sweetie sound like a good match.
PS- Maybe sometime you can fill us in on the snow shovel/car story. I'm sure it's hilarious.
Rose
I like this girI. She's beautiful and spirited......just like you. Happy 4TH from your Midwestern fan!
Karen
Thanks Rose! I feel like taking the day off too! ~ karen
Diane R.
Sweetie is so pretty! Seems to me Ms.Karen, you will have to add a room onto your coop. How many can live in the coop now?
Looking forward to seeing more pics of the new baby chics.
Alexandra
Your blog always makes my day. Thank you and smoochies to you and Sweetie.
Maureen Locke
She's beautiful Karen... very regal looking. How is she making out with the others in the coop other than poor Josephine and Mabel. Do you suppose she jumped on them because they were stationary or because she was jealous ?? Interesting. Enjoy your new beauty and I'm so glad she's a cuddler. :)
Nancy W
Centipedes, and slugs and snails, well here they get death by pecking.
Catherine
That is a very pretty chicken - so glad you have a cuddler!
Alita
You Sweetie is indeed a sweetie! Animals, who would be without them?
We had a tup (male sheep) many years ago. He appeared, as a lamb, out of nowhere in our field full of goats. We found him helping himself to milk from one of the nanny goats. None of the local farmers would own up to him which was probably a sign...
He was incredibly stupid, even for a sheep. On one occasion, as an adult, he decided to investigate the two bird chicken ark, the sleeping quarters of which had just enough room for two chickens to roost. He managed to get himself into it, sort of folded himself up in the middle but, of course, could not get out again. Stupid sheep. We had to dismantle the coop to remove him.
Stephanie Barnhart
She's beautiful! Why on earth would you keep her a secret?? I was going to say that she looks very intelligent, but then you shared about how she got herself stuck, so..... maybe not. Of course, she was smart enough to figure out how to get back there in the first place, so who knows?
Jennie Lee
Sweetie DOES look like an eagle. If you weren't Canadian, I'd say you got her for a 4th of July decoration. I love the metallic blue feathers. And I like the lack of headgear. I never liked those frills anyway. And you already told us that other chickens attack that part. Sweetie won't have that problem!
Lois
P.S. Your bird is gorgeous. Very photogenic.
Lois
"like most cute things on this earth, she is made up of 25% cute, 74% rabid, freakish, devil-monster and 1% clown."
Completely describes the kitten my daughter begged me to adopt after she (Kitten) was abandoned in her (daughter's) care at college (it was supposed to be "just for the weekend"). Two years later, Kitten is demonstrating the same percentages.
Kitten is a tortoiseshell, and now I believe all those stereotypes about calico/tortoiseshell cats. She NEVER runs out of energy and rascal-iness.
Melissa
I saw this email come in. Wasn't gonna read it. I wanted to save it til morning, so I could have a hearty laugh to start my day. But, noooo, had to read it right away. Now, I'm laughing out loud, woke the dog and the husband (not necessarily in that order), and one of them isn't happy. Damn dog.
Laura Bee
Oh my! Beautiful & psychotic. What a combo. She's fantastic.
We had a cat who, on his first time outside ran 10 feet down the side of the house & made a quick left into the lattice under the porch & got his head stuck.
He sure was a pretty boy though.
Nancy.
L@@K at this!!! Very cool.
http://www.viralvo.com/science-experiment/
whitequeen96
OMG, that IS so cool! I wonder if I could do something like that at home with a jerry-rigged incubator?
Karen
That's crazy! ~ karen
MrsChris SA
Karen the chicken whisperer!!
She is very cute but has a very cheeky glint in her little beady eyes!!
Tijen
I so enjoyed this story and yes, Sweetie is absolutely stunning. She's also quite photogenic.