Chickens, Chickens and MORE Chickens!

Okay, I have a lot of chickens.

This is barely a fraction of them

And now I'm getting MORE chickens.

I never imagined when I set that first batch of eggs in the incubator last spring that it would lead to this. I have 40 birds as of now, we still have one extra rooster and lots of old hens to dispatch but right now it's 40.
With as many chickens as I already have, I've been busy acquiring more, I set 37 eggs for incubationl last week and today I ordered 10 Appenzeller Spitzhaubens,(yes that is a breed of chicken)15 Cuckoo Marans,(five of those are for a friend)10 Easter Eggers and 6 Bourbon Red Turkeys.

Okay, yeah, that's a lot of birds.

And heaven forbid I forget the newest addition to my flock, my pride and joy:

Hans!!

Meet Hans, Hans is an Icelandic rooster(Icelandics are also called Viking Hens)and in my opinion, he's the prettiest thing with two wings! Shhh, don't tell Alfredo I said that!

My friend, a fellow chicken fanatic and enabler, gifted him to me yesterday. She imported Hans as an egg from Iceland and hatched him here. Icelandics are really rare, my friend is in fact the only breeder of them in Arizona! If Hans was sold to me he'd go for 50 to 60 dollars, which makes him a really incredible gift. I hope to buy a hen or two off of her in the fall, I would love to breed Icelandics! 

Until I get Hans some pretty Icelandic ladies, he'll have to settle for my girls.I hope to get some good colors from him, and also that AMAZING tail, it's beautiful and extravagant but not so much that it is impractical, which is perfect for my end goal of a beautiful, practical, dual purpose chicken.

Making friends over meal worms!

So right now Hans is in his own little love shack with two Buff Orpingtons, two Easter Egger/Plymouth Rock mixes,  one Rhode Island Red/PR mix, and one Barred Rock. And while he socializes with the ladies, the rest of the flock can get used to him and the other roosters will learn to tolerate his presence!

Stand off with my big White Plymouth Rock rooster, Kentucky.

I can't wait to see what his babies look like!

This spring is shaping up to be awesome and full of baby chicks, I can't wait!