Free Chickens...

For the last week or two, we have been looking for a couple of Doe goats. Deb wanted Nubian because of the "floppy ears". We like having fresh milk around here and LOVE making cheese (or rather, EATING cheese....).

I need to put a lock on it, though, just to make SURE I get some.....*grin*

Earlier this week, we found a lady who had a couple Nubians for sale about 20 miles from here. We finally got to make the trip to see them this morning.

It started out as a REALLY foggy day. Even at 10:00, it was still pretty thick, but not so bad that we couldn't drive.

This lady's place was in the middle of a rural "sub-division". The lots were rather large, so I guess there wasn't much complaining about her livestock.

She had two breeds of goats - Nubians and Alpines. She had some nice looking and friendly goats - and BIG. We decided on two of her does, and will return to pick them up when they are bred.

While we were there, she started talking about her chickens. They were everywhere, running loose. She also had some Buff-Orphingtons in a coop with a run. The "odd-ball" ones were loose. We first saw two little chicks running around. She told me to catch them and take them home. (they now reside in the brooder house with my other chicks).

She pointed to a couple of other adult birds sitting on a hay bale. She said that I could have them, if I could catch them. I think she was genuinely surprised when I walked over and caught one (the other was sufficiently scared to high-tail it outside....). She made the comment that she always had to wait until after dark.

While we were looking for another one, I spotted a hen sitting on a clutch of about 8 eggs. She told me to take her, too.

Her and her clutch now reside in the "other" side of my brooder house along with one of my hens who is sitting.

She also gave me another rooster of "Unknown and Unspecific Heritage".

I don't know what kind the two roosters are but, the hen beat them up on the ride home. They were GLAD to get out of the gage and away from the monster! Her eggs weren't even in there with them.

I put them in our coop when we got home. I saw all of them outside later in the day, and all but one was inside when I closed up for the night. I found him sitting on the tongue of my baler, in the barn.

He was NOT happy when I snagged him and carted him back to the coop. I guess he was used to roosting whereever he wanted to, instead of in the coop.

He will need an "attitude adjustment" unless he wants to go to a dark place that is REALLY cold.....

She also showed me the biggest Buff-Orphington Rooster I have EVER seen. This guy HAD to weigh in over 20 pounds! We had a Cornish-X rooster last year that weighed in at almost 15 pounds DRESSED. This guy is BIGGER.

When we go back for the goats, we can have some more chickens -

IF I can catch them.....