My Happy Dinosaurs

If you have ever questioned getting chickens of your own, don't. They are the most friendly, sociable lovable farm pets you can have. They all have great character and will follow you around and eat out of your hand. We have had such a great experience with our chickens. If you have any questions about raising chickens, just ask in the comments. 

           I started my chicken experience about 4 years ago. I always loved chickens, well all animals for that matter. We started with Dixie, her story you can read below with many photos of my beloved white chicken. Then the majestic rooster Patton, also below. But to tell you the truth when we decided to get more than one and get a whole flock of baby chickens, I was scared to death. I didn't know how to take care of these fragile little things, and I was constantly worried about that first batch for the first couple of days. We decided that ultimately they needed somewhere better than a box to start there life. So we decided to keep them in our big garden tub in our bathroom. It worked perfectly and they loved it.  keeping them warm and feeding them were all they really needed, and boy did they grow fast. We would go buy worms from the fishing store and throw them into the baby chicks....and I tell you.. If you have never seen this before,  It is better than the super bowl. Ultimate chicken football. We were entertained for hours at a time.
         Over the years we have gotten chicks a couple of different ways. We bought them at our local farm store, not knowing if we were getting girls or boys. Then we ordered them online and ordered only hens...(and one boy).. hey nobody is perfect.  But that little boy now is our handsome rooster "Cukood", so it all worked out in the end. 
            We have gotten three different batches of chicken babies, some of them didn't make it, we had some trials and errors in the beginning.  But most of them thrived, had babies, and are now, I can guarantee,  the most happy free ranging chickens in America.  We have 26 hens and 2 roosters. They have a beautiful chicken coop. Very well insulated, no electricity or heating in the winter (for safety) and they get along wonderfully throughout the year.

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The story of Dixie 
(The chicken who started the ranch)

The work had just started. But our ranch started growing and taking on life of it's own. After about a year of being there someone we knew brought us a chicken. That's right. A chicken. In a cage that they had caught running around in some abandoned place. She was a beautiful white leghorn chicken, we named her Dixie. 

Dixie became very close to us very fast. Maybe that's because she lived in the house with us in a nest that we built her.  At that time we had no chicken coop and nowhere for her to live. 
She would fly up on the counter and eat food with the cats. She would perch on your hand or your shoulder and comfortably sit there for hours. She was the best pet you could have. She would roam around and peck outside, but when called from the house, would run as fast as she could to us from wherever she was. 

We decided to build a coop for her. Which was quite an undertaking. We built a great house, well insulated and protected from all the elements. But Dixie needed a partner. That's when we got General Patton (the majestic brown leghorn rooster of the ranch.) Dixie went on to have 10 babies and lived a happy life for a few more year. Sadly Dixie passed last year, but she is warmly remembered in our hearts every time we look outside. 

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General Patton (The majestic Rooster of the Ranch)
General Patton was our 2nd chicken on the ranch, as a mate to Dixie.  I found a beautiful 1 year old rooster for sale. I immediately went and got him. He was gorgeous. So many bright colors, and a personality that shined. A very nice rooster. During one of his first couple day at the ranch, he had made himself a perch in the rafters of the barn. He got down early morning and crowed a loud powerful crow to wake up the ranch that he was already calling his. Suddenly and without warning, something grabbed him..... (coming soon to "Another day at Cloverfield ranch comic page")

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More info about Brown Leghorn Chickens

The most common color Leghorn chickens come in brown, white and black. 
Although there are 10 recognized color varieties.

They were originally imported from Italy. The white leghorn chicken is one of the most commonly used laying breed.

Males generally weigh between 5.3 - 6.0 lbs
While females only weigh between 4.4 - 5.1 lbs

They lay good quality white eggs. They lay around 280 eggs per year sometimes even up to 320
Brown leghorn chickens are considered to be one of the most hardiest chicken breeds when it comes to cold resistance. 
(In our experiance they are more like a natural wild bird than a domesticated chicken.)

Brown leghorns are often known to be a little more flighty then white leghorns. While white leghorns are often very sociable and friendly Brown leghorns (while they do get very close and friendly with people) are often a little more stand offish. 

We have around 30 brown leghorn Hens, and 2 brown leghorn roosters. They are all super friendly, happy , free ranging chickens.