The Polish/Ameraucana bantams came to the farm in a round about way. I had ordered some Beltsville White turkey poults and the seller also had 7 random chicks. They had little stick ups on their head, and were small. The seller said they came from blue eggs, but that is about all she knew. I bought all seven hatchlings for seven dollars each. A raven got one of the chicks. As it turned out, there were 5 hens and two roosters and the second rooster also disappeared. Then another hen disappeared and the three hens and rooster left were amazing. They fly very well and were hard to train to roost in a coop, but they do so now. They forage all over the place, even in the bush and some how always escape the fox and coyotes there. One hen had a nest in the tall grass just before the bush outside the fence and hatched a brood of 13 and is raising 11 of them. The second hen has nine babies as of yesterday, small little fluff balls and the third hen is setting somewhere unknown to me, but she will likely also have her brood out soon. I will keep all the females and mate them back to their father and hope to increase the numbers of these spectacular birds. They also lay an egg a day, better than the heritage layers. Thanks little bantams! You are awesome!

She was not sleeping in the hoop shelter I placed her in for safety, but where was she ? She hatched her brood in the tall grass in the bush just outside the farm gate, a place that is not at all safe from predators, as the other broody can attest to with the lack of feathers on her back. But the mamma hen was not in the hoop coop at night. She would come back there to rest during the day, to drink water from the waterer and occasionally eat some grain I tossed inside, but she would not be found there as dark approached.

The straw bales from last year are beside her. Today, one of her little ones got left behind and was calling loudly for her in the pen outside her area. I tried to collect him, but these little chicks are quick as ever and he darted inside the straw pile, still peeping away. This did not draw mother hen, which is strange, since she always came when her babies were crying. So, I looked for her and there she was nestled amongst the bales no more than a few feet from the crying baby. That is why she was not worried, I guess. So, I got her off her post and low and behold, there are three eggs there, but they are light brown and definitely not hers. She lays creamy white small eggs. She was sitting on them though, so another hen has begun a nest there. This hen will have started the incubation process by roosting there at night, but since she is not there during most of the day, the eggs would stop developing as they got cold.

It is quite interesting to see how quickly the babies are developing feathers and also to note the variety amongst them. The mother is a Polish Ameraucana bantam cross and the rooster is as well, though Wheaten and blue in colouration. The hen is blue and black with the Polish crest and small comb and is very winter hardy. I am hoping the babies will be mostly female since the roosters cannot stay in case they mate with their sisters or mother. Time will tell. Now that I know where the brood is, I can view them more closely. Too cute!

Early this morning around 5 am there was a shriek from the broody hen and a kerfluffle and lots more shrieks. Something attacked her while she sat on her nest. Her chicks were due in a day and this was very sad. The dogs were onto the predator immediately and the hen escaped with her life, though the feathers on the back of her neck and her the top of her back are completely plucked. Her skin did not appear to be punctured, but she was depressed. She left the nest and something ate some of the eggs. The babies were fully formed with eyes open, so they would have been hatching today or tomorrow most likely. The hen sat alone hunched over. I am sure she was in some pain from being plucked alive, frightened, though the sadness she felt was overwhelming. I am grateful to the dogs for their diligence in this matter. They did fight whatever it was because there was some white fur on the ground too, most likely from Harley, the biggest livestock guardian dog.

The other broody, the little hen that came last year from a mixed bunch of eggs, also sat in the tall grass just outside the fence. She was totally unprotected there. If the predator found her, the dogs would not be able to get over the fence in time. She hatched 14 babies, cute little fluffy things so tiny. She herself is not more than a few pounds, part Polish and possibly part Ameraucana, though definitely a bantam. The 15th egg was zipped, meaning the baby was alive and trying to get out of the shell. I did not feel I should take the chance and leave the brood there, so I packed them up and moved them into a hoop coop in the yard where they are fully protected. The last egg was placed carefully under the mamma. She was adorable with the little fuzzy butts peeking out from under her feathers. Yet, I was reminded of the sad little mamma who nearly lost her life sitting on her eggs. So, I took a chance.

I brought the injured mamma to the brood and put her inside. She heard the chirping babies and immediately went to them. The real mother did not reject her, but instead allowed her to rest beside her. I feel they will share the chicks. Later in the evening when I checked on the two mothers, they were sleeping peacefully with wings spread to keep the little ones warm . The injured broody was content and the mamma was content and the babies were, well, how could they not be happy with two mothers? They were all resting contentedly. Zzzzz.

Last year was a year to experiment with chicken breeds. Keeping chickens for the farm is not like most farms. I hardly ever eat eggs, so egg production is not the most important aspect, nor do I eat much chicken, so meat birds are out of the question too. Still, a dual purpose bird, that is one that dresses out to a fine carcass for roasting and produces a good number of eggs, is part of the aim. What is even more important is that the birds are excellent foragers. For the summer months, they can free range in the farm yard, sheep and goat pens and some in the pasture if they are in an electric fence enclosure. They live in a portable tarped hoop coop that is moved when the electric fence is moved. Ideally, pasturing with pigs, sheep and goats is the best or the chickens following the sheep and goats to break up the manure and eat the parasites is even better. Without adequate fencing for rotational grazing, the alternative is electric net fencing. This has been used here for two years, but setting it up and taking it down every few days is a lot of work.

Back to the new chickens...
The chickens must also be winter hardy. Ideally they would require only an insulated coop, but not additional heat. Last winter, the coop had two heat lamps. Still the water froze when it was frigid outside and some of the breeds succumbed to that bitter cold. Most of the roosters lost their big combs and wattles, so then I looked for a breed without large fancy combs and big wattles, and that was also good at foraging and egg laying. The only thing not in the favour of the Ameraucanas is that they are not a good meat bird. The carcass is small and thin, rather than plump. The first five Ameraucanas were picked up in Sherwood Park, just east of Edmonton. They are 8 weeks old and still sound like babies with their little peeps. For now they are sharing a huge hoop house with 8 ducks that are separated for true breeding. At first the Ameraucanas were terrified of the new surroundings and the ducks, but after two days, they have become much more at ease. They are fairly flighty and not overly friendly despite that the breeder's children played with them and handled them.  This lot is called blue, black or splash, which is grey with black and white splashes through out the feathers. I am delighted with the pretty birds with their muffs and tiny combs. One is supposed to be a rooster, though it is not 100 % easy to sex the birds at that age. The Fat Ewe Farm will be getting four dozen more baby Ameraucana 4 week old chicks in 2 months from a few different lines. The roosters, all but two, will go the processor's for winter chicken soup. Most of the current flock will also be sent along to the processor's much sooner. The Buckeye hen (a fantastic forager), Blue Orpington (broody hen, absolutely invaluable) and the 4 Polish Ameraucana bantam crosses and their rooster will stay. There are a lot of crosses from a late hatch last year. They were sired by a Jersey Giant cross rooster and either Jersey Giant hens or the Orpington hen, but so far, there are none worth keeping. One of the roosters is very pretty and calm, and huge, but he won't be valuable for the Ameraucana breeding, so he must go. They have been for sale for a while, but no takers have come for them. That is the part I hate about farming. We do not always have control over breedings and offspring, and the unwanted ones are used for food. Sigh.

Welcome to the little peeps, pretty little things, they are.