Knuckledragging My Life Away has a video of Buff Orpingtons.
Spot on! Of all the chickens I’ve tried, Buff Orpingtons are my favorite. They have a little less egg production than a Rhode Island Red but only a little. They result in less meat production than the mutants that are called “meatbirds” but meatbirds are gross.
Overall, Buffs are a nice “all uses” bird. In my opinion, they’re exceptionally good about living free range without finding ways to die. Plus they’re good at feeding themselves (in the right season) which does reduce the feed bill. They’ll eat every bug they can find, a lot of vegetation, frogs, worms, I’ve seen them eat small garter snakes… in fact they’ll remind you that chickens are just fluffy miniaturized dinosaurs. I can’t prove it but I think they did a good job reducing the tick population too. (Alas, they don’t seem to catch bees or mosquitoes… nothing is perfect.) All chickens are vulnerable and nature will kill a few no matter what breed, but Buffs have far more common sense than most breeds I’ve tried. A bunch of Buff hens and a good rooster is probably the best possible homestead flock.
Sigh, for a variety of reasons we’re chicken free this year. I don’t miss ’em in January but I do miss them in summer.
We had mostly Rhode Island Reds when I was growing up at home. We ate them and got Araucanas for a few years, just because they were unique and laid blue-green eggs. The eggs tasted just like any other chicken egg.
The chicken coop became a racing homing pigeon loft until I got interested in girls and didn’t have time to train birds.
The front of the loft was knocked out to be a goat shelter. My dad kept a continual pair of goats over the course of 15 years to keep the pastures clean. He finally gave them up a few months before he died. Now we bush hog…
I did a flock of Araucanas thinking the blue eggs would be “value added” and everyone would pay extra. (Especially around Easter!) Blue would be unique and rare.
Total failure! The eggs tasted great but nobody would touch them. Very hard to sell. You’d think a blue egg is from a lizard or something! (On the other hand, most folks, me included, prefer a brown egg and this too is pointless and illogical. If I serve you an omelette you can’t tell the color of the eggshell that was around the egg you’re eating.)
Araucanas were a reasonable breed and pretty too, but Buffs seemed a wee bit better at not being a PITA in the summer or getting lost and dying when it was cold out.
I’ve often pondered goats. Mrs. Curmudgeon doesn’t like the idea of feeding them when I’m on road trips. I can see that. I’m trying Glyphosate instead of goats… it’s not working all that well.
I have a couple of Buff Orpingtons as well. They are solid performers, though I have a slight preference for the Barred Rocks.
If you’re looking for feedback*, I for one would greatly enjoy more homestead hijinks and assorted backwoods bumblefuckery. The squirrels and such are entertaining, but I’m here for the lessons on farming terminology, mysteriously ill tractors and guerilla chickens.
*If you’re not, feel free to file this whole thing under “C” for chickenshit, not that you needed my permission to do so.
Thanks. I don’t get a lot of feedback so I appreciate it. I’ve gotten busy (as happens to everyone) and haven’t been doing as much “homesteading” as usual. (Plus there’s the PAWIRNEATT which has taken over my workshop.)
Summer’s always busy. Soon enough winter will start kicking my ass and I’ll retreat to the woodstove to talk about “homesteading”. Thanks for the input.
Aww shucks, I keep coming here hoping for more squirrel/bear stories!
You’re in luck! There’s about seven posts ready to go
last weekthis weekreal soon.I started out with Rhode Island Reds then I went to Buff Orphingtons. Not quite as good a forager but a far better temperament plus they were nice to look at!
I miss my chickens..
Me too. You get used to those little critters running around the lawn and when they’re gone… it’s too quiet.