My Growing Phoenix Chickens
Here at my Bedford, New York farm, whatever food scraps I have always go down to the chickens. I enjoy bringing them down myself every day, so I can check on my flock and make sure everything is in good order.
Right now, I have six young Phoenix chickens in residence. The Phoenix is a German breed of long-tailed chicken. I shared photos of them when they were just weeks old. Now, they're much bigger and much more curious. They are housed in the first coop, where all our chicks are kept until they are big enough to join the others.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- If you follow this blog regularly, you may recall these chicks. I acquired these gorgeous Phoenix chicks last autumn.
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- Whenever there are chicks at the farm, they spend their first weeks in my Winter House, where they can be closely monitored. I place a big crate down in my heated basement – everyone is always eager to visit the babies. These chicks were very good eaters right from the start.
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- Phoenix chickens are gentle, shy birds, but because these were raised around a lot of activity, they were quickly well-socialized and friendly.
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- Once chicks are a couple months old, they move down to the chicken yard located next door to my large vegetable garden and just behind this grove of majestic dawn redwoods, Metasequoia.
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- The youngest chickens always live in our “nursery” – the first of four chicken coops in the yard. They are kept safe and separate until they are old enough and big enough to go outdoors and mingle with the others.
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- In winter, every coop is equipped with heaters. These are Sweeter Heaters – safe, energy-efficient, and reliable heaters for chicken coops and other animal enclosures. I ordered enough heaters to install two in every coop.
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- Here is a photo of all six of them huddled together inside the coop last November – about three weeks after they moved out of the basement.
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- Here, the chicks are happily exploring their surroundings. At this stage, they are still too young to venture outside, but they have a lot of room to roam in the coop.
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- The chicks are hardy, but require extra protein while they’re growing to help them develop their long, beautiful tails.
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- Their beaks have shades of horn. Their feet and shanks are clean and smooth and are anywhere from a light to a dark blue or slate color.
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- Phoenix chickens are recognized by the American Poultry Association as a standard breed in three varieties: silver, gold, and black breasted red. This hen, along with the others, are silver.
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- And here they are now – exploring their private yard. I am so pleased with how well they are doing – they’re happy, healthy and thriving here at the farm.
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- Here is the rooster. The Phoenix rooster has a fantastic set of tail feathers that can grow up to five feet in length. The breed originated in Europe. Hugo du Roi who was the first president of the National German Poultry Association created the Phoenix chicken in the late 19th century.
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- The Phoenix chicken is an alert breed with a pheasant-like appearance.
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- Numerous chicken breeds were used to create the Phoenix. A few delicate imported long tailed Japanese birds were cross-bred with some other breeds including the Leghorn, Yokohama, Combattant de Bruges Kruper, Old English Game, Modern Game, Bruegge Game, Ramelsloher, and Malay chicken.
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- Chickens have their own personalities – some are more active or more curious than others. This young Phoenix is taking a drink.
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- When full grown, the standard Phoenix rooster weighs about five pounds and hens about four pounds.
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- Phoenix hens are good layers of small to medium sized cream or tinted colored eggs. Hens usually start laying their first eggs around 20-weeks of age.
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- Right now, these Phoenix youngsters are housed with one other young hen. They are all very active with excellent flight skills. They are also very good foragers. These chicks are already foraging around their enclosure.
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- My other chickens, geese, and Guinea hens will soon get to mingle with their newest coop-mates. I’ve raised many different chicken breeds and varieties over the years – they are all so beautiful.
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