Recent content by Braxton Brigade

Sounds like you should file some sort of complaint and have the other girl do the same. With things like this it seems the only option is to confront it, though I would fear being sued for slander or something ridiculous like that by the doctor.

All this broody talk seems fitting. I have about 5 girls trying very hard to set. I lost a hen (one of my australorps, not a Marans) for 3 days and couldnt find her, I feared she was taken by something... but yesterday night I heard some crazy noises and found her sitting on 17 eggs. I hoped...

Shank feathering is just like most traits, some birds do not receive or carry the trait as well as we like. Yet, some carry far too much at times. It's all about breeding him to a well feathered (maybe slightly over feathered) hen and then picking their chicks with the optimal phenotype to...

I agree. I have told Merrymouse the very same thing haha. She is a gorgeous pullet.

I know what you mean about AMERS. I hatched a batch of those last year, I feared that they would trampled one another every time I was adding feed/water to their brooder. They seem much more docile now that they are adults but they still keep distance from me.

They are very light, but they do have feathered shanks. They seem to be BCMs, just perhaps they are layer quality BCMs. You'll just have to wait to find out. Chick on the very right is a pullet in my opinion. The two on the left are leaning towards being cockerels, can't be 100% sure though.

Here is a good link to a portion of a thread here on BYC that explains what good hatch down coloring is - https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1122465/international-black-copper-marans-thread-breeding-to-the-sop/1220 The photos show what a penguiny chick vs a darker chick. The more white on their...

She may be getting up because she feels as if the eggs are getting too hot. I've hatched under a broody in 20 F degree weather where the mom almost never got up. And I have also hatched a batch in the middle of summer, at 100 F degree temps where mom had to constantly get up to keep her eggs...

Thank you! I'm not familiar with the breeder you mention, I'll have to look into that.

The one on the right of this photo is one of my favorites. She is a quite nicely colored pullet. Here she is on the left. (side note - the muddy faced pullet is the one my dog got ) You can see my favorite girls in the center here. I'll get more photos tonight, gonna pick everyone up...

It is a bcm, it is just a VERY mossy bcm. This chick must have genes diluting it's melanin. Bcm's are more commonly over melanized than under but it is still possible to get chicks like this. She'll probably grow up to have copper splotches on her wings.

Your chick is gorgeous. The less white the better, darker chicks usually turn out with more correct feathering than chicks with more white on their hatch down.

You're right about them being chunky haha. They look good. Not her fault, she doesn't know better (hunting breed). She is a good dog, minds well when I am there to oversee her. No worries, Chooks man. Hopefully it will cooperate enough to get you around BYC today.

Yesterday I got some sand for the chickens, they spent all day enjoying it. When I was working in the pens I let the marans into their "grazing space", I finished up and went inside for a bit. I made a error and forgot to bring the dogs inside, 1 of my young dogs ended up killing one of my...

Inbreeding is actually a useful thing. The less variables (random genes) and the more sure fire ones (smaller gene pool = stronger genetics) are exactly what you'll want.