Recent content by WVBirdsAndBees

Both GCM and that line of OE are very cool birds. Hard to tell for sure. Keep an eye out for a little crest. Cute little thing either way. We've had good luck with Meyer.

Can confirm that looks a lot like our olive egger from Meyer as a chick. Ours is definitely CCL/Marans and came complete with a cute little crest and pretty olive eggs. One of our favorite birds. We've since hatched some of her eggs with a CCL roo and they've been similar. Adventurous like a...

Beautiful roo. Thanks for sharing. For comparison, here is our boy who is a little darker with a bigger crest but is a bit small (among other faults). Shares the white feather but a lot do. Such great birds.

I've definitely heard of some of the chicks becoming harder to sex them. If I remember correctly, the issue is mostly in show lines bred for the lighter cream color. Some of the chicks, like that cutie, are so light and washed out it's tough to tell. I've had 100% on our chicks so far. Fingers...

What they said. Our last meal maker was a buff brahma. I think they send whatever they have extras of. Unless you're positive it's an olive egger, could be another Sussex or one of the other chipmunks. Very cute chicks though! Jealous you got Sussex. Need a few of those.

No problem! I'm in a similar boat. We have 1 who lays lighter green so we moved her to the layers coop, hoping to keep the blues as the breeders. The eggs do get bigger and I'm sure you could select for it. Ours don't ever put out the jumbo size that their leghorn cousins do. To us, they make...

Yes, try to breed the best blue layers to roos that seems to pass on blue laying genes. I'm not a genetics expert but the breed is generally supposed to lay blue, so you're on the right track by reinforcing that in your breeding program. Since it's a newer breed in the US, there's a lot to work...

It's so hard to tell with mixes but I could see it being LF with olive egger or easter egger. Really cute chick!

I have found quality barnevelders tough to locate and would like more. Same with speckled sussex. We had similar questions last year and settled on lavender orpingtons, cream legbars, and olive eggers (legbar x bcm). All are popular but have their unique challenges. Good luck! Tough decisions...

I have a couple hens who sing the egg/alarm song both before and after laying. I don't know if they're just super proud or want everyone else to know they're about to go lay or what. You're probably right about them just being social or getting ready to start laying, though. They act a bit...

The Sussex and Faverolles may give you tinted/cream eggs and are great breeds. Both do well in colder climates. Shade of eggs can obviously vary depending on bird/line but I've seen some folks mention those as laying that color. In my experience, Wyandottes lay a pretty typical brown egg. Very...

Pull the roo. Some roos have manners, some don't, and some are just brutal. No need to risk your hens. If he has to stay, add more hiding places or space so hens have ways to escape. Or possibly add a few more hens so he spreads it out - although I wouldn't really want to put more hens through...

No. Starter/grower or all flock is fine as long as you have the extra oyster shell available. They can stay on it forever if it's not medicated and works well for them. The extra calcium in layer isn't ideal for pullets not laying yet (or roos if you had any). Free choice oyster shell gives...

Smaller full size breeds might be an option if you don't want to risk roos from bantam straight runs. Someone mentioned cream legbars earlier, which we love. They do like to range, though. Silver laced polish or white crested black polish might make a good "oreo". Polish are smaller, quiet, and...

Our coops are close to the house and well lit at night. Between that, solid latches, the scent of our big dogs, and the coops being raised, nothing has messed with our birds. Well, except for a human who has been snatching eggs lately. If a predator did get in (or if anything threatens during...