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My first and only silkie cock (called Footloose for his sixth toe one one foot) died the other day, and I’m looking for a replacement. All my silkies are splash bearded silkies, which I thought were an accepted variety of the usual British standard. After some Googling, I can’t seem to find any...

I can get pictures tomorrow to show, but I think the question makes sense without them. The SOP calls for minimal-none black in the shafts of Welsummer Cocks’ hackles and saddles, I have two cocks and one is better than the other when it comes to plumage, but still has faint lines in the ends of...

My Brahma rooster died at Easter this year, so I quickly saved up some eggs and hatched them under my silkies. It was their first time being mothers, so only two hatched, one Brahma and another who was a leghorn welsummer cross. As they grew, they both seemed to be the same sex, male. Their...

On Thursday I picked up five CCLB pullets, all definitely pullets and all pure from good stock. They are roughly 10 weeks old from the pool of them, though I didn’t actually ask how old they were. Four have crests but one has no sign of one. When should they have been grown by, and why might...

Hi this Leghorn Welsummer cross is seven weeks old and has a face which screams Rooster. However, it is almost fully feathered when it’s hatch mate male Brahma is not it’s saddles appear round. I can’t help but assume he’s a boy, but the feathers aren’t helping. He’s paint/white so it’s hard to...

Producing a fair few barnyard mixes has resulted in patterns and features I’ve never seen in pure breeds. This has me wondering if I could breed these mixes to produce a new gene pool from which I can selectively breed down to a ‘breed’ which breeds true. Is this viable, and when do I cross the...

My silver duckwing welsummer pullets are reaching point of lay, so I need to decide which cockerel I will keep for this year’s breeding. Two are poor quality, their facial features not developing very fast, so it’s a choice between my other two. These two are coming along well, treading the...

Blue, my Brahma roo has proven five times now that he is infertile. I’ve tried trimming their butt fluff, ensuring the best diet, and I’ve tried to hatch eggs with hens, two incubators and at all points of the year. Firing blanks every time. The eggs are fertilised, but never has a single one...

I have a quartet of silkies I bought a while ago, sold with two blue cockerels as well. I’ve become aware of the paint variety, and wondered if you could tell the difference, I’ve done a bit of research but can’t find a definite answer. Since they were sold with blues, I’m assuming they are...

This motioning, I found my welsummer hen sat in the corner of the pen and thought nothing of it. After I fed them, I noticed she hadn’t moved to eat. I then realised that her head had been stripped of feathers and she was surrounded by feathers. I picked her up, and moved her, and when I put...

My Welsummer rooster has developed some dark marks on one side of his comb. It doesn’t seem to be getting worse but isn’t going away either. No other of my chickens have it. Just want to make sure it isn’t fowl pox. Sorry for the bad photo he’s the most terrified rooster even, we won’t let me...

I have recently hatched some French black copper marans. I originally thought that clean legged marans were defects, so chose to get the best French, feathered shanked marans I could find at the time. But I live in the UK, and it turns out the UK standard does not like feathered legs. Does...

I had never hatched out Black copper marans chicks before, but have been interested in the breed for over a year now, so decided to buy some hatching eggs. They are now currently almost three weeks old, and I have noticed that one of them (probably cockerel due to a lack of tail and pin...

I currently have 12 black copper marans eggs in the incubator, my first time hatching the breed I’ve had my eyes on since I started chicken keeping. I plan to breed my marans to improve them over generations since they are are bought from eBay rather than specialised breeders. The photos of them...

My Brahma Rooster is about 14 months old now, mating several times a day with my small flock of Brahma hens. I kept him first in a mixed flock, and attempted my first hatch earlier this year. Nothing. It was a new incubator, and eggs I had bought had also not hatched, so I put it down to being...

One of the breeds I breed are brahmas. I don’t breed them so much for show as my others, more as they’re the first breed I got and I have loads of different (I know they’re not recognised) colours. The flock I have currently is the first generation I have had from a hatch of bought eggs, so...

This is Delta, I originally thought she was silver duckwing when she was a few months old, but now compared to my silver welsummers, she is clearly not just silver. Her breast is not ver salmon, but a tad pinker than the rest of the body, which is more of a fawn/chocolate colour. I either think...

I’ve always drawn since the age I could pick up a crayon, but at the moment I’m really enjoying making these collages of my chickens. I don’t see much in the way of chicken art, especially outside of painting, so thought I’d share. The style is partially inspired by the artist Pete Cromer but...

This is my Brahma Rooster, Blue. He is the first chicken I ever chose when I started chicken keeping. I’ve raised him from a 2 month old little cockerel to 2 foot 6 dinosaur. When I first chose him, I though the was blue, hence the name, but as he aged, he became lighter as he developed dark...

I’m currently hatching eggs in the incubator, and would like to try a more natural approach to raising the chicks. I’ve got a couple of old hens who no longer lay very often, and wonder if they could go broody and adopt chicks. This way I can trust old experienced hens to look after chicks and...