Breeding silkied Cochin bantams to the Standard

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Just some random pictures today. A lot of them are panting in their pictures because it is HOT here--or, at least about as hot as we ever get, around 90°F / 32°C.

April pullets, or possibly the same pullet, I'm not totally sure Her wings don't look great here, but that could be her holding them weird due to the heat.

One of the birchen-based Blue pullets:

A couple June Blue coop pullets:

Duckling--poor girl is too hot! She has laid 4 eggs in the last 5 days, this one! That's not counting today because I haven't checked to see if she's laid yet.

A corner coop pullet:

Perdi's babies, who are also corner coop babes--look at the attitude from the pullet at the bottom

This is the same baby as the attitude-giver above, out in better lighting. I'm happy with her shade of Blue, that it's definitely Blue at first glance without any second guessing! I also see a lot of potential for good type in her already

Two of the Splash cockerels. The Blue coop really put out some lovely, fluffy, round babies!

Every time I sit out there with them, I just can't help but smile. I vastly underestimated how rewarding this would be, y'all. I'm so, so pleased with how some of these birds are filling out already.

There are definitely some that are likely not going to make the cut based on their looks so far, but so many of them are just beautiful already. Definitely happy with the results of the pairings I spent so long deciding on... even if that means I've got some tough choices ahead of me this fall!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Officially down a bunch of cockerels now. Of the 9 oldest cockerels, I kept 2 back as potential breeders pending how the younger boys shape up, and the remaining 7 are resting in the fridge now. They hit that age where they're just so rowdy and rambunctious, and everyone was miserable with them, so they had to go. As always, it's a tough process for me, but the peace already settling in the chicken yard in their absence assures me that it was the right choice in the end.


Also wanted to post for my own records. At the end of the hatching season and now that chicks have grown enough to be mostly sure of their sexes, it looks like I've ended up with 36 cockerels and 34 pullets, including the cockerels that have been processed. Not too shabby of a ratio! There is one pullet that has me second guessing a bit, so it might be 37 cockerels and 33 pullets... but I think she's a pullet.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Officially down a bunch of cockerels now. Of the 9 oldest cockerels, I kept 2 back as potential breeders pending how the younger boys shape up, and the remaining 7 are resting in the fridge now. They hit that age where they're just so rowdy and rambunctious, and everyone was miserable with them, so they had to go. As always, it's a tough process for me, but the peace already settling in the chicken yard in their absence assures me that it was the right choice in the end.


Also wanted to post for my own records. At the end of the hatching season and now that chicks have grown enough to be mostly sure of their sexes, it looks like I've ended up with 36 cockerels and 34 pullets, including the cockerels that have been processed. Not too shabby of a ratio! There is one pullet that has me second guessing a bit, so it might be 37 cockerels and 33 pullets... but I think she's a pullet.

Pipd, how did you find your person to deal with the extra males, if you don't mind my asking?

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

They were actually recommended to me by another BYC member in the area. You might be able to find someone to do it by searching for chicken butchering or chicken processing in your area and calling around, though.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I have another April pullet talking like she might lay her first egg soon! Phew, these girls are precocious! This one is most likely around 22 weeks of age but could be up to 24 weeks old right now.


In other news, if anyone was wondering about this, I did make a small batch of one of my favorite pressure cooker soups the other day with one of the cockerels I had processed, just as a test batch. It turned out delicious! There wasn't much breast meat on him, but the legs and thighs had a decent amount, enough that I didn't feel shorted. I still don't imagine there was enough there to do much other than soup, however.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Okay, well, I thought said pullet from last post didn't lay after all yesterday. However, this morning I found yet a third pullet talking like she was going to lay an egg, and she was back in the corner of the coop where Perdita and her brood sleeps. Sure enough, there was a characteristic Duckling egg back there, plus a skinny-small newbie pullet egg, and a third egg that likely belongs to a third pullet. So it's possible that THREE of my April pullets are laying now! And, now I'm going to have to start bothering Perdi and her babies every night to check for eggs.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Interestingly enough, Duckling is now having a full adult molt. At 6 months of age. Girl's trying to get through all of her milestones as quick as possible I guess! No new pullets have gone into lay since my last post, but some of the late April girls are starting to look like they'll be laying before too much longer here.

I need to get update pictures of the grow outs. The weather's not the most ideal for that today as it's been raining off and on, and those silkied feathers just soak up the rain and look terrible. It's supposed to clear off tomorrow, so I'll see if I can get some pictures then.

I have someone picking up a cull pair this weekend, so I'm finally making progress on thinning my numbers down at least. Narrowing down who stays and who goes has been tough for sure, though I do have my eye on a few as really strong candidates to keep. I'll see if I can prioritize getting pictures of them tomorrow.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Well, the weather decided not to cooperate with the idea, we're having gusts and bouts of rain despite that it wasn't supposed to rain until tonight. I'll have to try again in a few days when it's supposed to clear off again. In the mean time, I did grab a few shots with my cell phone this morning before the weather moved in, so here's a few update shots anyway. (The bluish lighting is because of the blue tarp over part of their pen )

Some fluffs from above

Love these Splash pullets

Noticing a few white earlobes in some of my birds, will have to keep an eye in that. Otherwise a pretty solid pullet, though, for her age!

An example of what's probably going to be a cull pullet who is not from one of the mixed pen hatches--look how scrawny that middle girl is compared to the others here! The two pullets to the right are already so much fluffier than her and they're about a month younger than she is!

Poor Duckling's looking a bit ragged right now!

Drawn in by the shiny camera lens The OEGB rooster in the background was also drawn in by the lens--except for him it's because he has an unyielding urge to fight off all cameras he sees

They found a chunk of pumpkin.

The boys are... not the most cooperative for pictures, so here's just a few grainy zoomed in shots of them that turned out mostly okay.

 

[ButtonHoarder]

Well, the weather decided not to cooperate with the idea, we're having gusts and bouts of rain despite that it wasn't supposed to rain until tonight. I'll have to try again in a few days when it's supposed to clear off again. In the mean time, I did grab a few shots with my cell phone this morning before the weather moved in, so here's a few update shots anyway. (The bluish lighting is because of the blue tarp over part of their pen )

Some fluffs from above

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Love these Splash pullets

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Noticing a few white earlobes in some of my birds, will have to keep an eye in that. Otherwise a pretty solid pullet, though, for her age!

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An example of what's probably going to be a cull pullet who is not from one of the mixed pen hatches--look how scrawny that middle girl is compared to the others here! The two pullets to the right are already so much fluffier than her and they're about a month younger than she is!

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Poor Duckling's looking a bit ragged right now!

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Drawn in by the shiny camera lens The OEGB rooster in the background was also drawn in by the lens--except for him it's because he has an unyielding urge to fight off all cameras he sees

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They found a chunk of pumpkin.

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The boys are... not the most cooperative for pictures, so here's just a few grainy zoomed in shots of them that turned out mostly okay.

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I can’t get over how fluffy and cute they are!

 

[NanaK]

Look at all those fluffy booties!