Euskal Oiloa ( Basque Thread)

[pastrymama]

it used to be that i could never keep up with this thread, but it is very slooooooow now. i have some REALLY NICE pullets that should be laying in another 2-3 months, all yellow legged, all the correct feather coloring. the few that hatched out with pale legs or the mille pattern will go to the laying flock. but i have to wonder, if we are selecting certain traits and trying to standardize them, is that reducing their hardiness? the Basque are a landrace and i just wonder if doing things like this will end up hurting them and make them weaker when they are already not very genetically diverse as someone pointed out already. i personally LOVE the mille birds. i don't know, i may rethink my own breeding program. my birds layed in 118 temps, only needed shade and water and were quite comfortable. however, this arctic front we just had with 20 degree mornings, they did not appreciate.

 

[ronott1]

it used to be that i could never keep up with this thread, but it is very slooooooow now. i have some REALLY NICE pullets that should be laying in another 2-3 months, all yellow legged, all the correct feather coloring. the few that hatched out with pale legs or the mille pattern will go to the laying flock. but i have to wonder, if we are selecting certain traits and trying to standardize them, is that reducing their hardiness? the Basque are a landrace and i just wonder if doing things like this will end up hurting them and make them weaker when they are already not very genetically diverse as someone pointed out already. i personally LOVE the mille birds. i don't know, i may rethink my own breeding program. my birds layed in 118 temps, only needed shade and water and were quite comfortable. however, this arctic front we just had with 20 degree mornings, they did not appreciate.

I have a Mille Fleur pullet that I hatched from Mrs. Fluffy Puffy. She has very yellow legs and is very sweet.

My oldest ones were not old enough to lay last summer, but the heat did not bother them. Our lows only get down to 25 and they does not bother them either. They did stop laying eggs in December but have started back up now.

 

[ApronStrings]

My flock are doing really well. Still laying strong. I'm growing out a gaggle of second generation Skyline and a smaller group of Greenfire. I have been setting eggs in the incubator on another staggered hatch schedule. Taking lots of new pictures. The time is coming for me to build more accomodations down in coop town! My husband spent winter vacation running electric to all our paddocks and pens with 3 more subpanels. Water lines went in last Christmas (2011). All the pigs have auto watering. Now if I can just get him to install the auto watering for the poultry.

 

[naturespace]

it used to be that i could never keep up with this thread, but it is very slooooooow now.  i have some REALLY NICE pullets that should be laying in another 2-3 months, all yellow legged, all the correct feather coloring. the few that hatched out with pale legs or the mille pattern will go to the laying flock. but i have to wonder, if we are selecting certain traits and trying to standardize them, is that reducing their hardiness? the Basque are a landrace and i just wonder if doing things like this will end up hurting them and make them weaker when they are already not very genetically diverse as someone pointed out already. i personally LOVE the mille birds. i don't know, i may rethink my own breeding program. my birds layed in 118 temps, only needed shade and water and were quite comfortable. however, this arctic front we just had with 20 degree mornings, they did not appreciate.

I think we have a lot of work to do with this breed. Type is probably the best thing to work on at first. Build the barn then paint it. We want a good homesteading bird that lays lots of eggs, gets big for eating, and has the great personality that we all love.

I'm hoping there are some individuals out there working on this and in a few years we will have some hatching eggs coming from them that are close to the SOP.
My understanding is that they are no longer considered a landrace. They were in Spain until they narrowed them down to the 5 different varieties and created their SOP.

 

[buckabucka]

My flock are doing really well. Still laying strong. I'm growing out a gaggle of second generation Skyline and a smaller group of Greenfire. I have been setting eggs in the incubator on another staggered hatch schedule. Taking lots of new pictures. The time is coming for me to build more accomodations down in coop town! My husband spent winter vacation running electric to all our paddocks and pens with 3 more subpanels. Water lines went in last Christmas (2011). All the pigs have auto watering. Now if I can just get him to install the auto watering for the poultry.

What a great looking rooster!

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

A little update on my EO's - I gave three of them away. Both my girls, and my white/grey EO boy. I still have Tabasco, he is getting over an illness right now, so he and another roo are in the front yard. I'm not sure if I'll sell Tabasco once he is well, or if I'll keep him and down the road get somemore EO's? Anyway, to the several people that contacted me wanting eggs, I will no longer be able to provide them. Sorry

God Bless

~ Aspen

 

[LavendarFeather]

Could anyone give me an estimate on what age I should start to see a telling difference in the combs on male EO chicks? I have six 6-week olds, and their combs don't seem to have developed at all. Could I really possibly have all girls? Or do their combs get busy a little later on? Thanks for any information or experience you can share on this topic! And I have to say, these birds are amazing. They are the calmest, most self-contained chicks. Gentle and friendly. Very calming to spend time with.

 

[ronott1]

Could anyone give me an estimate on what age I should start to see a telling difference in the combs on male EO chicks? I have six 6-week olds, and their combs don't seem to have developed at all. Could I really possibly have all girls? Or do their combs get busy a little later on? Thanks for any information or experience you can share on this topic! And I have to say, these birds are amazing. They are the calmest, most self-contained chicks. Gentle and friendly. Very calming to spend time with.

The males usually get bigger with bigger combs at around 6 weeks.

The male feather colors and patterns start then too.

Do you have new pictures?

 

[LavendarFeather]

The males usually get bigger with bigger combs at around 6 weeks.

The male feather colors and patterns start then too.

Do you have new pictures?

I went and took some. These are the body shots. I'll post the face shots next. Here goes:

 

[LavendarFeather]

And here are the face shots. I labeled them all in their descriptions, but can't seem to access the descriptions while I'm posting the pictures. If you need to know what face goes with what body, I'll try to figure how to add that information. There are 6 chicks altogether, but I didn't include a body shot of that one. I put two face shots. They are six weeks old.