I've been mightily impressed with the tenor of this Forum. Congrats for keeping civil and, usually, on focus when someone asks a question. This is, indeed, a friendly place or else I would NOT have taken the time to register or even pen this "hello." You see, I find bullies, bullying, trolling, etc. distasteful. I enjoy respectful, gracious people like you. Why? Because I am a grandpa. Lots of grandpas are like me; even though some of us were, well, a bit outlawish when we were younger. And, oh yes, I taught college English for 20 plus years. My students and I enjoyed class because we cultivated these courtesies. Although I do NOT agree that there is no such thing as a dumb question, a bit different from most educators, I do agree that we should answer an inquiry. I will do my best to help out.
My first poultry passion was "watching" chickens as a 2 YO growing up in SE Washington (near Walla Walla). Black Australorps were abundant on my Grandpa Otto's place. So were geese and Wyandottes and Dominiques. Although I do not have Australorps now, I do have Buff, Blue, and Lavender Ice (silver) geese and Dominiques, along with several Wyandotte varieties, Silver Spangled Hamburgs, RIRs, Blue Hamburgs, and I'm adding a few Welsummers this month to round out my 2010 chick acquisitions. I intend to sell a few eggs at the Farmer's Markets around this region when the new flock additions start laying eggs this fall.
Pigeons were my second, and most studied, passion for nearly 40 years. I had to disperse my roller collection when I developed an allergy. Over the years I've bred many show and performing breeds, as well as racing pigeons. There was never a solid favorite, but the racing pigeons were the pigeons most often found in my back yard. I might be able to answer a few questions, but you'll find I am more of a lurker and private message person. I do have several pigeon publications to my credit, to include a pigeon book that is now ten years old. Whew! It's been ten years already! You can get a copy at some pigeon supply online merchants, but the best price is to buy is directly from the publisher, Silvio Mattacchione. Here's the URL should you decide you want to actually read a book.
http://www.silvio-co.com/store/items/pigeons/itemB677.htm
And, no, I do not receive any royalties for the book; no conflict of interest here. LOL.
There are also some new geese on the back acre: several American Buffs, two American Blues, and one Silver. You might have heard of the silver as Lavender Ice. That's what they are called at Holderread's WF. In Europe they are named silver. The silver is a goose with two doses of the blue gene--and is similar to the splash in Andalusian chicken genetics. The blue coloration is dominant and the equivalent of the blue chickens from Andalusian breeding. In other words, mate two blues together and the progeny will be, statistically speaking, 50% blues, 25% silvers, 25% grey.
Well that's enough for now.
Shannon
My first poultry passion was "watching" chickens as a 2 YO growing up in SE Washington (near Walla Walla). Black Australorps were abundant on my Grandpa Otto's place. So were geese and Wyandottes and Dominiques. Although I do not have Australorps now, I do have Buff, Blue, and Lavender Ice (silver) geese and Dominiques, along with several Wyandotte varieties, Silver Spangled Hamburgs, RIRs, Blue Hamburgs, and I'm adding a few Welsummers this month to round out my 2010 chick acquisitions. I intend to sell a few eggs at the Farmer's Markets around this region when the new flock additions start laying eggs this fall.
Pigeons were my second, and most studied, passion for nearly 40 years. I had to disperse my roller collection when I developed an allergy. Over the years I've bred many show and performing breeds, as well as racing pigeons. There was never a solid favorite, but the racing pigeons were the pigeons most often found in my back yard. I might be able to answer a few questions, but you'll find I am more of a lurker and private message person. I do have several pigeon publications to my credit, to include a pigeon book that is now ten years old. Whew! It's been ten years already! You can get a copy at some pigeon supply online merchants, but the best price is to buy is directly from the publisher, Silvio Mattacchione. Here's the URL should you decide you want to actually read a book.
http://www.silvio-co.com/store/items/pigeons/itemB677.htm
And, no, I do not receive any royalties for the book; no conflict of interest here. LOL.
There are also some new geese on the back acre: several American Buffs, two American Blues, and one Silver. You might have heard of the silver as Lavender Ice. That's what they are called at Holderread's WF. In Europe they are named silver. The silver is a goose with two doses of the blue gene--and is similar to the splash in Andalusian chicken genetics. The blue coloration is dominant and the equivalent of the blue chickens from Andalusian breeding. In other words, mate two blues together and the progeny will be, statistically speaking, 50% blues, 25% silvers, 25% grey.
Well that's enough for now.
Shannon
