My Flock (& breed guessing game)

[GingersHuman]

I got pictures of most of my flock earlier this evening. I thought we could make a game out of it too, where I introduce a bird and you guys get to guess the breed(s). Anybody game? And no cheating by going back to my intro post!

Okay, bird #1. I'm going from oldest to youngest. This is Ms. Speckles. She is at least 6 1/2 years old, maybe more. My cousin gave her to me a few years ago, early spring 2012. She never has been much of a layer, I've only gotten a few eggs from her, and that's been quite a while ago. She lays a chalky white looking egg. Interestingly, she has a large sharp spur on one leg.

 

[GingersHuman]

Here's Ethel, the bird of the day...

 

[GingersHuman]

Have I mentioned how much I love my OEGB's?

 

[GingersHuman]

I'm much overdue for an update!!!

So, a friend asked if I would split a small chick order with her, so I picked out 5 chicks for my part of the order. I chose 2 Exchequer Leghorns, 1 Black Australorp, and 2 Plymouth Barred Rock Bantams, all pullets. The strange part of this all being that I had an "intuition" that my oldest hen, Speckles, wouldn't live to see the new chicks, more on that later.

So, my little black OEGB, aptly named Little, is my go to broody mama. She started brooding just when I thought she would, and I put her in the maternity pen, setting on wooden eggs. The chicks were due in the 3rd week of May.

So, the chick order finally came and my friend picked them up at the post office. Unfortunately, during the course of that first day, all of the barred rock bantams died. I brought home the Leghorns and Australorp. When I got home (I picked them up in the evening) I found Speckles had died! No struggle, just laying there in the chicken coop, still slightly warm. I put the box with the babies by the maternity brooding box, so Little could hear them cheeping. It was raining of course!! Then I buried Speckles. I waited a little longer til it was almost dark then snuck the chicks under Little, replacing the wooden eggs with chicks.

All went well, no problems accepting the babies, though they were a little more independent than those newly hatched! Unfortunately, the Australorp died the next night I believe. I found her body the next morning, her crop was still full. Maybe internal damage from the shipping? Little certainly isn't big enough to squish a LF chick.

So, the babies are about 9 weeks old now, and I've named them Chess and Checkers. Chess had a wry beak at hatching, and after a couple weeks I noticed uneven wear beginning on her beak. So, I tried trimming her beak. I noticed that when she would get upset, her beak would cross again, but her muscles started relaxing over the next couple weeks til it was hard to tell which chick was which! Last week I filed a tiny bit more, and I'll keep a check on her, but I think its pretty much fixed.

So, Tiny, my crele OEGB pullet started going broody again, and I'd tried setting her on eggs before but she only lasted 2 days before breaking. The next time I just watched her and she was only broody a few days before quitting. So, this time I wasn't going to set her, but after she sat for a week, I gave her 4 of her own eggs. I hope they'll hatch, I had them in the fridge, then set them out for a day before putting them under her. I have the hatch day written down, but she's been sitting 6 days or so now.

I think that's it! Just need to post pics from my phone!

 

[AustralorpsAU]

I got pictures of most of my flock earlier this evening. I thought we could make a game out of it too, where I introduce a bird and you guys get to guess the breed(s). Anybody game? And no cheating by going back to my intro post!

Okay, bird #1. I'm going from oldest to youngest. This is Ms. Speckles. She is at least 6 1/2 years old, maybe more. My cousin gave her to me a few years ago, early spring 2012. She never has been much of a layer, I've only gotten a few eggs from her, and that's been quite a while ago. She lays a chalky white looking egg. Interestingly, she has a large sharp spur on one leg.

Okay ill go first... Im thinking speckled sussex????


Just a few questions
-Are all your birds you are going to post purebred?
-How many guesses are we allowed in one post?

 

[GingersHuman]

Okay ill go first... Im thinking speckled sussex????


Just a few questions
-Are all your birds you are going to post purebred?
-How many guesses are we allowed in one post?

Yep! Easy one, Speckled Sussex!

I'll mention when one is a mixed breed. Also, there are a couple that I'm not for sure, and everyone can only guess!

Let's do 1 guess per person, per bird.

Great questions! Thanks!

 

[GingersHuman]

Okay, bird #2!

This is Ethel. She's the last of the original 6 pullets I got at 6wks old on 7/4/11. So she is 5 years old. I sadly had many losses due to hawks, the first being the week they started laying. We lost Ethel's best buddy Lucy earlier this summer, she was the most friendly of the two, but Ethel has become more friendly now. Also, she is great with the youngsters. She lays a big brown egg and though I think she is taking a break now for molting, was laying a few weeks ago still.

Ethel is the black hen in the picture.

 

[AustralorpsAU]

Not meaning to take over but this is my speciality


Is it......................................................................... An Australorp???

 

[chickencraz]

What is the color of Ethel's feet?
If it's white, Australorp
Yellow + really large, Jersey Giant
Yellow & Normal sized, Java

 

[GingersHuman]

Not meaning to take over but this is my speciality


Is it......................................................................... An Australorp???

You got it! Ethel is a Black Australorp. What a great breed