Starbirds Chickens

[ozu]

2 WEEK UPDATE

I'm back again with the 2 week update! Trying to keep them all in the same order to keep track of each baby. So far I have been able to match them up accurately based on small differences in markings mostly.

I also am fairly sure of some cockerels already and will be writing which ones I believe will be (text will be beneath the pic of the ones I am referencing).. so I can see how correct I am later. I am sure I will see even more signs next week and there are surely more cockerels than I am seeing here.. here's to hoping we got a good amount of pullets though..!
☆

Klim (Silkie) x Wheaten or Cheetah (Easter Egger)

Cockerel

Cockerel

☆

Blue (Easter Egger) x Wheaten or Cheetah (Easter Egger)

Cockerel, looks JUST like Wheaten as a baby.

Cockerel
☆
Zeeb (Old English Game Bantam) x Wheaten or Cheetah (Easter Egger)

Named Beez.
☆

Mostaccioli (Mystic Maran) x Wheaten or Cheetah (Easter Egger)

Cockerel

☆
And for the not-bred-by-me additions:
Purebred Silkie

☆

Silkie/Barred Rock Thing

Cockerel

☆

TSC Silkie

Named Sour Cream.

☆

OEG Bantam

Named Stella.

☆

Sebrights

Named Concrete.

Named Butter.

Names are slowly happening as you can see! More names will likely come to us within this next week as we get the new brooder set up. (Got an awesome 62" foldable pen for them, just need to line it with something.) We even name who we cull/eat/etc. Each one of them are special, even if they don't get to stay.​

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I am finally following a dream of mine of 10 years, and that is a chicken breeding project! I am hoping to produce something beautiful, hardy, small/medium, sweet, and with colorful eggs, and we finally have the space for it. This is a mostly for-fun personal project, as I don't necessarily plan to breed to sell, just look forward to seeing what I make and produce!

I am still learning genetics, and I'm sure I will change my mind on some things as I go. I want to clarify I am not doing this with so much purpose that I'm going crazy trying to make it perfect. I am simply having fun and journaling while trying to produce something that makes my family and I happy. I hope some of you would like to follow along with the project and development.



STARBIRDS HATCH # ONE
Eggs in the incubator: March 1
Eggs hatched: March 20-22
# of Eggs incubated: 22
# of Eggs hatched: 13
Hatch Rate: 59%
Eggs that didn't develop: 6
Chicks that didn't hatch: 3
Abnormalities: 1
Incubator: Nurture Right 360

☆

THE ROOSTERS

Wheaten (Splash(?) Easter Egger)
View attachment 3445926
Wheaten is so calm, kind of reserved. He has a gentle demeanor that tends to demand respect, but he also gives it. He watches, calculating, but never attacks or even tries to stand up to us humans. He watches over the girls and is not overbearing. He was always a very calm and sweet chick too. His biggest downfall is his lighter skin (I don't mind the green legs though) and the fact he may have a crooked leg (I've only noticed in photographs, not in person, so my guess is that it's fairly minimal.) His temperament triumphs over all. I am not sure what color he would be considered- I am sure the red is leakage?
☆

Cheetah (Brown Red Easter Egger)
View attachment 3445927

Cheetah will be dinner soon, so hopefully some of his genes are in there and can be passed on. He is a pretty decent boy, just not exactly what we are looking for temperament and appearance-wise. I like his dark beak, dark legs, and fullness of his feathers. But he leaves something to be desired in lack of personality- he's a little flighty, doesn't take as good care of the hens.. and very one-track minded if you know what I mean. He also is challenging Deeby more than we deem acceptable (and would like to add a rooster from our current batch of chicks.)

☆

Deeby (Mille Fleur D'uccle)
View attachment 3445961
This is Deeby, the Mill Fleur D'uccle. This was always a dream breed of mine, and I hope to add them to the bloodline pretty early on. Deeby had too much competition and was not able to fertilize the hens he sure wished he could. He is a pretty chill boy, a little silly, and not aggressive at all.
(To be honest, he reminds me of Hei Hei from Moana.)

☆

THE HENS


Klim (White Silkie)
View attachment 3445932
Klim is our white Silkie hen. She is not the prettiest Silkie but she has already gone broody once and is very hardy and brave. She lays a medium/small tan egg and loves digging in mud and water.. if you couldn't tell by the picture.

☆

Blue (Splash(?) Easter Egger)
View attachment 3445934
Blue is the blue (splash? she has darker spots.. not sure what to call her) Easter Egger hen. She is so sweet, sturdy, and silly (and will let us pet her, even.) She lays blue eggs and loves to run wings out when she is happy.

☆

Mostaccioli (Mystic Maran)
View attachment 3445935
Mostaccioli is the Mystic Maran hen. She has beautiful eyes, sturdy, and also very friendly! Her eggs are medium, brown and speckled and she is probably the friendliest and calmest of our 3 MMs. I will not be hatching any more eggs from them.

☆

Zeeb (Old English Game Bantam)
View attachment 3445936
Zeeb is the Old English Game Bantam/OEGB. She is so talkative, friendly, curious. She could be trusted to hang out with me with no fence she is so friendly! Tiny white/pink eggs of course, and a talkative and sassy personality to boot! The entire family loves her and her personality.

☆

Eeby (Mille Fleur D'uccle)
View attachment 3445962
Someone we DIDN'T get any fertilized eggs from in this batch- is Eeby, the Mille Fleur D'uccle hen. It was a bit disappointing that her eggs did not hatch, but we have taken note that they are now fertilized. She was the sweetest chick, but has gone a little wild as she aged. She is our most "primitive" hen (goes into the pen: FLIES immediately) and lays small tan-ish eggs. She is so full of personality and we would really like to hatch some of her eggs in the next go. (She's the favorite.)

☆


What I'd like to keep:

• dark skin/beak/legs/eyes
(black/slate/green)
• colorful eggs
• colorful plumage
• small/medium eggs
• small/medium chickens
• feathered feet/5 toes
• beard/muff
• small combs
• silkie AND normal plumage

☆

THE BABIES

These are our babies from the first batch!


Klim (Silkie) x Wheaten or Cheetah (Easter Egger)
View attachment 3445939View attachment 3445940View attachment 3445941
View attachment 3445942View attachment 3445946
Every single Silkie egg hatched.

☆

Blue (Easter Egger) x Wheaten or Cheetah (Easter Egger)
View attachment 3446223
View attachment 3445951
View attachment 3445953View attachment 3445954
There was one blue egg that did not hatch.

☆

Zeeb (Old English Game Bantam) x Wheaten or Cheetah (Easter Egger)
View attachment 3445957

This one's siblings did not survive. One did not develop and one did not hatch on it's own.
I check every egg that doesn't hatch, just in case, and in one of Zeeb's, I found a tiny, bug-eyed, fully-developed baby, with no top beak and it's brain exposed.
It passed away peacefully in under a minute after removal from the egg.

☆

Mostaccioli (Mystic Maran) x Wheaten or Cheetah (Easter Egger)
View attachment 3445958View attachment 3445959View attachment 3445960
There were 3 eggs from another one of our Mystic Marans, Long Ziti, that did not hatch. One tried to hatch, but died in the egg, two did not develop.
I am not disappointed, as I do not want to further Long Ziti's genetics.

☆

I imagine that once the chicks are older, maybe on color genetics, we would be able to tell who is the father?
My guess so far is that Cheetah is the father to the Silkie babies, since the coloring seems to be a match for brown red.

☆
I have also recently purchased a purebred, well bred Silkie chick to add to our flock/project.
View attachment 3446028
From a calico/partridge pen.

Can you tell I love Silkies and Easter Eggers?

☆
I also purchased another chick without asking the color, and it is Cuckoo.. light skin/beak, and a dominant color that I am not looking for.
I read that the barring affects the dark skin, so I definitely don't want that. We already have a Barred Rock and no interest in breeding her.
View attachment 3446077
So I will be selling and/or rehoming that one... not sure if it's better to do while it is a chick, or wait until an adult...
but I have absolutely 0 interest in fighting genetics for what I want when I am already fighting some others..

Overall:
If my worst mistake is buying a chick that won't go into my breeding program, then I can be pretty happy LOL

☆
Until the next update!​

Cheetah isn’t technically brown red, he’s either wheaten or duckwing. Blue is blue silver columbian, not splash.

 

[ozu]

Cheetah isn’t technically brown red, he’s either wheaten or duckwing. Blue is blue silver columbian, not splash.

Thank you!

I was really torn on brown red vs wheaten for cheetah. With your input, my guess is wheaten. Do you think the babies will give more insight on the coloring? I am hoping so.. most of the silkie/ee mixes are looking like the sort of color that he expressed as a baby.

Baby Cheetah

As for Blue, here is another picture of her. I never really felt like splash was correct, but I am having a hard time finding pictures to compare her to or a chicken that looks similar enough.

Her neck is lighter now than it was in this picture.. and you can see the black tail feathers.. does this change your thought, or do you still think columbian with some random spots? (I am genuinely asking, I don't have experience with columbian coloring, and have no idea what to call her color, so I truly appreciate your input! )

I also know that Easter Eggers don't always have "actual colors", so there's that dilemma lol

 

[ozu]

WEEK 3 UPDATE

Back again!

Klim (Silkie) x Wheaten or Cheetah (Easter Egger)

We thought this one was a cockerel, but now compared to the others, maybe there is a chance its a pullet!? Legs are thinner than the others.

Thinner legs make me feel pullet. Crossing fingers.

Cockerel (probably)

This one has been dubbed "Friendly" because it is well.. super friendly! Seems pullet-like.

Cockerel (probably)

☆

Blue (Easter Egger) x Wheaten or Cheetah (Easter Egger)

Cockerel

I have faith that this one is a pullet.

I feel like this one could go either way.

I bet this one is a cockerel.

☆

Zeeb (Old English Bantam) x Wheaten or Cheetah (Easter Egger)

Beez. Please be a pullet!

☆

Mostaccioli (Mystic Maran) x Wheaten or Cheetah (Easter Egger)

Cockerel

Cockerel (100%)

Please be a pullet :-(

☆

Not bred by me additions:

Purebred Silkie

Full name: Twisted Transistor. Nickname: Twisty.
Her face looks twisted. If it turns into a cross beak we will cull. :-(
But she does look like a pullet.

☆

Silkie/Barred Rock

Cockerel (100%)
Trying to find him a home, but if he does not find someone who wants the color in their flock, we already know we will cull, as we don't want this color.

☆

TSC Silkie

Sour Cream. I feel confident still that she is a pullet. Love that she has feathered legs even if they're not the best ever. Maybe lacking a beard, but looks like she maybe has a muff??? (Interesting.)

☆

Old English Bantam

Stella. Fairly confident that she is also a pullet. Look at that hen stance! We also made sure to get one with dark eyeliner... apparently you can sex them that way. So far it has held true for us. So curious what color this one is!

☆

Sebrights

Concrete.

Butter.


aaand
Here is the new brooder!

They love the space! Maybe I'll have some candid pics for you soon.​

 

[fluffycrow]

WEEK 3 UPDATE

Back again!

Klim (Silkie) x Wheaten or Cheetah (Easter Egger)
View attachment 3465172
We thought this one was a cockerel, but now compared to the others, maybe there is a chance its a pullet!? Legs are thinner than the others.

View attachment 3465173
Thinner legs make me feel pullet. Crossing fingers.
View attachment 3465186
Cockerel (probably)
View attachment 3465187
This one has been dubbed "Friendly" because it is well.. super friendly! Seems pullet-like.
View attachment 3465189
Cockerel (probably)

☆

Blue (Easter Egger) x Wheaten or Cheetah (Easter Egger)
View attachment 3465190
Cockerel
View attachment 3465191
I have faith that this one is a pullet.
View attachment 3465195
I feel like this one could go either way.
View attachment 3465193
I bet this one is a cockerel.

☆

Zeeb (Old English Bantam) x Wheaten or Cheetah (Easter Egger)
View attachment 3465196
Beez. Please be a pullet!

☆

Mostaccioli (Mystic Maran) x Wheaten or Cheetah (Easter Egger)
View attachment 3465198
Cockerel
View attachment 3465201
Cockerel (100%)
View attachment 3465203
Please be a pullet :-(

☆

Not bred by me additions:

Purebred Silkie
View attachment 3465207
Full name: Twisted Transistor. Nickname: Twisty.
Her face looks twisted. If it turns into a cross beak we will cull. :-(
But she does look like a pullet.

☆

Silkie/Barred Rock
View attachment 3465211
Cockerel (100%)
Trying to find him a home, but if he does not find someone who wants the color in their flock, we already know we will cull, as we don't want this color.

☆

TSC Silkie
View attachment 3465215
Sour Cream. I feel confident still that she is a pullet. Love that she has feathered legs even if they're not the best ever. Maybe lacking a beard, but looks like she maybe has a muff??? (Interesting.)

☆

Old English Bantam
View attachment 3465217
Stella. Fairly confident that she is also a pullet. Look at that hen stance! We also made sure to get one with dark eyeliner... apparently you can sex them that way. So far it has held true for us. So curious what color this one is!

☆

Sebrights
View attachment 3465218
Concrete.

View attachment 3465219
Butter.


aaand
Here is the new brooder!

View attachment 3465220
They love the space! Maybe I'll have some candid pics for you soon.​

Beautiful cute little chicks, excited to see how they grow! The dog lover in me is making me ask this. Was that a silken windhound in the photo, the one showing the brooder

 

[ozu]

Some recent pics of the parents!
Forgive the bald heads.
We had too many roosters. Obviously we culled 4/6 of them and are adding more hens.

Klim (Silkie)

Blue (Easter Egger)

Mostaccioli (Mystic Maran)

Zeeb (Old English Bantam)

And maybe dad, Wheaten, being hilarious and adorable.

☆

And hopefully future parents, Eeby and Deeby.

(He is still healing from fighting with Cheetah.)​

 

[DotToDot]

Absolutely gorgeous chickens.

 

[fluffycrow]

I'm so excited to see offspring from the D'uccles!

 

[ozu]

Beautiful cute little chicks, excited to see how they grow! The dog lover in me is making me ask this. Was that a silken windhound in the photo, the one showing the brooder

Thank you so much!
I can totally understand that, I am a little dog obsessed myself.
I'm the dog/bird person and my partner is the cat/rodent guy!

But yes, you are correct! We have three Silken Windhounds!

​

 

[ozu]

Absolutely gorgeous chickens.

Thank you