[FONT=book antiqua,palatino]Belgian Hybrids and Cochin Bantams[/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]Hello all! My name is Laura, I'm 20 years old and apparently the first Belgian BYC member! It's not only very educative when it comes to chickens, I'm also learning many new English words; going from coop to DH... [/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]Anyway, things are slightly different here in Belgium. Most people don't have that much space to keep chickens. Gardens are smaller and we live much closer. I've seen pictures of your gardens and coops, they're really a dream!
We are very lucky to have this much space to keep chickens: [/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]Anyway, things are slightly different here in Belgium. Most people don't have that much space to keep chickens. Gardens are smaller and we live much closer. I've seen pictures of your gardens and coops, they're really a dream!
We are very lucky to have this much space to keep chickens: [/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]Now let me introduce you to our flock![/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]It all started with these 4 pullets we got in June 2008. They're hybrids, purely bred for egg and meat production. They're not that sweet to us and the other chickens, but they're our first chickens ever and a great experience.
The breed names you'll read are invented by the local chicken farmer. We live on the linguistic border (Flanders - Wallonia) and we bought them in Dergenaux, Wallonia. That's also why the breed names are French.[/FONT]
The breed names you'll read are invented by the local chicken farmer. We live on the linguistic border (Flanders - Wallonia) and we bought them in Dergenaux, Wallonia. That's also why the breed names are French.[/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]Luckily, the ugly teenage stage doesn't last forever -- I even believe they look pretty right now![/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]Marie, "Marans Cuivrée" (French for copper neck). As you can see she doesn't really deserve the name "Marans" since she has too much copper and is too thin.[/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]Paula was a "Rousette", unfortunately we lost her. She gave us almost every day a double yoke egg. We think that's the reason she died, we found her dead in her nest. She probably had an egg inside her that was too big to get out.[/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva] Josephine, "Baie de Somme". Love her colour![/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]After a while, we decided we wanted some more chicken. After all, why keep only three chickens if you have space for more? [/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva] That's where our buff Cochin bantams came in! [/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]Both bought as ladies, but unfortunately, one turned out to be a rooster. Luckily, none of the neighbours complained so we just kept the boy. A few months later, they look like this:[/FONT]
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[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]Odille & Odette[/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]We decided to get some more bantam ladies, since we now have a rooster. We found a red Cochin bantam, which we named Charlotte:[/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]Approved![/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]And this white Cochin bantam girl, we named her Blanche.[/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]And what does one do when suddenly, one of the ladies turns broody? That's right... give her some eggs![/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]Since 17 May 2009, we also have these lovely Cochin bantam chicks.[/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,geneva]For more pictures of them, check out my other page![/FONT][FONT=georgia,palatino]
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