1/09
Wow, so much has changed since I wrote that first blog! Developing Sizzles has become a passion & my main focus. The turkeys have gone to a new home, all the cochins & the goats are rehomed also. I have only a few Americanas & ducks left for eggs and over forty Sizzles. Most of my birds are F3 and the latest eggs for this season will be F4. I have lots to work on but, am not unhappy with how they are coming along.
I have also started a list for Sizzle fanciers to get together and share their experiences. If you know anyone who is interested in developing Sizzles as a breed the address is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sizzles/ . We are working out a standard to shoot for and maybe someday, recognition as a breed. Thank goodness we have some experienced poultry people on the list. because developing a new breed has it’s challenges! The genetics for combs, curls & color are giving me gray hair!
Personally, I raise blks, blues & splash. There is enough variety in that to keep me content. This year I decided to bring in some Silkie/Polish crosses to improve my crests. I would also like to find someone who has been breeding for awhile to get another roo. I am concerned about broadening my genetic pool and not getting too much inbreeding. Another reason for the Sizzle list besides sharing information, sharing genetics!
I am loving this project for the challenge it’s offered me. I work a lot of hours and don’t “get out much” This project is stimulation both mentally & physically! I just finished splitting my 2 big 12x12 pens in half & dividing up one side into 4: 3x6 foot runs. I have 8 of those. Tomorrow everyone gets leg bands & cataloged into the records so I can see who produces what. I have plans coming to build a big cabinet incubator and the chick pen almost finished. Last year I raised over 200 chicks and I expect to see a bigger percentage of better Sizzles this year. All in all, a very rewarding and fulfilling good time!
2007-12-31
Hi, my name is Sarah Lynn and I'm a country gal at heart that just got my little ranchlet two years ago. I inherited chickens, ducks & 1 turkey from the former owners who were going to throw them over the fence to the coyotes. I convinced them to leave them with me and promptly went out and bought a dozen mixed bantam chicks to raise. Since then I've built the chicken condos ( five large covered pens) a private condo for the ducks, acquired two pygmy goats to eat the weeds, which of course, they don't and raised over a hundred ducks, chickens & turkeys just for fun and of course, learning most things the hard way.
I got a few Frizzles in my first batch of chicks and was hooked. When I lost my only original Silkie hen I replaced her with some blues from PA and became fascinated with the Sizzles & Frilkies (my name for the Frizzled Silkies) and am working on my third generation of breeding. This summer I got my first really nice blue Sizzle hen from my own breeding and am now working on splash Frizzles to cross with my new Blue Silkie Roo. He just came to live with us from NY last month and has been dubbed Pretty Boy Floyd. His competition is my Blue Frizzle roo called Fancy Pants Pete and they love nothing better then to chase each others girls around the yard during free range time. I have an acre all fenced with a 6 ft fence so they get free range time at least one day of every weekend. I have a rocking chair out in the yard and my relaxation time is spent watching “chicken tv”. Hey, I’m in AZ and sitting out in the sun in my rocker in the winter is just wonderful! The chickens think so too!
I have three turkeys now, a tom, Bubba (“cause he’s perrty but, not too bright”) , Gurdy ( the original turkey) & Dingaling. I had the bright idea to get Gurdy some company a couple of springs ago, not knowing, because I’m new at this, that Red Bourbon Turkeys aren’t that easy to come by. I ended up having to buy & raise 15 to get the two for company for Gurdy that I finally ended up with. It’s OK though. She had taken up with a duck for company & I found a heretofore unbeknownst prejudice against that relationship that required I find her company of her own kind. Not sure where that prejudice came from but, she does seem happier now. Besides, that duck was a real trouble maker anyway.
Wow, so much has changed since I wrote that first blog! Developing Sizzles has become a passion & my main focus. The turkeys have gone to a new home, all the cochins & the goats are rehomed also. I have only a few Americanas & ducks left for eggs and over forty Sizzles. Most of my birds are F3 and the latest eggs for this season will be F4. I have lots to work on but, am not unhappy with how they are coming along.
I have also started a list for Sizzle fanciers to get together and share their experiences. If you know anyone who is interested in developing Sizzles as a breed the address is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sizzles/ . We are working out a standard to shoot for and maybe someday, recognition as a breed. Thank goodness we have some experienced poultry people on the list. because developing a new breed has it’s challenges! The genetics for combs, curls & color are giving me gray hair!
Personally, I raise blks, blues & splash. There is enough variety in that to keep me content. This year I decided to bring in some Silkie/Polish crosses to improve my crests. I would also like to find someone who has been breeding for awhile to get another roo. I am concerned about broadening my genetic pool and not getting too much inbreeding. Another reason for the Sizzle list besides sharing information, sharing genetics!
I am loving this project for the challenge it’s offered me. I work a lot of hours and don’t “get out much” This project is stimulation both mentally & physically! I just finished splitting my 2 big 12x12 pens in half & dividing up one side into 4: 3x6 foot runs. I have 8 of those. Tomorrow everyone gets leg bands & cataloged into the records so I can see who produces what. I have plans coming to build a big cabinet incubator and the chick pen almost finished. Last year I raised over 200 chicks and I expect to see a bigger percentage of better Sizzles this year. All in all, a very rewarding and fulfilling good time!
2007-12-31
Hi, my name is Sarah Lynn and I'm a country gal at heart that just got my little ranchlet two years ago. I inherited chickens, ducks & 1 turkey from the former owners who were going to throw them over the fence to the coyotes. I convinced them to leave them with me and promptly went out and bought a dozen mixed bantam chicks to raise. Since then I've built the chicken condos ( five large covered pens) a private condo for the ducks, acquired two pygmy goats to eat the weeds, which of course, they don't and raised over a hundred ducks, chickens & turkeys just for fun and of course, learning most things the hard way.
I got a few Frizzles in my first batch of chicks and was hooked. When I lost my only original Silkie hen I replaced her with some blues from PA and became fascinated with the Sizzles & Frilkies (my name for the Frizzled Silkies) and am working on my third generation of breeding. This summer I got my first really nice blue Sizzle hen from my own breeding and am now working on splash Frizzles to cross with my new Blue Silkie Roo. He just came to live with us from NY last month and has been dubbed Pretty Boy Floyd. His competition is my Blue Frizzle roo called Fancy Pants Pete and they love nothing better then to chase each others girls around the yard during free range time. I have an acre all fenced with a 6 ft fence so they get free range time at least one day of every weekend. I have a rocking chair out in the yard and my relaxation time is spent watching “chicken tv”. Hey, I’m in AZ and sitting out in the sun in my rocker in the winter is just wonderful! The chickens think so too!
I have three turkeys now, a tom, Bubba (“cause he’s perrty but, not too bright”) , Gurdy ( the original turkey) & Dingaling. I had the bright idea to get Gurdy some company a couple of springs ago, not knowing, because I’m new at this, that Red Bourbon Turkeys aren’t that easy to come by. I ended up having to buy & raise 15 to get the two for company for Gurdy that I finally ended up with. It’s OK though. She had taken up with a duck for company & I found a heretofore unbeknownst prejudice against that relationship that required I find her company of her own kind. Not sure where that prejudice came from but, she does seem happier now. Besides, that duck was a real trouble maker anyway.