It seems like a bunch of people are getting their first eggs, but I didn't know if it was rude to jump on someone else's thread. We got our first egg today and we are so excited! It was from one of our Blue Australorps at right about 19 weeks of age. She laid it right in the nesting box! Now we...
Comfrey is a medicinal herb, but I grow it as a pollinator attracter and green mulch. The girls eat the flowers, but it actually works because they bring down the leaves and work them into the soil. Good work, ladies! :)
It's interesting, mine haven't discovered the artichokes yet at all --...
I am also in NorCal Zone 9. So far, artichokes and comfrey are doing great with my new flock. Carrot seedlings were a delicious snack. Plums and plum leaves have not been discovered yet, but oddly, the pluot leaves are their favorite (they jump straight up and eat the leaves off the lower...
She does look like a Kelpie! She is a street dog from the Central Valley of California. We actually did the Wisdom DNA panel on her, and it came back 25% Staffordshire terrier, 25% "herding breed," and 50% just literally...all the dogs. So she is 100% Fresno Feral, and 100% awesome <3
I agree that the comb is pretty red, but I have been seeing some posts of birds that age, and people are saying it's a pullet at point of lay...so, now I don't know how to tell the difference between a POL pullet and a young cockerel.
Out of curiosity, what kind is your blue (gray) bird?
We let the girls free range this morning while we were having coffee, and it was their first time hopping up to see if we had treats (they've only been free ranging for a couple of weeks). Our sweet dog was very worried that they were going to get in trouble since she's not allowed to do that :)
I learned on here that 8 weeks is a good time to be able to tell gender of EEs (I don't know about Marans). I think the best indicators are combs and feather patterns. Male combs turn pink and may have three rows of peas, and the feather patterns are splashier with red coloration coming in on...
The combs look really red for their age aside from #4. But they also don't look like the pea combs most EEs have. So they are probably mixes which makes them even harder to figure out...Sorry I can't be more helpful!
I had quail as a kid...I left the cage door opened once and they all got out. Legend has it that somewhere in suburban Connecticut, a flock of Coturnix quail ranges to this day...