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  1. LaurenRitz

    Possible breeding program

    Three of the four BuckeyeX went into the rafters without a problem. The last refuses that option. I carry her over, and even in full dark she screams and runs back to the other coop. Currently six in coop 2, ten in coop 1, and nineteen in the rafters. Good enough for the moment. I transferred...
  2. LaurenRitz

    Landrace/adaptive breeding discussion

    What I want for this population keeps changing. Initially I turned down several breeds that might have worked just because they were white. I wanted all my birds to be dark or mottled, under the impression that white birds would be predator magnets. The mottled birds all died, one way or...
  3. LaurenRitz

    Landrace/adaptive breeding discussion

    Saw 3 of my birds fly today--not just a controlled glide, but about 150 feet into a stiff headwind. Only 4 feet up. They maintained altitude the entire distance and landed easily. I'm not sure what set them off.
  4. LaurenRitz

    Spoiled little velociraptors

    One of the girls does not approve of open air roosting. She grumbles while I carry her over to the ladder, then settles down. But first thing in the morning she's screaming bloody murder at the coop door until I let her boy out. :lau
  5. LaurenRitz

    Spoiled little velociraptors

    There are 9 hens in that coop. There were only 8 when I closed up. I couldn't find her, so wherever she went she's on her own. We shall see.
  6. LaurenRitz

    Lowest on the pecking order

    Thanks. They look healthy, they're certainly not lethargic or slow. I suppose I'm being a worry-wort. I tried to "guard" one of the bowls for them this afternoon and they wouldn't come close enough to est.
  7. LaurenRitz

    Spoiled little velociraptors

    In this case "she" is the RangerX who adopted the golf balls. Two posts up, with a picture. My only experienced broody is currently raising chicks.
  8. LaurenRitz

    Lowest on the pecking order

    A question for anyone who might like to answer it. I have 35 birds, 28 hens/pullets. Two of the youngest, currently 22 weeks old, are obviously low man. The birds mostly free range, and these two are my best foragers. I guess they have to be, because every time they find something 5 or 6 birds...
  9. LaurenRitz

    Spoiled little velociraptors

    So she's missing tonight. Did something get her? Did she pick a new spot fot her nest? Story time. I mentioned my broody earlier. Well, about 7 weeks ago she hatched 6 babies, but she was collecting eggs because when she brought them off the nest there were 14 left. :th We candled the eggs...
  10. LaurenRitz

    Spoiled little velociraptors

    I gave her two golf balls and she started talking to them and tucked them under her.
  11. LaurenRitz

    Spoiled little velociraptors

    And...looks like one of the RangerX may be going broody. Not settled yet, but she's screeching at anyone who approaches her nest. Just about 6 months old. We'll see how she does. If she settles I'll move her into the broody box and give her a few eggs. As a first time broody, probably not more...
  12. LaurenRitz

    What did you do in the garden today?

    Nope, they're an annial in most of the US.
  13. LaurenRitz

    What did you do in the garden today?

    Garden huckleberry is actually a form of black solanum. Huckleberry is also another name for bilberry, and that one is a perennial.
  14. LaurenRitz

    Experimental Garden. Will Anything Grow?

    The problem for me this year was too much water (Kansas). I do landrace gardening in clay soil under woodchip mulch. Everything grew late, produced late. I don’t care so much if plants don't do well. It just means those not adapted won't be in my population following years. The goal is...
  15. LaurenRitz

    What did you do in the garden today?

    Embrace the power of "and." :lau
  16. LaurenRitz

    Spoiled little velociraptors

    I have one broody that is amazing. She'll accept orphaned chicks, I can introduce chicks any time after 8 days sitting (I've never tried less) and even if she doesn't bond with a chick she'll still allow it to sleep with her babies. It bonds to her and its siblings and she lets it tag along.
  17. LaurenRitz

    What did you do in the garden today?

  18. LaurenRitz

    Possible breeding program

    Currently 15 open air, and 10 in each coop. Once the BuckeyeX are transferred, the small coop will have 3 cockerels and 2 hens.
  19. LaurenRitz

    Landrace/adaptive breeding discussion

    The hen on the ladder won't let anyone pass her without pecking at them. One of the other BAx girls got pushed off, landed on the bar above the door, and rather than jumping to the 2x4 a few feet away decided to try to fly about 10 feet to another board. She almost made it.
  20. LaurenRitz

    How did your flock annoy you today?

    No. If the base is brown, that's the finsl color. The blue is the actual color of the shell, so if you have a green layer it might show blue if the pigment gland is acting up, or if releasing more pigment it might come out olive. A brown layer might range from almost white to dark or speckled...
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