Years ago we bought Belgian d'Uccles from MurrayMcMurray hatchery, and their catalog then stated that some of the birds would have beards, and some not. That's what arrived, and because we wanted those cute muffs, we selected for that trait and bred out the beardless ones.
Recently i bought...
Years ago, three different hatcheries, SS straight run chicks. I wanted to have a small breeding group, so needed some cockerels. Maybe ten or twelve males over a couple of years, so not a huge number, but still...
As they matured, some were human aggressive (very!) and some were polite...
Probably that was me. At TSC, three cockerels, two pullets, and at a different TSC, actually five pullets, although while all started out gray/ blue, three different breed types. Farm stores, always interesting 'pullet bins'!
Our new d'Uccle chicks, of course straight run, at least one...
It's been very dry here too, and some leaf color, hoping for more, and early leaf drop.
Chicks all okay this morning after their first night with the brooder plate only. Yes!
Thunder right now, may it actually rain!
Mary
No pictures tonight, maybe tomorrow. All babies were under the brooder plate, so far so good. Update tomorrow, may they all do well.
And I just euthanized a five year old Chanti hen, who's been failing all week. At least she wasn't one of the younger hens, but still not good. Wish more...
So last Wednesday, only one surviving EE bantam chick, I called farm stores and found one store who still had bantam chicks, only 30 miles away, and dashed there to get six little guys. They are porcelain Belgian d'Uccles, and blended with our one slightly younger baby just fine. They've had...
'Pale' as feather colors, or something else? Pale comb and wattles sometimes can be anemia, from mites or lice. Look at your birds while roosting at night, with a small flashlight. Skin around vents, under wings, and upper back.
Treat everyone if you find any.
Otherwise, normal as mentioned...
Picking the right cockerels to keep is always a challenge, and a guessing game.
I'd eliminate the bird who's too rough, once you are sure that's what's going on. And 'wry tail' generally means a pelvis and/ or spine that's crooked, so not a blemish, rather a bad individual to breed on.
You...
An important part of moving or visiting a new environment is learning ahead of time what's out there!
Long ago we moved to Okinawa for a couple of years, DH was in the army. Before getting there we read up about it's history, climate, dangers (many!) and how to swim/ snorkle safely...
I have a bantam EE sitting on bantam EE eggs right now, hoping for some nice chicks, next week or a little later. I didn't decide to let this happen earlier in the year, so here we are...
Toads: slow moving for a reason, their skin exudes nasty tasting stuff, most animals only try one once...
We have very very few tree frogs and toads, a huge change from two years ago. And this year, very few insects of any sort, necessary food for the frogs, toads, and bats, also missing. And the normal swarms of mosquitoes also totally missing. We don't miss the mosquitoes or deer flies, but...
Good work for that tree frog! There are so few here now, it's really sad.
Our three unplanned cockerels are now about 17 weeks old, and one of the two Australorps needs to leave. he's so far not at all human aggressive or nasty to flockmates, but all three can't stay, and he's got to go.
Mary
Very nice ride! And now you know how she feels about 'I'm done' and that gate. You saved what could have been an interesting gate jumping/ plowing into it situation.
Good for you!
Mary
Feed store chicks!
My ten 'pullets' included three cockerels this year, and two breeds not mentioned on the bin. About right for feed store chicks in my experience. All are healthy at least, and one or two of the cockerels need to leave soon.
Mary