Thanks! I really don't want to replace him, but I will if he doesn't get his act together by next year. I have no patience for a bully, especially not when he's the size of a turkey already
My late February girls still aren't laying... *sigh*
I do love how pretty my cockerel is though. Except he's kind of a rogue and doesn't dance or court the girls, he just kind of runs them down. Don't know how much of a problem that's going to be...
He's English. From the last time I picked him up, I'd probably estimate him close to ten pounds already. He's broad like a turkey! His breeder is just dying to get eggs from him and the two pullets I kept:
My Feb. 26 Buffs still haven't laid *sigh*
On the plus side, I got six Barred Rocks that hatched in April and four of them are laying! Maybe I can hatch out some black sex links this winter.
That shark fin thing is odd!
My cockerels took a fair while to get bigger, redder combs, I know it was after six weeks. I was still guessing until about 14 weeks, really.
Fermented chick starter, meatbird, and a little alfalfa thrown in. They get a very small amount of vegetables thinned from the garden, watermelon, and mealworms.
Do the big English buffs take longer to fill out their breasts? Mine feel thin to me, and I can't tell if they're underweight or it just takes time. They're 20 weeks now, this is a picture from a couple weeks ago:
Bigger redder comb and wattles faster. Saddle feathers. Curled over tail tip. Thick legs. Unless it's a VERY manly pullet, I'm pretty sure it's just a slow-maturing cockerel. It has become more apparent over the last couple weeks that these two are NOT like the rest.
Is that in response to mine not crowing and not having spurs yet?
Because, I'm pretty sure that hackle and saddle feathers and curving over tails still mean roo... They just seem really slow to fully mature, which I've heard is common in such large birds.