My eggs are lost in the mailI guess my marans eggs will be a delayed New Years hatch.... I still have eggs from the grocery store and feed store. I will set the marans eggs when they arrive.
Please take pics of @DMRippy packing.
I have them separated now--I am collecting Amelia eggs for the hatch a long so it is easy for me to compare them.
Most of you may be unfamiliar with them so I'd like to elaborate on the merits and unusual characteristics of Black Penedesencas.5. Number of egg set for Hatch a Long
Prize: 9 Black Penedesenca Hatching eggs donated by @ChickenCanoe
Click on the link and post your guess for the total number of eggs set. The contest is open from now until Midnight Tuesday the 10th. Winner will be announced by Friday. Open to all BYC Members.
Contest number 5 is now open!
Good Luck!
This is a very special prize. I hatched two Black Penedesnca chicks this spring and they are very nice.
She started laying but is taking a break now. Her eggs were already 55G on average:
Quote:
Most of you may be unfamiliar with them so I'd like to elaborate on the merits and unusual characteristics of Black Penedesencas.
They're from the Penedes region of Spain. One of the darkest egg laying breeds in the world along with Marans (France), Empordanesa (Emporda, Spain), Welsummer (Netherlands), and Barnevelder (Netherlands). Penes are a breed that was almost extinct in the early 1980s but intervention by the Spanish government and a university saved them. There are 4 varieties, Crele, Partridge, Wheaten and the only variety that is dual purpose - the Black.
The Black is renown in Spain for the quality and flavor of its meat. So much so that it has its own festival - Fira del Gall (Fair of the Rooster) happening the last weekend before Christmas where people come from all over to select their bird for Christmas dinner. A rooster sells for $50 and is processed and packed on site. Fira del Gall is a foodies paradise that is devoted to cuisine of the region with wine, poultry and cheese headlining but the BP rooster is the star of the show. There is a competition of various local restaurants preparing their favorite Gall del Penedes recipes.
In Catalonian markets, the legs and head are left intact on the carcass so the buyer knows they are getting a real Black Penedesenca rooster.
Penedesencas and Empordanesas are the world's only breeds to have a carnation comb and a white ear lobe yet lay brown eggs.
The hens tend to go broody. About 1/3 of my pullets/hens have gone broody and are great mothers. They lay 150-200 large eggs a year, averaging over 60 grams. I had a Penedesenca/Minorca cross pullet that laid 80 and 90 gram eggs. I wish I hadn't sold her.
They can be tamed but IMHO they are not a pet lap chicken. Not that they're aggressive, on the contrary, they just avoid human contact. As they age they calm down once they get to know you. They are great foragers and do best in a semi-wild free range situation. Close confinement doesn't fit them. They are extremely wary so if you have a free range situation and a lot of daytime predators, this is the bird for you. I've seen a rooster take a hawk out of the air and slowly strut back to his hens. Even though they can fly and if cornered will fly straight up adeptly, they prefer to run and run like the wind. But when not pressed, they're quite content to stay inside a 3 foot fence. I've had a bachelor rooster pen for a couple years that is only 2 foot high and never had a rooster jump over. Quite a cost savings if one needs lots of pasture and breeding pens.
They're very heat hardy but have handled Missouri weather down to -10 and 90% humidity.
Need I go on?
The first flat of egg I set a few years ago.
Some recent pullet eggs with a Jaer egg for contrast.
Some of the birds.
