Australia - Six states..and that funny little island.

[IamSamSam]

YAY I'm getting the girl on Saturday. I dusted for mites/lice for precaution and so excited

 

[IamSamSam]

Glad your broody is returning to normal. Would love to see some pictures of your bantam Wyandottes. Where I got my wellies the other day the lady had some and they were so cute. I was tempted to bring them and some rir bantams home as well. But I did behave lol.

I would love to see them too. Bantams are too cute.

Satay I'm surprised at you ! Behaving - B'hah.... LOL. I'm sure you will give in and get some soon or later. Er sooner...... Hehe

Hope all had a great mothers day

 

[Colourful]

I am not a fan of bantams, in the past they wanted to roost in the trees rather than coming to bed which left me chasing them around the garden and climbing trees to get them down - the big girls move slower so are easier to shoo about, and greedier so go to bed for a snack!

Do quails have personalities like chickens do? They are so small!

This thread and all the babies must be having a subconscious effect on me as last night I dreamt one of my eggs hatched, a cute black chick came out - impossible to happen here since I have no boys! lol

Lol, your bantams sound like my turkeys. Last night my Purple (Lavender) boy flew too high and got stuck on the roof. He sat there, calling out to his flock in distress but not bothering to fly back down... I had to grab my 8 Kg+ (he's still only young) turkey with a ladder and carry him to his own enclosed coop. Again. My bronze turkeys have now put on a lot of weight... and.... started Gobbling... Damnation! Oh well, they're still absolutely gorgeous and I do love that I can go outside and cal "Turkeyturkeyturkey" and hear some distant chirps calling back to me.

And yes, quail can have individual personalities. You'll find that there are serial feather pullers which love the taste of feathers even though they have more than enough protein in their food and those that are more likely to eat out of your hand and I have one that waits for me and follows me through the length of her cage when I walk past. But the thing I find about quail is how serious they are about everything they do. When it comes to new things, they are just as curious as chickens, but far more cautious and they need to be kept somewhere where they can't break their necks from jumping and hitting the roof. Plus they are more effcient in feed conversion with a kilo of feed (for a grounp of adult females) can equal just under a kilo of eggs. Also the Japanese quail can lay at 6 weeks (mine took a little longer, but they aren't in optimum conditions heat wise since it's Winter). And baby quail are freaking cute. I heavily endorse getting quail.

 

[Colourful]

Oh, and I have found my Plymouth Rock Bantam boy, yays! He's 12 weeks old and about 2 hours away, but we have to go to Sydney this weekend anyway, so we're grabbing him on the way back. Plus his parents are show quality, which is always a nice extra.

I got my first ever Plymouth Rock Bantam egg today!!! It's the first chicken egg I have that didn't come from my Isa Browns. Hopefully this also means that they'll be out of the Pullet stage by the time my Bantam boy is up for breeding. I'm so happy and I'd pop a photo up but it rained last night so my hen decided to running through the mud before returning to her nest... The egg is not clean. I've added more straw so the next few should look better. Soon my Sussex will lay and I'll have three different eggs in my basket (more come spring when the Araucana come into lay).

Does anyone know when Plymouth Rock (large, not bantam) chicks become fully feathered? I've got some that are over 7 weeks and they're still going through the fuglies. They have a heard of Araucana to keep them warm, but I still worry.

 

[Ashburnham]

BRs are notoriously slow feathering, especially the roosters.
Probably not until they are 8-9 weeks old.

 

[satay]

I would love to see them too. Bantams are too cute.

Satay I'm surprised at you ! Behaving - B'hah.... LOL. I'm sure you will give in and get some soon or later. Er sooner...... Hehe

Hope all had a great mothers day

 

[mogvgb]

As requested...

Pic's (click for full size) of my bantam girlies - these pic's are a little old, the Wyandottes have grown combs and wattles now and ought to start laying very soon, the bared rock is not showing any signs of maturing yet...just getting bigger all the time!


My Light Sussex (recently broody), and Gold Laced Wyandotte - these girls are exactly the same size and much smaller than the other two.




Gold laced from behind



And the front - she is very curious and loves the camera. (pile of dirt bathing chooks in background)


She has the BEST personality and is very friendly and social.



And my pretty blue laced Wyandotte - her lacing isn't very strong but her colours are so pretty







My Barred Rock - may or may not be Bantam, we will see....




These girls don't roost at night, they all sleep piled together on the floor of the coop. They roost in their run during the day if the weather is crummy, but at night they sleep on the floor, always have. They have one wing clipped to keep them from going over the fences, but haven't shown much interest in the vertical plane and put themselves to bed each night and follow me wherever I go if I am outside... They also terrorise my two very large tough cats, so I am glad I went with bantams, I think full size would have been too much.

 

[satay]

Beautiful Girls

 

[satay]

Yah first wellie egg from the new girls this morning. Not the best picture but it is a very dark terracotta colour.

 

[satay]

Oh, and I have found my Plymouth Rock Bantam boy, yays! He's 12 weeks old and about 2 hours away, but we have to go to Sydney this weekend anyway, so we're grabbing him on the way back. Plus his parents are show quality, which is always a nice extra.

I got my first ever Plymouth Rock Bantam egg today!!! It's the first chicken egg I have that didn't come from my Isa Browns. Hopefully this also means that they'll be out of the Pullet stage by the time my Bantam boy is up for breeding. I'm so happy and I'd pop a photo up but it rained last night so my hen decided to running through the mud before returning to her nest... The egg is not clean. I've added more straw so the next few should look better. Soon my Sussex will lay and I'll have three different eggs in my basket (more come spring when the Araucana come into lay).

Does anyone know when Plymouth Rock (large, not bantam) chicks become fully feathered? I've got some that are over 7 weeks and they're still going through the fuglies. They have a heard of Araucana to keep them warm, but I still worry.

So glad you found a rooster colourful and congrats on your new first egg