Australorps breed Thread

[Inkheart]

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YIKES! beautiful birds - but not at their peak right now!

I know, horrible,... most of them molted out and have nice feathers now but that is one of the few stragglers. I was going to enter her and another one on the thread whos bird had the worst molt ever hee hee, but some of those beat mine by a mile, There was one that was completly featherless and looked plucked, she won hands down..HA.

I feel bad for them that they decided that going into a NY winter that now would be a good time to do this..If it turns bad while they are recovering from the molt we have thier barn heated up to 60 degrees .
Befor:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/35675_john_cabin_pics_200.jpg
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/35675_john_cabin_pics_277.jpg

After:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/35675_chicken_pics_286.jpg

As beautiful as they are - i do question the poor girls schedule for moulting! lol - Ohio is no where close to NY in winters - BUT i am glad all my girls are all fluffed up and feather out nice for old man winter. Is the first time they have done this at this time of year? Luckily from my understanding Australorps are known for their hardiness. Moulting or not yours are some of the most beautiful Australorps i have seen!

 

[aveca]

Well thanks, There are some really nice ones out there..Ive seen some top birds recently , hoping to get a few more this next summer. trying to arrange it right now. Yes they winter very well if they are healthy..I have never had a problem over wintering them and we get some really brutal weather, and we are on top of a hill that the weather comes from that westerly direction so I have to winterize everything ..The hens just breeze right through. most of the time they just dont need any help whatsoever..when it dips to 20 below wind chills we have to do something , just run the heater and lamps till it passes. ..

We had a very dark cloudy period for a couple weeks and the temps dipped and threw them all into molt.

This morning here was ice on the cars and warnings to be careful driving and walking around due to icey surfaces on sidewalks ect..Opened the hen pen door and out they went..they couldnt care less..they are out brousing the woods right now..certian times of the day you would never know I had a chicken they just take off and are gone for a while and make me nervous but they sure love it. the show birds are kept a little closer to the house in bigger pens, we are going to build some big pens up behind the house next year.

I think the coldest temp ever recorded in lower 48 but that subjective was Mt. Washington NH listed with was -50, on January 22, 1885 US Army Signal Service weather facility . Thats not all that far from here. some winter days jack frost puts a litte more than a nickle on your nose. It can get rough

 

[aveca]

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Don't know of any whites in the US

Darn!

There is a way to get those, there are breeders who breed white orpingtons , cross into those but an expert could tell you which ones to cross to get the whites. the orpinton is a foundation bird of the breed

 

[Inkheart]

Ok i will never complain about the weather here again - it does get cold and we have plenty of days in the teens - but nothing to compare - so with that in mind they could handle an Ohio Winter .
As a side note - someone already asked me what i wanted for Christmas - so they have been sent to that site to order the Australorp book! Putting the book before the chicken - but i cant wait to read it! Thanks for letting me know about it .

 

[blaundee]

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Hahaha- It took a lil bit for me to figure out how to figure out HOW to find the post's number... LOL

 

[kulangi]

Does anyone breed white and lavender australorps?

 

[blaundee]

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I was just hoping to find some already done

lol Hey, looks like I have yet another project! I'm so happy to be blessed with enough room and a good hubby who's willing to let me have a bunch of birds!

 

[blaundee]

So... I realize the shorter tails are the generally preferred ones, but am I alone in preferring bigger tails on my birds? Maybe I need to get into longtails... LOL

 

[RioLindoAz]

I try to encourage people to start a project for White Australorps.

It shouldn't be too difficult since white is dominant.

 

[blaundee]

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I am now on a mission to produce a BUNCH of colors in my Australorps... Oh, I needed yet ANOTHER project!!!! RFLOL