Australorps breed Thread

[groche]

I'm a guy who had "mutt" chickens a few times in my life, but I consider myself a rank beginner with very limited exposure to BA flocks. What I can tell you about is a couple of breeders I know of with sweet, gentle roos. One is Curt of Rattlesnake Ridge here in WV who recently lost his beloved Dundee, a great pet and stud roo. Another is one I just bought from the Hipps' in NC. This boy is a snuggle bunny. He comes to me to be handled and is very gentle and nice to deal with. The hens I bought with him are pretty much the same. Seems like the more they are handled, the better it goes. If you have a mean one, eat him. I reckon most people on here have nice gentle roos with this breed.

Hi Dan,
weren't you complaining about the thread going 'fencing mad' a while back! Only kiddin'! Lovely dogs. I've got 2 Jacks myself. You are spot on with your BA roo comment. I've said many times that purebred BA roos are generally friendly and gentle. Of course there are rogues! I started my cockeral cull today - the first 18 boys. Managed 5, 2 of which only had 'bator toes so would have been ok for breeding. I hate the job. It feels like 'playing God', deciding who lives and who dies! All of my cockerels are tame enough to pick up and I've never been attacked by one. A bit sad when a boy comes up to you trustingly, only to cop the axe! I digress. The point is, that I do a lot of handfeeding from a young age - stale bread mostly. They become used to you in a way impossible with some commercial hatchery bird, though most of these tame up ok. I guess the message is, if poss., buy from a specialist breeder who doesn't have to deal with huge numbers.
Cheers Geoff

 

[groche]

Dan,
forgot to mention that my 2 Jack girls are around all of my chooks, large and small, all the time and have never touched one. Ferocious down a foxhole though. I'll be posting pics soon and I'll add 1 to show you the chook/dog relationship.
Cheers Geoff

 

[WVDan44]

Hello Geoff, good to hear from you sir.

Don't recall complaining about fencing talk, but I'm old and the mind is the second thing to go, so I'll have to rely on your powers of recollection! As a side note, you will see that in every post I did include at least one reference to BAs so as not to get flamed by the purists in the group.

My Jacks can't be relied on to be around chooks. They have high prey drive and have been hunted into retirement. Starting out from square one, I'm sure JRs can be not only great to have around poultry, but have some use as security dogs. They are extremely versatile canines.

As I said to you last week re: culling, just ship your rejects over here, I'll be happy to take them off your hands.

Cheers!

 

[WVDan44]

Enough about fencing, I wanna see some black aussies! who has some pics to show?

Hello Geoff

Yes well, I see you were correct about my fence comment.

I also seem to remember that you recently said you enjoyed my enthusiasm for the breed. Therefore, I shall claim the impetuousness of a novice with regard to this particular post.

 

[RattlesnakeRidgeWV]

I for one will keep my mouth shut this time, it just causes too much drama! My bad, lets get back to BA's.
Dee,
Good luck picking out the cockerels. I have been trying to figure it out for 3 years and still get fooled. The pic that i originally posted i believe has two K's in it by their actions as I observe them. The problem is one has the white face and the other one is totally black so my original theory is not holding up so far.It usually takes me about 7 weeks to be pretty sure! Don't worry I will let y'all know in the end.
Kurt

 

[DeesHens]

I for one will keep my mouth shut this time, it just causes too much drama! My bad, lets get back to BA's.
Dee,
Good luck picking out the cockerels. I have been trying to figure it out for 3 years and still get fooled. The pic that i originally posted i believe has two K's in it by their actions as I observe them. The problem is one has the white face and the other one is totally black so my original theory is not holding up so far.It usually takes me about 7 weeks to be pretty sure! Don't worry I will let y'all know in the end.
Kurt

Oh well. We all do the best we can and go from there what ever the outcome. Such is life and all that. I do believe that their actions are the biggest clue for the most part. I did show my DH your pics and in pic one with a black face chick stretching in a dominant cock manner convinced him that was a male. LOL However I have seen chicks that end up being "pullets with an attitude". I had one I named Queenie for obvious reasons. She stood up to the roo so he didn't bother her. These were BR's not BA's however. Not that it matters in this regard. I am keenly interested in your outcome and do appreciate you letting us know in the near future your outcome. Maybe I'll learn something... I hope!

~Dee~

 

[WVDan44]

Hey Curt

Sorry 'bout that. Geoff was just having a bit of fun with me and I was going along with it. There is no drama here or anything that anyone needs to get their knickers in a knot over. All is well. I enjoy a good give and take now and again.

 

[DeesHens]

Quote:
Just for the record... I am guilty of "fence talk" however to be clear I never took offense to your remark Dan. Actually I agreed. I would much rather see pics of black aussies.

BTW My DH has my paddock fenced and hot wired so all that is left to do now is finish putting the overhead netting up and a few odds and ends. It turned out wonderful and I am very grateful to him for all his hard work.

I always feel like my day is better after looking at the BA pics in here. Even though I won't breed and show them I am a huge fan.I appreciate the SOP BA's very much. I will continue to cheer you all on as you work for SOP. I do so appreciate that you don't look down your nose at those of us that merely are fans but have hatchery BA's. If I could have found a way to have three BA hens from a breeder I would have done so. But since I ran into dead ends I would rather have three hatchery BA pullets than none. So therefore I plan to pick some up Mar. 1st locally. They are shipped from Privett Hatchery to our Co-Op. It will be interesting to see what I end up with at any rate. I plan to hand raise my girls as egg laying pets and will spoil them as I do all my pets. It's just how I roll. Cannot wait! I will post pics when I get them. ~Dee~

 

[Lobzi]

I have a question about the sheen color on the black feathers. First, is this effect unique to Australoprs or do other black chickens have this same effect. If so, which ones. Next, is there a difference between birds that have the green vs purple sheen? I havent seen but suspect there may be some with a blue sheen.

 

[WVDan44]

Hi Dee

I will anxiously await your photos! When I recently decided to get australorps, I was only interested in eggs and homesteading. After seeing different breeders' birds on this forum, I have become interested in the SOP myself. This is not a place where you should feel that you have to be in lock step with everyone. BYC seems to have people of all walks of life, with all kinds of reasons for keeping chickens, including pets. There is a place on BYC where a person can get pretty much whatever they want. I suppose that everything a person says can be taken a number of ways, depending on what the viewer is looking for, be it a fight, or someone to agree with. I really don't worry too much about that. As a beginner I'm here to learn and to enjoy meeting and talking with other chicken owners. You have fun with your birds and spoil them rotten! Don't forget to post those photos.

Dan