Australorps breed Thread

[cubakid]

I guess I'm lucky that here in California I can find show chickens anywhere. I also happen to have a major Australorp breeder as a friend.

 

[ronott1]

I really enjoyed hatching eggs this year. I will be hatching more this coming year. I will be getting some Hupp eggs and I think I will try hatching some Marans, maybe some Cream Legbars also.

Dan

Hatching is addicting.

I hope the hatch well for you. Marans are tough sometimes. CLs were medium tough. The Hupp Australorps hatched nicely.

 

[Gramma Chick]

I went to Great lengths to find a place to buy my chicks. It just depends on what you want and how much effort you are willing to put into it.

If I wanted JUST egg layers I would have ISA Browns, Red Sexlinks, or White Leghorns.

Dan

I think most of us started out as just wanting egg layers ...
Then we found out there are chickens out there that were better than hatchery . Who knew ?
All of us are learning ...Some of us dont know what the standard is ...SOP .Everyone has personal preferences also .
The thing I noticed about the roo other than the lack of points ..was he looked like a young roo . Not yet developed yet
Please be kind & help those who are less experienced .

 

[Gramma Chick]

I guess I'm lucky that here in California I can find show chickens anywhere. I also happen to have a major Australorp breeder as a friend.

You are double lucky ! Near a breeder & a friend too !

 

[DeesHens]

Yes, that was exactly the conclusion I arrived at after much seeking before I purchased my hatchery chicks. It became obvious to me that I would need to purchase an incubator and eggs from a good breeder to obtain those fine Black Aussies. Well now, that is great for all of you able to travel or care for larger numbers of birds and all. Quite honestly I am in poor health so my limitations prevent me from doing what I really would want to do. But never mind that. I settle for what is possible and count my blessings. I do enjoy Bella & Peppa very much and their eggs are yummy. Anyway, thanks for your input. Appreciate your thoughtful replies. My momma taught me at a young age that beauty is only skin deep. So I guess I can appreciate my hatchery birds for who they are.

LOL

My Peppa is so fun... a real character. While Bella and Betsy Barr Rock go in to roost for the night Peppa sits in the doorway frame waiting for me to come out each night. I tend my chores with her watching over me and than tell her it is time to roost. I had to gently push her in at first. I did get pecked a couple of times but I wear gloves. Now she is beginning to understand so when I get ready to shut the door she reluctantly goes in on her own. She is like a little watch dog. Cracks me up. ~Dee~

 

[smhoekzema]

I'm starting to think this little one might be a roo. She is half the size again of her hatch mate and her legs are so thick! Opinions??

 

[MeanV2]

I think most of us started out as just wanting egg layers ...
Then we found out there are chickens out there that were better than hatchery . Who knew ?
All of us are learning ...Some of us dont know what the standard is ...SOP .Everyone has personal preferences also .
The thing I noticed about the roo other than the lack of points ..was he looked like a young roo . Not yet developed yet
Please be kind & help those who are less experienced .

If someone does not point out the difference then no one has a chance to learn. I have done No breeding yet and I am constantly trying to learn and search for info.

Any comments I made and I know the same goes for Cubakid was made in the best interest of everyone. Any adult should be able to take constructive critics. It seems many of the most knowledgeable people don't post on this thread any more. I for one hope the experienced people hang around and critique my chickens. I do know that there are a lot of Black chickens that are a very poor representation of the breed.

I hope all here are at least striving to improve the breed, not anything less!

Dan

 

[chickisoup]

Good blessed Sunday morning everyone!

First, thank you all for your input!
Grammachick and Deeshens - I can totally understand your frustration . I too have limitations of health, climate, abundance of predators, etc that keeps me from being able to do all the hatching and breeding I would love to do. Probably a blessing in disguise for my poor city raised hubby otherwise I would have the entire 20 acre field between our house and woods loaded with feathered beauties!!!

Dan - I greatly value your (and others) input on what the australorp should be versus what is being assembly line produced by most hatcheries. Because of you all I have learned that most (but not all) commercial hatcheries are nothing more than the "puppy mills" of the poultry world and not just for the australorp.

I fell in love with Lorps year and a half ago when I decided I just had to have chickens in my life again after more years than I want to say and talked my hubby into surrendering one of his hunting shacks. While he was busy dragging the thing out of the woods and converting it into a wonderful little coop I heard of a flock in trouble. By the time we got there only the sickest were left of over 100 birds stuffed into a cage in the corner of a barn. We brought home four of what I thought were black sex links but once I was able to get them reasonably healthy I realized one was an Aussie. I fell head over heels for her and the breed. (sadly, only one of my girls has survived. Momma, the aussie, finally succumbed to her bad breeding and health issues and needed to be culled a few months ago-the last little sex-link is still holding her own tho due to reproductive issues has not laid for a long time which is fine with me. her eggs were so full of "stuff" they weren't appetizing anyway).

My little flock now consists of three 8 mo. old cinnamon queens, my little sex-link, one 15 mo. old leghorn? mutt (a whole another, very funny, story :/ ) and one Lorp roo named Little Max.

Little Max had a very rough start in life but is growing into a handsome young man. I purchased what I was told were two pullets from a small breeder sight unseen at 9 weeks in late August. Oops. Max was much smaller. Found out she (he) was a very sick little chick. Cocci, loaded with worms. Honestly didn't think she (he ) would even survive. Anyway, with some very hard work and a lot of drugs I got her (him) healthy only to discover I had 2 roos. Big Max was beautiful and I found him a wonderful home with a lady who already had two of his sisters. It was heart-breaking to let him go because he was so sweet and incredibly protective of his little brother. I wasn't sure how little Max would adjust without his guardian as they were inseparable and never mixed with the rest of my little flock because the sex-links picked on them. Anyway, Little Max is doing fine. He is now 6 mo. old and still very shy but I am slowly getting him to warm up to me now that his brother is no longer here and he is slowly being accepted, one at a time by the rest of the flock. He also is showing good intelligence, learning expected routines very quickly, except that is, what all these girls are and how HE is supposed to be leading and protecting them!!! He is a totally chicken chicken!!!

Little Max had his development stunted by his illness, it took him literally months to finally stop passing intestinal lining completely, so he is a bit of a late "bloomer". He just started trying to crow in the past 2 weeks. It was hilarious because his first attempt sounded EXACTLY like the hen laying song! He is getting better, sort of. Now he just sounds like a very bad yodeler. His comb and wattles have just started to really develop but his plumage (with the help of a lot of extra protein) is finally growing in nicely and he is almost as grand looking as his brother . I hope to post a pic of him to get some honest critiques from you more knowledgeable folks here. I am going to be looking for a couple NON-HATCHERY ladies for him in the spring which is going to be a real challenge because of my rather remote location (took me months to locate the breeder he came from) and my goal is to eventually have a quality, all Lorp, little flock.

Really looking forward to all the wisdom, advice, honesty and shared experiences from everyone as I am still very much a novice on many things chicken and appreciate all the help and guidance I can get!

Now, I must go shovel a bit of snow and finish a few run projects while our temps are back up into the 20's. They are supposed to take another plunge later in the week after we get hit with another good snow.

HAVE A GREAT CYBER MONDAY ALL!

 

[ronott1]

I'm starting to think this little one might be a roo. She is half the size again of her hatch mate and her legs are so thick! Opinions??

I can't tell from the pictures yet.

The legs do not look large and there is no comb or wattle that looks boyish yet.

Nice looking chick!

 

[chickisoup]

Quote: beautiful baby!