UncleChuck
Chirping
It's been a rejuvenating rainy day in North Florida and we have finally had the time to set a full clutch of eggs for my OE and EE project.
In corner #1 with 4 hens and a total 26 eggs is Well, Sir. Well, Sir is from a Welsummer momma and Black Copper Marans daddy. He's a bit of a brat and can't decide whether to be happy or annoyed at my presence. 3 of his 4 hens have genes for blue eggs, at least one is guaranteed homozygous (CCL).
Coming in at 7 eggs set is Cluckrista, the Crested Cream Legbar. She's a bit but not the most flighty. Her babies are the only ones that are expected to be auto-sexing. Since CCLs have such a strong genes for it, most F1 hybrids are as well.
Next we have Cecelia, with 8 beautiful white speckled sea blue eggs. I don't know much about her lineage but I think her papa was a Marans and her ma was at least part Ameraucana.
Next, with 6 set eggs is Struggles the Ayam Cemani. Struggles is sweet and approachable for an AC and after 3 months of lay still produces very small banty sized eggs.
Last in Corner #1 is Nancy, the first of 4 proprietary black star hens of unknown lineage. All I know is that somewhere down the line is some Ameraucana because her 3 sisters all have beards and fluffy cheeks. Nancy lays beautiful speckled green eggs, presently the most interesting layer in the whole yard! She is also the flightiest of all the hens.
In corner #2 with 3 hens and 25 eggs, we have the most handsome, if not the most sweet or respectful young punk, Montgomery, or "Momo" for short. He hatched out of a beautiful blue egg and is half Black Copper Marans.
All 3 of Mr. Montgomery's hens are the aforementioned proprietary blend black star olive Eggers. The first is rather special. Her name is Kev-hen and she spent the first 20 weeks or so of her life as a boy! Obviously that proprietary blend is not as close to 100% as the original recipe. Kev-hen is so sweet that it was decided that she was safe from becoming tetrazini before we even realized she was a hen. My friends who gave me the eggs last year mentioned that one of their customers also got a few black cockerels. Kev-hen has 7 eggs in this clutch.
Next we have Gorgeous Marylin. She is the heftiest of all the ladies and her feathers shine violet in the sun. I am so excited to see what her and Momo's babies will look like. It's no guarantee her babies will be his, however, because Marylin likes to jump out of her pen after laying her egg and spend the day with Well, Sir's bunch. She gave me 8 pale blue eggs. I suspect heterozygous blue genetics, which is why she is paired with Montgomery instead of Well, Sir.
Last up in corner #2 is Marble with a whopping 10 eggs! She didn't get the blue gene but lays lots of beautiful speckled eggs.
Last, and only least in numbers, coming at you in corner #3 is a rooster named Rooster! This big mature man is a pure Bielevelder, (one of only 3 purebred birds in the mix) and is the most respectful of all the roosters. Him and his hens are actually fosters that we are caring for.
Rooster takes care of one of the two sweetest hens in the whole yard, Flippa, the Golden Comet (Or, more accurately, half White Rock and half New Hampshire). Her eggs are GINORMOUS and speckled! Bielevelders lay brown, also, so those jumbo egg genes won't show up in the OEs until next year but it will be worth the wait! She gave us 3 eggs this week.
And the last hen with only 2 eggs, is Babra the H57 Easter Egger. She lays a nice large vivid green egg. I'm hoping to get at least one nice, respectful cockerel from her and Rooster.
I love backyard mixes. It's fun to see how the babies turn out. I have some breeding goals and this is actually great for my own record keeping. I try not to candle until day 10 or so but sometimes just can't help myself. Here's what the paper scorecard looks like.
In corner #1 with 4 hens and a total 26 eggs is Well, Sir. Well, Sir is from a Welsummer momma and Black Copper Marans daddy. He's a bit of a brat and can't decide whether to be happy or annoyed at my presence. 3 of his 4 hens have genes for blue eggs, at least one is guaranteed homozygous (CCL).
Coming in at 7 eggs set is Cluckrista, the Crested Cream Legbar. She's a bit but not the most flighty. Her babies are the only ones that are expected to be auto-sexing. Since CCLs have such a strong genes for it, most F1 hybrids are as well.
Next we have Cecelia, with 8 beautiful white speckled sea blue eggs. I don't know much about her lineage but I think her papa was a Marans and her ma was at least part Ameraucana.
Next, with 6 set eggs is Struggles the Ayam Cemani. Struggles is sweet and approachable for an AC and after 3 months of lay still produces very small banty sized eggs.
Last in Corner #1 is Nancy, the first of 4 proprietary black star hens of unknown lineage. All I know is that somewhere down the line is some Ameraucana because her 3 sisters all have beards and fluffy cheeks. Nancy lays beautiful speckled green eggs, presently the most interesting layer in the whole yard! She is also the flightiest of all the hens.
In corner #2 with 3 hens and 25 eggs, we have the most handsome, if not the most sweet or respectful young punk, Montgomery, or "Momo" for short. He hatched out of a beautiful blue egg and is half Black Copper Marans.
All 3 of Mr. Montgomery's hens are the aforementioned proprietary blend black star olive Eggers. The first is rather special. Her name is Kev-hen and she spent the first 20 weeks or so of her life as a boy! Obviously that proprietary blend is not as close to 100% as the original recipe. Kev-hen is so sweet that it was decided that she was safe from becoming tetrazini before we even realized she was a hen. My friends who gave me the eggs last year mentioned that one of their customers also got a few black cockerels. Kev-hen has 7 eggs in this clutch.
Next we have Gorgeous Marylin. She is the heftiest of all the ladies and her feathers shine violet in the sun. I am so excited to see what her and Momo's babies will look like. It's no guarantee her babies will be his, however, because Marylin likes to jump out of her pen after laying her egg and spend the day with Well, Sir's bunch. She gave me 8 pale blue eggs. I suspect heterozygous blue genetics, which is why she is paired with Montgomery instead of Well, Sir.
Last up in corner #2 is Marble with a whopping 10 eggs! She didn't get the blue gene but lays lots of beautiful speckled eggs.
Last, and only least in numbers, coming at you in corner #3 is a rooster named Rooster! This big mature man is a pure Bielevelder, (one of only 3 purebred birds in the mix) and is the most respectful of all the roosters. Him and his hens are actually fosters that we are caring for.
Rooster takes care of one of the two sweetest hens in the whole yard, Flippa, the Golden Comet (Or, more accurately, half White Rock and half New Hampshire). Her eggs are GINORMOUS and speckled! Bielevelders lay brown, also, so those jumbo egg genes won't show up in the OEs until next year but it will be worth the wait! She gave us 3 eggs this week.
And the last hen with only 2 eggs, is Babra the H57 Easter Egger. She lays a nice large vivid green egg. I'm hoping to get at least one nice, respectful cockerel from her and Rooster.
I love backyard mixes. It's fun to see how the babies turn out. I have some breeding goals and this is actually great for my own record keeping. I try not to candle until day 10 or so but sometimes just can't help myself. Here's what the paper scorecard looks like.
