California - Northern

[tommysgirl]

Add in some exchequer leghorns, Columbian rocks, Columbian cochins, silver campine, SL polish, WCB polish..................just adding B&W birds form my flock

These are the ones I could provide for your theme

That would be quite the sight. Maybe it would confuse predators, like a herd of zebra!

hmmmmm exchequer longhorns...I forgot you had those too. I bet they would confuse predators.

We could get 50 different grey/blue birds and call it.....50 shades of Grey.....

Yes! I can't wait to see the Pita Pintas mixes with my new Australorps.

Are you going to get those Breeds? Columbian Rocks and Silver Penciled Rocks would look good with them too.

Mottled Javas need a lot of work so that would be a hard but rewarding Breed.

Why are Mottled Java hard? They and Auburn Javas are on my list of breeds to have at some point. I know they aren't easy to find but are they also hard to hatch and keep???

Do you guys remember that artist Christos??? he put a fabric wall up somewhere in Marin or the east bay I think and wrapped the statue of liberty. Anyway do you think we could call our black and white flock art and Install them in a green pasture with a bright red coop? Maybe the NEA would give us a heft grant to get started

 

[tommysgirl]

i'm planning on planting a few more fruit trees this winter (so far have five apples & one plum, all started this year or last) -- still deciding what to add! my property (which i bought two years ago) came with two mature cherry trees that the original owner planted, but no other fruit trees (lots of oaks, though!) -- so am considering peach, apricot (or pluot!), olive, pomegranate, fig, etc...

and the birds (crows, not chickens) stole ALL the cherries this year -- it was a very small crop. last year they were amazing.

how do you protect them from deer?

 

[tommysgirl]

My pluots are loaded - I picked a bunch this weekend and still have more to pick. Santa Rosa plums are to die for, but they are done now. Peaches are ripening now. I lost most of the fruit from my white nectarine due to that late rain we had - the fruit split, some were salvageable. Apples are starting to ripen, but not ready yet. Figs are set for the fall crop.

Ozzie and Harriet are great fig pickers... They all love them and those two have figured out the source. Oz is tall enough that he can easily reach the lower branches Harriet jumps.

I was away all day yesterday so the chickens were locked up and apparently that did something for Ozzie and the big girls. They are now squatting for him.

 

[tommysgirl]

Langshans and BRs would definitely be nice additions

You could throw in a few white and black Langshans, too! Or how about some really nice barred rocks?!

 

[ronott1]

hmmmmm exchequer longhorns...I forgot you had those too. I bet they would confuse predators.

We could get 50 different grey/blue birds and call it.....50 shades of Grey.....
Why are Mottled Java hard? They and Auburn Javas are on my list of breeds to have at some point. I know they aren't easy to find but are they also hard to hatch and keep???

Do you guys remember that artist Christos??? he put a fabric wall up somewhere in Marin or the east bay I think and wrapped the statue of liberty. Anyway do you think we could call our black and white flock art and Install them in a green pasture with a bright red coop? Maybe the NEA would give us a heft grant to get started

Mottled Javas are on the decline and not close to SOP now. When a breed is in decline like that, they become less vigorous so they would likely have issues with flock health. The ones you get from a Hatchery will have been crossed with leghorns so I am talking about Breeder quality that have not been crossed.

The Mottled Javas from a hatchery will not look like it is supposed to. The Standard of Perfection keeps them looking good. Mixing with leghorns changes their shape and often their Utility along with color and patterns. It other words they will not really be Mottled Javas from a Hatchery.

 

[lawatt]

how do you protect them from deer?

the cherry trees are quite mature, probably about 40 years old, so they're too tall for deer -- all the other fruit trees are surrounded by cages to keep the deer away while they're small. just about everything else i've planted here, except for lavender and salvias, are also surrounded by cages -- the deer eat almost anything, esp. this time of year when it's dry and brown.

 

[lawatt]

alright folks, i think i'm about to truly go off the deep end, chicken-wise -- I'm going to buy an incubator. i think i'm going to get the Rcom that Jason recommended -- it sounds the most hassle-free of any i've read about.

this was triggered by a call yesterday from the breeder i got my marans eggs from, she says the birchens might be crossed with a silver duckwing marans, and so wasn't sure what they'd look like when they hatch, and so wanted to refund my money and send me MORE pure birchen eggs in a month or two when she's feeling more confident about them.

I said, don't refund my money, just send more eggs once they're ready -- and of course i have no way of knowing whether anyone will be broody at that point. so i'm taking the plunge now, hoping it will arrive quickly enough so i can steal a few of the mutt eggs that Amelia #2 is sitting on right now & pop them in the machine as a trial run, then can put the chicks back under her if/when they hatch.

and i'm already thinking about a small addition onto my new pen... clearly i have caught this chicken bug thing.

 

[OR4-hmom]

Blue sky overhead this morning, of course they are talking about thunder and lightening with it.

The quail are such little caracters! I hope the male figures it oit, he tends to trot along side the girls while hanging on to their head feathers, or if they stop he runs right over the top to them.

I'm feeding 21 & 28% protein, dried meal worms as treats. I give them small seeds from parakeet mix as treats also. They have oyster shell that I sprinkle in their sand box. Is there something I'm missing?

A couple of them have taken to laying in the shavings in their hide, makes egg collection a game of hide and seek. It may change but 1 is giving me a sea foam green egg with no spota.

 

[OR4-hmom]

the cherry trees are quite mature, probably about 40 years old, so they're too tall for deer -- all the other fruit trees are surrounded by cages to keep the deer away while they're small. just about everything else i've planted here, except for lavender and salvias, are also surrounded by cages -- the deer eat almost anything, esp. this time of year when it's dry and brown.

We have more deer problems in the spring. They strip my lilacs and eat most of the bearded iris growing outside our fence. I wish they could read the Sunset Garden book!

Later this fall ghey will start eating the downed mardone leaves, sounds like the have are eating potato chips in the back.

 

[liz9910]

alright folks, i think i'm about to truly go off the deep end, chicken-wise -- I'm going to buy an incubator. i think i'm going to get the Rcom that Jason recommended -- it sounds the most hassle-free of any i've read about.

this was triggered by a call yesterday from the breeder i got my marans eggs from, she says the birchens might be crossed with a silver duckwing marans, and so wasn't sure what they'd look like when they hatch, and so wanted to refund my money and send me MORE pure birchen eggs in a month or two when she's feeling more confident about them.

I said, don't refund my money, just send more eggs once they're ready -- and of course i have no way of knowing whether anyone will be broody at that point. so i'm taking the plunge now, hoping it will arrive quickly enough so i can steal a few of the mutt eggs that Amelia #2 is sitting on right now & pop them in the machine as a trial run, then can put the chicks back under her if/when they hatch.

and i'm already thinking about a small addition onto my new pen... clearly i have caught this chicken bug thing.

It's hard to stop getting more chickens! Have fun with your incubator. I haven't gotten one yet, trying to keep the chicken addiction under control lol.