California - Northern

[DoubleMM]

Mixed... has Cochin in him

 

[gander007]

What do you guys think, is this chick a girl or a boy? 5 month old.

Pretty young pullet you have there but why is she not producing any egg's yet

 

[ronott1]

Mixed... has Cochin in him

That is a very pretty boy!

 

[BCollie]

Here's her comb

 

[DoubleMM]

That is a very pretty boy!

Thanks...

All we know about him is his father was Cochin. Got him at a swap for 2 bucks when he was about 5/6 weeks??? He's now between 18 and 21 weeks. A big boy with tree trunk yellow legs. Mostly Blue with Red, Gold and Cream. Very calm, non-aggressive.

Would he be a splash or calico?



We're going to use him on the easter/olive/rainbow egger, what else can we throw into the mix "Mutt" project.

We are open to suggestion on what to cross him with. We can't wait to see what we get.

 

[Hangtown Farms]

Yep... dinner at our place, too. Four BCM cockerels. Just breaks the heart.

We're currently in F1, but, these four BCM cockerels were seeming promising. Sweet, friendly boys- ate apples gently from the hand. Crawled on your lap and liked to be held. They were 3 months, and starting to color in. Type good, eyes good, shanks/ feet/ tail angle and size good, and getting big/ some beginning to round out in chests. No halos, nor mahogany (is copper-red on saddle, just dark photo), so they were going in a positive direction....Then, one day, a dreaded sprig shows up. End of story.





.

Those of you who are removing sprigs from your flock, make sure to really look over combs carefully (see the very tiny sprig upper right?) There should be no folds, lumps, double prongs, or thumbprints- that next gen needs clean combs only. Another important thing... make sure that the back blade does not have points, but is a smooth blade. Defined points indicates that the bird probably carries a gene for sprigs (even if it does not show a sprig.). Check hens and pullets carefully too. They are smaller, but if they are there they can be seen, but, at least sprigged pullets can be put in a layers only flock.

Both Dad and mom have nice, sprig free combs with smooth blade blacks, but carried the single opposite (hidden recessed) genes, so recessed genes like this can happen when crossing over to another strain. This has been the worst fault we've dealt with (so far), so, have been feeling lucky, otherwise. We have been pretty unlucky trying out other lines this past summer.

There's 4 more boys we have a serious eye on now, so hopefully, they will all make it to 6 months...

The sprig probably comes from the Penedesenca. The general region is not all that far apart and I had heard rumors of them being mixed for vigor and to add darkness. Not sure if that is true but makes sense.

Here's her comb

there are no rear appendixes on her comb

 

[BCollie]

Is that a bad thing?

 

[Hangtown Farms]

Is that a bad thing?

no Marans should not have them Penedesenca do

 

[Hangtown Farms]

no Marans should not have them Penedesenca do

just realized there hard to se in this picture

 

[sol2go]

Thought I'd share here too. My very first extraction of my honey. I'm so excited and it's delicious!

Well, they were starting to draw out comb on the 2nd super, but no honey in it. I only extracted 8 frames because the outer 2 frames were only capped on one side. Now I have to figure out what to do with those frames because I'll need to take the super off the hive to treat for mites.

It's hard to do the work and take pictures, but here is what I got with my phone. It looks like I'll end up with 2 to 2 1/2 gallons of honey. It's still draining and straining, but I came in to have lunch. Keep in mind this is my first time harvesting, so I'm certainly not a pro at this.


I chose to extract in our well house. It is a sealed building with lighting, so it seemed like a good choice. All set up and ready to go:
<edited pics>

Had to take a break and let the sieve catch up.


I'm glad I did this in the morning, it was starting to get hotter and the bees were less patient. I had the smoker ready to go, but I didn't need it. No stings either, though 1 bee was trying like heck to get me.

It was a lot easier than I thought it would be.

very interested to read your post, and your positive comments!
We have natural beehives on the property and have considered a more managed situation for the the honey...