My three large fowl Partridge Chanteclers are now 20 weeks old. Looking forward to eggs in a few weeks? Right now they are housed with some Delaware pullets of the same age. I expect the Delawares to start laying sooner than the Chanteclers, so maybe the Delawares will give the Chanteclers a lesson about how it's done.
I have two pullets, one of which does not appear to be of good quality. First a comparison of the combs of the two pullets:
It's a little hard to tell in the photos, but the first has a couple rows of barely visible points; the second's comb is almost non-existent, like I assume a pullet's cushion comb should be.
Here are two pictures of the comb of my only cockerel:
It's pretty smooth -- no defined ridge -- and it is bigger than the second pullet's comb. It looks right to me.
Now for the feathering of the pullets:
The first is obviously not right. The second is darker than the Partridge Chanteclers I have seen in pictures (in this thread for instance). I think it's pretty, but I am new to this and would appreciate any knowledgeable opinions. The pattern in the wing feathers is different from smaller feathers on her body, is this normal?
And, the cockerel (who was pushing himself into the corner to get away from the camera):
His feathers still give me the impression of the juvenile that he is. It reminds me of the awkward stages of Junior High School. He's been crowing for barely two weeks, but up until two weeks ago he had two other cockerels in the pen with him and one of them was crowing early and the obvious leader of the boys.
Someone mentioned earlier in this thread that they had obtained some John Blehm culls. These birds are from a John Blehm line, though I did not purchase them directly from Blehm. I mention this in way of background only, I do not know how many generation they are removed from Blehm's farm and I mean to make no claim of quality based upon where they came from. But, I am wondering if my first pullet resembles the Blehm culls.
I'm looking for any opinions from those that know a thing or two about Partridge Chanteclers. I do not have great expectations for these birds, so you will not be letting me down if you are critical.
