Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[marty8587]

There has been some great articulating today!! Thank you Fred and Bee and everyone else for an educational fun ride!!

 

[Rachel'sFlock]

Yeah, I know. Early on I admitted that without being able to photograph them outside in the sun, feathering would be tough to see. In the sunlight? WOW!!!! Another reason you cannot really judge fowl off of my crummy photography posted on here. Ditto, though, for almost everyone else who posts here.

That said, the neck (too thick) the body, (too full for a layer) the legs (far too yellow and thick for a layer) were plenty enough though.

Well, I managed to epic-ly failed the layer trait quiz. But I am not discouraged.This shows me the importance of this thread and reminds me to be grateful for folks willing to take the time to show me better.
I wonder if I would have done better if the subjects had been a breed/purpose closer to one I have to watch, in person??? Probably not. I don't think I could pick an SOP Australorp out of a group, either.

My flock is the only one I have an opportunity to watch and learn, hands-on, from. There are other chickens, but some are owned by my neighbor who is doing everything in an UnBee/OT kind of way, and a few 3 hens in a doll house owners.
This is why I love seeing the OT's, and breeders pics. It gives me an appreciation for other breeds and the standards for those breeds, and a desire to learn more.

Thanks again!

 

[Fred's Hens]

Fred : let me be the first to congradulate you on a well run quiz, informative ingaging and a little fun, I am sure all the folks who rely on the egg layer breeds as their staple bird are happy you were able to share some of this with them.

Once again great job

Thanks Al. Mean that.

I just hope folks have a growing appreciation for what you do Al. You breed some of the very best birds, and most difficult birds to breed, in the world. What Walt does in both breeding and judging all these fowl? Boggles my flippin' mind. That both he and you teach on here? With humor? Priceless.

Thanks also to Bee for letting us kinda hi-jack her thread so very badly. I just thought maybe we could compress a few thousand posts into a basic quiz and see if some of this stuff sticks. Now, we gotta help Bee girl to broader her world, and enrich her life, just a wee bit. Got a feeling a year from now? Our Bee girl will be lighting up the heritage threads.

 

[NikkiMiChickie]

I think we need a weekly quiz. Every Sunday, one of the OTs can post their quiz, following the guidelines Fred has already set. Better yet, post Saturday as he did, but it doesn't start until Sunday. You could rotate, so Fred isn't the only one coming up with a quiz every week. ??????? Thoughts? It would be an exceptional learning experience, and I KNOW how many pics you OTs have on your computers

 

[mkcolls]

Fred, thank you for the informative quiz. We did not know about leg yellowing. Is that only for ISA Browns or is that true for other breeds or mixes?

We appreciate all the time you took to pass along your knowledge and how you arrived at your decisions.

 

[Pozees]

Thanks Al. Mean that.

I just hope folks have a growing appreciation for what you do Al. You breed some of the very best birds, and most difficult birds to breed, in the world. What Walt does in both breeding and judging all these fowl? Boggles my flippin' mind. That both he and you teach on here? With humor? Priceless.

Thanks also to Bee for letting us kinda hi-jack her thread so very badly. I just thought maybe we could compress a few thousand posts into a basic quiz and see if some of this stuff sticks. Now, we gotta help Bee girl to broader her world, and enrich her life, just a wee bit. Got a feeling a year from now? Our Bee girl will be lighting up the heritage threads.

Maybe we could persuade Al to give us a meat birds quiz?

 

[NikkiMiChickie]

Maybe we could persuade Al to give us a meat birds quiz? 

X2
Pretty pretty please, Al?

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
Case in point, you see this raggedy little hatchery stock New Hamp? She is over 6 yrs old and when these pics were taken she had just arrived back to my place after a year and a half at Hell Farm, a place at which all the others of her breed had died. I had her for 5 years and she made the cull list every year, along with all her other New Hamp sisters from the same bunch. She was rehomed to a bad place for awhile and when she came back she had lice and mites. She was still laying when she arrived at the end of Sept. and kept laying 5 days out of 7 right up until about 3 wks ago when she went into full molt.

She was the rooster's favorite until she molted and they were inseparable up until then. No more laying, no more sex, no more roo...for awhile. She'll be back.

 

[al6517]

Hijacking the thread.......... my chinny chin chin............ have you seen the numbers of viewers and participation, was the highest the thread has ever recorded, so yeah......... hijacking is accepted.

I will mirror your statement regarding Walt's judging prowess, I could never store that much info and retain it to the point of having to use it effectively year in and year out. But he was like a college professor for like Harvard, somebody real smart like that anyway. I watch those judges for hours on end every year, follow them around the endless row's of cages, it is truley amazing.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Case in point, you see this raggedy little hatchery stock New Hamp? She is over 6 yrs old and when these pics were taken she had just arrived back to my place after a year and a half at Hell Farm, a place at which all the others of her breed had died. I had her for 5 years and she made the cull list every year, along with all her other New Hamp sisters from the same bunch. She was rehomed to a bad place for awhile and when she came back she had lice and mites. She was still laying when she arrived at the end of Sept. and kept laying 5 days out of 7 right up until about 3 wks ago when she went into full molt.

She was the rooster's favorite until she molted and they were inseparable up until then. No more laying, no more sex, no more roo...for awhile. She'll be back.

Now, see folks. THAT is what I'm talking about. That is a DP utility bird. You want to breed a bird like that. That is DNA you cannot just ignore. What a bird!!!! I got her raggedy cousin over here. She's in full blown moult. Cannot wait to get her next eggs into the bator.