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

[Gargoyle]

I have seen one poo yellowish in color yesterday ( can't stand out there all. Day waiting for her to poo so that's the last poo I have seen from her no idea is she has pood more)
Edit| her poo is 100% normal

If I note where mine are perched in the evening, then in the morning I know which poop pile came from which bird. Does your setup allow for that? If so, you'll see in the morning what she did all night.

 

[Leahs Mom]

How about this....that winter was no more cold than any winters we have previously had or have had since then. Better?

If you want to split hairs, in WV we do have 2 winters in one year, one starts in January and another starts the following fall..in the same calendar year.

 

[Beekissed]

There's probably a reason the Chantecler and Buckeye were developed as cold weather breeds with smaller combs.
I put this in the difference in what can happen and what will certainly without fail happen. A lot of people on this forum have a lot of trouble understanding the difference.
You can have an accident the next time you get in a car, whether you are driving or not, whether it is your fault or not. I sure hope not and don't expect you to, but it can happen. I'd think you'd take reasonable precautions against having an accident, maintaining your car and watching how you drive. I doubt you obsess about it, just take reasonable precautions.
A single combed bird is probably more likely to get frostbite than a smaller combed bird. If you take reaosnable precautions, like keeping the humidity down, it's not likely to happen, but it could.
Not everybody is going to take the same reasonable precautions so a pea, rose, cushion, or whatever smaller combed bird is probably more cold hardy, especially if you don't practice good husbandry. It's just a tiny bit more insurance.

It would have to happen very frequently for one to want to choose a whole breed selection on the type of comb.

I refer to cold or hot hardy breeds as such if they have no trouble thriving in either temp extreme and do not need additional nutritional or environmental changes in order to thrive and produce in those seasons.

Conversely, one could say that pea comb breeds are not hot hardy due to their lack of adequate heat release through the comb that larger combed breeds seem to have. By their lack of adequate comb surface area, they couldn't vent heat and humidity as well as larger combed breeds, thus would be a poor choice for hot and humid climates due to the chance they would die from heat exhaustion. It could happen...

 

[Mskayladog]

If I note where mine are perched in the evening, then in the morning I know which poop pile came from which bird. Does your setup allow for that? If so, you'll see in the morning what she did all night.

Yes it certainly is very good idea. And thanks Fred for the info.

 

[bruceh]

i was not sure where fred was going with this bird. so i put out a suggestion. looking at the bird yep a well bred rock. would give more of the rounder look. fred your bird turned into a project for all of us. just kicking it around. as bee would say front porch talk. it is kinda fun and interesting. at night when i am off the computer i think about that bird and the possibilities.

bee these marans are killing me. i am trying to sex them . my gosh their tuff. just got to wait and see. got 1 tall 3 short, tail feathers here, tail feathers there. here a feather , there a feather, everywhere a feather feather. ( you got the song of old mcdonald ) combs are still too small to tell.
the welsummers 98% sure female. and fast to feather. look like sparrows. i am going to sit and watch the chicks for a while and get to know who is who. i may just leg band these guys for making notes. i enjoy the challenge. you might be right with the male competitive thing. okay stop with the eye rolling.

has anyone ever seen red feathering in a cornish x. seen black but not red. these guys are short . . this batch may have some heavy cornish genes in them very slow maturing , short, just weird. 10 weeks and 5 lbs. it is going to be a while for a heavy table bird. we will see.

 

[Fred's Hens]

On some breeds, the head shape calls for a pea comb. On other head shapes, the head of a rock absolutely calls for a single comb and a rose comb would look ridiculous. Just sayin'. The Wyandottes, Chanteclar and Buckeyes all look fabulous. Truth is, I've always been a single comb guy. Don't know why even.

That said, an over sized, exaggerated comb is a fault. I honestly breed for shorter, single combs. That looks the best to me. To each his own.

The whole "frost bite comb phobia" is for others threads here. Lots of them of them to dive right into.

True O.T.'ers don't pay much mind to the issue. It seems to be one of the major concerns of folks who have those itty, bitty, teeny, tiny coops in the city. Apparently, from what I can tell, frost bite seems to target urban chickens to much larger degree than birds raised out in the country.

 

[MagicChicken]

Quote:
Duane Urch may have rhode island whites. They're listed on his website: http://www.heritagebreedpoultry.com/urch_turnland_poultry/

 

[Fred's Hens]

i was not sure where fred was going with this bird. so i put out a suggestion. looking at the bird yep a well bred rock. would give more of the rounder look. fred your bird turned into a project for all of us. just kicking it around. as bee would say front porch talk. it is kinda fun and interesting. at night when i am off the computer i think about that bird and the possibilities.

Hey Bruce, Don't you think these white girls would be best going White Rock or just take them back to Red? The body type looks GREAT in either color, but the White Rock would certainly be a natural way to go.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Duane Urch may have rhode island whites. They're listed on his website: http://www.heritagebreedpoultry.com/urch_turnland_poultry/

If I was fortunate to be one of the very few people in the US with true bred, heritage Rhode Island Whites, I would breed them with respect and honor the breed, working to restore their numbers. I just don't need another heritage line at this time. Duane is a very, very good breeder. Thanks Magic.

 

[Beekissed]

On some breeds, the head shape calls for a pea comb. On other head shapes, the head of a rock absolutely calls for a single comb and a rose comb would look ridiculous. Just sayin'. The Wyandottes, Chanteclar and Buckeyes all look fabulous. Truth is, I've always been a single comb guy. Don't know why even.

That said, an over sized, exaggerated comb is a fault. I honestly breed for shorter, single combs. That looks the best to me. To each his own.

The whole "frost bite comb phobia" is for others threads here. Lots of them of them to dive right into.

True O.T.'ers don't pay much mind to the issue. It seems to be one of the major concerns of folks who have those itty, bitty, teeny, tiny coops in the city. Apparently, from what I can tell, frost bite seems to target urban chickens to much larger degree than birds raised out in the country.

I agree! I'm a tight, single comb lover myself...it just looks more proportionate and I love the look of good proportions in an animal.