Dinner?? I don't think once it starts it will pass.
Your black hens look just like my australorps! They are Australia's version of the orpington. I LOVE them, super sweet birds and very good layers.I went out to check on the chicks we moved to the brooder room, I guess we are going to break it in before it's finished. Like my pretty red wall? I'm getting made fun of lots over that.
We moved this pen into the brooder room. I'm leaving the tarp on loosely to keep the heat in.
We moved the EEs into the first finished pen. I put a t-shirt over one door to help hold the heat in more. They're hanging out there and I'm not sure if they are trying to get away from the light or if they are just more comfortable there. They seem content and aren't chirping.
I stuck my hand in and it felt warm but not hot, warmer than my house. I will have to check on them again I'm sure.
Here again are the black ones I love so much. I only have 2 of them, they look so similar. They're HUGE and plump looking and so calm. They are maybe 6 months old.
What does barring, penciling, lacing mean? These are feather pattern variations. For example a barred rock has a barred pattern on their feathers. Barring can vary with breed and even between roos and hens. Penciling and lacing are different types of feather patterns. Google images of silver penciled cochins (one of my favorite penciled breeds) and silver laced cochins. What does color split mean? I am assuming a bird that is physically one color, for example black, but is split to another color or pattern. For example I have black bantam cochin roosters who are solid black, but they are "split" to mottled. Which means one or both parents carried the mottling gene and when crossed with blue or splash hens I could get blue mottled as well. What does "aren't split to a BBS" mean? BBS stands for blue, black, splash. A lot of breeders combine these colors because black usually carries really nice type because it has been worked on for so long. Splash is a dilution of blue so is an offshoot in a pen of BBS birds. I am working on BBS cochins. I only have black roosters and splash hens. The black roos have really nice type to improve on the splash which is a newer variety and needs work. I will get blue out of these matings and can use a blue roo over my splash hens to improve their color and type. So, buff and lavender make isabels. Can in theory, don't quote me on that. There may be some funny stuff going on there and you would have to cull hard and remove any off color birds and keep breeding for the color. That's just a color, right? It is just a color and not an APA recognized or standard one at that. Is jubilee orpington a breed or a color variation? Jubilee is the color, orpington is the breed. I looked up everything tonight, I think anyway, that we talked about on here. The jubilee orps that I saw looked so round it looked like their bodies were sitting on their feet, without legs. Do they make them sit that way for pics? They were probably imported english birds. English orps are huge fluff butts compared to American orps. My barred rock old hen looks like that, she's just tremendously huge and round. I looked at the Aloha project and was amazed at the concept, that is really cool. Then I thought that I wasn't much for bold colors but the more I looked at them I was so entertained by all of the color variations it was just amazing. There is a lot of work to be done there. I think that maybe doing the white rock/new hamp would be the most simple thing for me to do and may be a good place for us to start with breeding and learning this stuff. But I do already have buff orpingtons and if I could get a lavender orp roo I think that would be fun and simple to play with as well. The Jubilees look quite beautiful, and I saw somewhere that I was reading that Jubilee and creole are used intercangeably. The word 'creole' makes a connection here, being from New Orleans. I know that's a silly thing to strike my interest. So, I am going to look for the white rocks and new hamps, I will wait for someone to have an extra lavender orp roo. I have a boat load of extra lavender orp boys that are going to freezer camp next weekend. If you want one let me know. You can just have one, I have a few that are really sweet and I hate to see them go. They are pure lavender and some of them are pretty nice too. I hate to butcher them but I can't justify feeding six extra boys through the winter just because they are sweet! Do I want white rock pullets/new hamp roo, or the other way around? I wouldn't think it would matter. That's two things to work on that seem relatively simple and fun. It's okay to buy the white rocks and new hamps from a hatchery then? Danz will have to answer this one for you.
Thanks for all of your help everyone! I really appreciate it.
