d'anver lovers,discuss the breed and post some pics!

[speckledhen]

Thanks Cyn. He was acting fine when I got home. I've been keeping a close eye on them no other signs or strange sounds coming from either or their neighbors.

Well, good. Sometimes, I think the dampness coupled with the crazy way some dip their entire face in water make for some weird sounds. Isaac gurgles every time he drinks. If someone else heard him, they'd be telling me he had some disease, LOL.

 

[K Epp]

All of mine have gone on strike. In protest of the weather they have stopped laying. Out oh about 45 hens I got 3 eggs yesterday 5 the day before. Non from the ducks either.

Its either the weather or the stupid neighbors rooster. Yes, the same idiot with the dogs got game chickens. He took no better care of them and in a couple of months all that was left was a big rooster. I chased it home once and my husband told him to keep it on that side of the road. After finding one of my roos nearly dead. Its found a better home. That may be mean, but I figure if I can kill it on my property I can do something else with it. Other than saying this here. I don't know anything.

 

[speckledhen]

All of mine have gone on strike. In protest of the weather they have stopped laying. Out oh about 45 hens I got 3 eggs yesterday 5 the day before. Non from the ducks either.

Its either the weather or the stupid neighbors rooster. Yes, the same idiot with the dogs got game chickens. He took no better care of them and in a couple of months all that was left was a big rooster. I chased it home once and my husband told him to keep it on that side of the road. After finding one of my roos nearly dead. Its found a better home. That may be mean, but I figure if I can kill it on my property I can do something else with it. Other than saying this here. I don't know anything.

Yeah, I hear ya. Some folks are just crazy stupid clueless.

There are chickens all around me. The less-than-intelligent woman across from my driveway got two Golden Comets last year, the same person who thinks coyotes don't eat chickens. They are pretty gals she free ranges in her not-so-great corner location where several gravel roads (predator highways) come together. At least mine are behind livestock fencing. I have found hers at my driveway gate and told her to keep them off my property but she is old and has health issues and doesn't watch them and they go all over. Maybe her relatives who now live there in multiple storage sheds will watch them. Yeah, dream on. Eventually, they'll disappear, by fox, coyote or dog.


ETA: I don't know what's up between Aubrey and Spike but Aubrey has been chasing poor Spike all over the pen today relentlessly. I don't want Spike to be injured-Aubrey has big spurs and Spike has zero, not to mention, Spike is just a very low-key kind of guy. He only fake-spars with Deacon at the fence. Maybe that's what it is. Aubrey hates for Spike to do that and chastises him when he gets sick of it. Aubrey will not do that, period. He completely ignores other roosters who approach his pen.

 

[speckledhen]

Belgian D'anver lineup.

Left to right: Penny, Lucy, Sissy and Mina


Carly showed up a few minutes later (far left). Carly, Penny and Aimee, the latter raising babies now in a different coop, are 4 years old. Mina and Lucy are 3 years old and Sissy is, I think, around 2 years old. Mina is Aimee's daughter. Lucy is Penny's daughter-they rarely ever lay eggs, Penny more than Lucy. I think that Sissy belongs to Aimee, but can't remember for sure.

 

[SchipAlong]

My 3.5 week olds' combs look exceptionally dark in photos, and sometimes even in person. Is that normal for the blacks? It's almost like their combs transition from black to red to the flesh tone my blue quails had at that age.


I cleaned the coop/run and set up the introduction fence. Then since it was so nice out I decided to try bringing the little guys out for a bit.

^ I don't know what to think about this one. It's been steadily only about 1 gram heavier than Sel was, it was the first chick to get a proper tail, and it has the most feathers, but that comb is looking pretty dark (the close-up comb photo is of this chick). It's extremely friendly, wants nothing more than to be held and loved on, so even if it is a roo' I'll probably give it a chance. Today it hopped onto my hand for wing scratches then started trying to take a dust bath on my palm lol.



Sel and Zeste were not impressed about having half their run taken over by babies.

 

[speckledhen]

Quote: Yeah, they look positively thrilled, don't they? LOL.

I can't say about the combs since I haven't had any of these in black, nor any rose combed birds in black, only pea combed.

 

[SchipAlong]

The waiting game to find who's a pullet and who's a cockerel is tough. It was so much easier with my quails lol. The blacks are my dream colour though. As much as I've grown to love the dilutes and the fancy markings, plain black animals will always be my favourite.

For some reason the sight of the chicks has brought on a case of broodiness in Zeste (even though she wants to kill the chicks that are here

). I suspected she was going to go full blown broody when she was wandering around the run going "eek! Budup... Badup... Eek!" Today I found her in the nest shrieking at me (over imaginary eggs, of course), and while it seems like she's given up for now I'm not going to hold my breath on her staying out of the nest for long. I have a feeling the only way I'm going to completely end her broodiness is by letting her have a few babies, the question is more when than if. I've been playing with the idea of getting a few bantam Ameraucana for tiny blue eggs, so now I'm weighting the pros and cons. I still need to integrate the current chicks. On one hand Zeste is the more dominant hen and so while she's preoccupied sitting on a nest, that might allow me to easily integrate them in with Sel who is much more calm/docile. Even now she's more of an opportunistic aggressor, and will only occasionally try to peck the chicks if they happen to wander near her. Other than that she mostly ignores them. Zeste on the other hand will pace the fenceline trying to peck them (I have a feeling her hormones are making her more aggressive than normal, because while she's feisty this is a bit over the top for her). On the other hand, having a fresh batch of chicks could likely make her even worse. I could really see it going both ways. Does anyone have any experience integrating newbies while there's a broody hen? I'm thinking the best idea is to try and keep her unbroody until I can get these guys integrated into the flock, then if she's still insistent on having babies of her own I'll let her.

If only she had pulled this stunt a bit earlier I would have happily given her the d'Anvers chicks instead of brooding them in the office. Of course though the last broody episode happened a while before I would be able to get chicks so I couldn't leave them broody that long, and now the second one is after the chicks are too old to give to her lol.

 

[Greywolf1962]

I guess I should join this thread. My wife bought two lavender hens and a Cuckoo rooster for me yesterday. I've not had any bantams before, just LF. THEY are about 14 months old (we were told) and they seem a bit shy could be stress I guess. We'll see in a few weeks.

 

[speckledhen]

I guess I should join this thread. My wife bought two lavender hens and a Cuckoo rooster for me yesterday. I've not had any bantams before, just LF. THEY are about 14 months old (we were told) and they seem a bit shy could be stress I guess. We'll see in a few weeks.

Welcome! I'm not much of a bantam person myself, generally. Had one bantam Cochin hen, a lavender, (now deceased) then got the D'Anvers. Chose them for their clean legs and rose combs. They're a great breed.

 

[Bine]

My black Fizzle-Hen has hatched two sweet little babies. The father is my blue and red d'anvers and I am really surprised. I thought they would be more or less black or dark blue, but see:




So, maybe someone can tell me what colours the chicks are and what happend to the blue and black genes.