Hello Linda,
I'm going to infer that Beekissed and Linda are not the same bird. Okay so far? I have 4 white plymouth rock pullets who are the cutest little widgets at this stage in their junior high school life. They have a very upright trail which looks like a Japanese fan. Indeed, there are pigeons with a similar tail known as fantails as I remember. I looked at some photos of adult laying hens of the same breed and that feature seems to disappear upon maturity. I wish that my little gals would keep theirs however. They were reared with a pair of Rhode Island Red cockerels so they will have to be separated in due course. I would like to get a pure bred wpr cockerel for them as I would like to keep the line going. However, as you well know, at the moment I'm aiming at working with the Delaware breed if I can find a few quality birds to serve as foundation stock. Actually there is no reason in the world that I can't carry on a few breeding projects simultaneously.
How are you going to have your eggs incubated? I do not like having to baby one of those styrofoam incubators given how much attention they require. I'd much rather farm the job out to a few silkie hens as they do such a great job. And one does not have to monitor humidity, temperature or make end runs around power failures. These top moms also brood the chicks and essentially rear them not necessitating operation of a brooder. Unless having to incubate a 100 or more eggs I cannot see operating incubators. One does not have to plug the hens into wall receptacles either! (LOL) I have a technique which is failsafe for turning on Silkie moms and not screwing up the incubation process. I isolate the prospective hen in a roomy pen, give her plenty of fresh water and a food dispenser, place 9 or so eggs in her nest and inside of 72 hours they go broody. Believe me when I tell you that I have seen them go broody the next day! The combined pressure against breast receptors energizes the hypothalamus which in turn activates the proper ovarian hormones and one has a broody hen. I let her stay on these undesirable eggs for two days to make sure all systems are go and her dedication is firm, then on the third day when she gets up to go get a drink and feed I switch the starter eggs with the precious ovarian gems. 20.5 days later they pip and hatch. No muss, no fuss, no bother except for the hen's efforts, of course. And that is my secret for starting Mother Nature's incubator!
I live in Northern California in a district called Acampo, some 35 miles south and very slightly east of Sacramento. I have enough acreage to do pretty much as I want so I'm busy from sunrise to sunset. I do not live alone as I'm thrown in with one white faced hereford pullet, er… make that heifer, one demanding 11 year old house kitty and of course the requisite chickens of which the current count is 24 and growing.
Thanks for the grand welcome! You may call me anytime about any topic whatsoever even in the middle of the night as I hear from folks going back to my high school days often as late as 3:00 o'clock in the morning. At conversation's end I simply roll over and go back to sleep usually in a minute or less. And it is REM sleep too! Eat your hearts out sheep counters! Have no idea what insomnia is.
Sincerely,
Neal, the Zooman
