Before my wife and I left our very urban/suburban home, in the Los Angeles area, we had learned the advantage of farm fresh, organically raised chickens, and eggs. For the first year, living in very rural Oklahoma, we found it nice to buy our eggs from a very sweet, elderly lady, who sold eggs, to help pay the feed bill. That was great, but we were driving a long ways, just to get eggs. And, really, always wanted to raise our own.
Last spring, we bought several chicks, but quickly realized, that if we wanted eggs, we needed layers. So, we found a good breeder, and I purchased several "layers" to get us started, here on our little farm. We weren't too picky, about breed. We just wanted eggs. Sure, I prefer XL to jumbo eggs, and tend to gravitate towards brown eggs. But, as long as they weren't tiny, were plentiful, and were coming from our own yard, we were going to be happy. Or, so we thought.
One of the hens we bought, was a Euskal Oiloa/Marraduna Basque, that we named Leah. She became one of our favorites, rather quickly. Not just for her eggs, but for her rather sweet personality.
As time went on, for reasons I won't elaborate on, we decided to expand our flock, to include capons, for meat birds. I attended a course in how to caponize, and while there, I mentioned about having Leah, and how sweet she was. The instructor, asked if I would like more Basques. Of course I said yes, and in no time, I hade two more hens, and two roosters, loaded into a cage in the back of my truck, headed home. Those roos were absolutely GORGEOUS. Some of the most beautiful chickens I've ever seen. One was sweet and gentle (Floyd), the other was an aggressive bully (Sherman).
We sorted out where to house each, and how to schedule who would get to free range, and when. Things were going pretty well, and one day, I found a few of Floyd's feathers, in the middle of the yard, but no more Floyd. We have hawks, but the birds usually do a good job of finding cover. Apparently Floyd, didn't get to cover, in time, that day. We were sad, but, we still had Sherman, to breed, and it was now, going to become a challenge, to try to breed him, with extra sweet hens, to breed the bully-ness out of their offspring.
2 weeks ago, today, I let Sherman out to free range. He tried his usual tactic, of attempting to bully me. I don't stand for that. I had to stand my ground,mand remind him that I'm the boss on this farm. After a few go-arounds at this, I went inside, for indoor chores. An hour or two later, I went out, to collect eggs, and found Sherman, in the middle of the yard, dead. Not injured, not maimed, as though he'd been attacked, just dead.
I called the Oklahoma Dept. Of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, who will pick up a bird, and necropsy it. They did this for me.
It turned out, that Sherman died of Lymphoid Leukosis/Avian Leukosis virus. I was going to include a photo of the report, but the editor, doesn't seem to allow it, here.
So, now, I'm not only looking for 2-5 more hens, of this breed, I'd like to find a healthy rooster, in the near future, to breed them. I'm still not completely set up for breeding. But, I do have some nice, separated pens. I just need my own incubators. A friend, is willing to incubate, for me, until I get my own incubators.
If anyone here wants to sell any hens or a roo, in the reasonably near future, please, let me know.
