Euskal Oiloa ( Basque Thread)

[ChestnutRidge]

Anyone wanting to test hatch some Basque eggs for me? I'm not setting anymore eggs in the incubator, but I really need to see if my Basque eggs are fertile, hatchable or not. I have about a dozen eggs saved up if anyone is interested, please PM me.
~ Aspen

I'd love to hatch some out for you. I have a great hen (silkie) that is a fantastic mother. Can you ship them to me? Where did you get your Basques?

Just checking - you guys found each other, right?

I picked up 10 Marraduna Basques and 6 Pita Pintas. Both are from the Basque region in Spain.

Very cool! I'll have to take a look at Pita Pintas.

Okay, MD, I took better pictures. I know I just showed a few pics and I don't want to bore folks, but people tend to like pictures, right?

The fellow with the twisted neck, recessive white.

The two marraduna-colored girls.

Rosie's pullet, behind so not showing her coloring much yet.

The mille fleur- colored pullet

The cockerel I kept as a chick. He is thick and reminds me of a dinosaur. He's really dark, though. Hmm.

The light, "milky" colored pullet next to a marraduna for comparison. She has distinct barring. Pretty. I wonder how she'd compare to Llodiana.

Rosie's three chicks together - the pullet and two recessive white males. They are still little compared to the hand-raised group, but from what I've seen, I bet they will at least mostly catch up, and we know it's environmental, not genetic.

The light pullet.

I think you may be onto something, MD. Its comb and wattles took off at three weeks like the other cockerels but haven't reddened up too much. It may be a pullet which would be great...

 

[Meg2000000]

...

Just checking - you guys found each other, right?
Very cool!  I'll have to take a look at Pita Pintas.

Okay, MD, I took better pictures.  I know I just showed a few pics and I don't want to bore folks, but people tend to like pictures, right?

What a beautiful flock! They're precious!

 

[naturespace]

CR, yes! We love photos. They are looking great. You have all yellow legs? Your astrolorp looks like a girl.

 

[ronott1]

Quote:
Wow! we have gotten up to the 107 range but not 115 this year. It has cooled down for now, but we will have more 100 plus days next week or so. The Basque hardly pant while the Marans look terrible. I have a fan on the Marans and misters for the layer flock and also the Marans. I lost two Marans this year to the hear.

The cockerels at 17 weeks have noticably large breast muscles. They are very solid guys. I too am waiting to see how well they lay. The hatching eggs were beautiful so they will be nice big eggs too.

Oh, The RIRs from you are meaty guys too.

Ron

 

[1muttsfan]

While there is a standard, and we definately should work to keep these birds as an identifiable breed, we will have to have much larger numbers before we start getting too picky about pattern and color. A large, healthy population will provide the opportunity to cull without endagering the overall health of the breed. So far I have only culled for obvious color issues (white), leg deformities, one roo with no tail, and some behavior issues.

I have been very lax in taking picture of my birds, but one of the cockerels from the Easter hatch posed for me yesterday in the henhouse. This fellow is huge and heavy, and very bold. Click on him if you would like to see a larger picture. He does not have a crooked toe, just looks that way in the pic. He is pretty dark, but gorgeous too.

 

[mzstre]

He's a good looking boy! How many cockerels are you going to keep?

I've decided to rehome my boys with the side sprigs. This is the main cockerel I'll be using for breeding. He was attacked by a dog about 3 weeks ago and I wasn't sure if he'd make it, but he's doing great. His new name is Lucky!

The picture is a bit dark- he actually doesn't have any black on him, only a charcoal/dark brown. I love his coloring. His tail is at an odd angle in the pic because he was unhappy about being cornered for a portrait lol! He's been a little skittish since being reintegrated into the flock. Poor thing.

 

[naturespace]

He's a good looking boy! How many cockerels are you going to keep?
I've decided to rehome my boys with the side sprigs. This is the main cockerel I'll be using for breeding. He was attacked by a dog about 3 weeks ago and I wasn't sure if he'd make it, but he's doing great. His new name is Lucky!

The picture is a bit dark- he actually doesn't have any black on him, only a charcoal/dark brown. I love his coloring. His tail is at an odd angle in the pic because he was unhappy about being cornered for a portrait lol! He's been a little skittish since being reintegrated into the flock. Poor thing.

Nice looking boy. He is similar to my guy. Glad he survived the dog attack.

I'm keeping two cockerels in case something happens.

 

[buckabucka]

While there is a standard, and we definately should work to keep these birds as an identifiable breed, we will have to have much larger numbers before we start getting too picky about pattern and color.  A large, healthy population will provide the opportunity to cull without endagering the overall health of the breed.  So far I have only culled for obvious color issues (white), leg deformities, one roo with no tail, and some behavior issues.

I have been very lax in taking picture of my birds, but one of the cockerels from the Easter hatch posed for me yesterday in the henhouse.  This fellow is huge and heavy, and very bold.  Click on him if you would like to see a larger picture.  He does not have a crooked toe, just looks that way in the pic.  He is pretty dark, but gorgeous too.

One of the roosters that I am hoping to keep has gray on his chest like that. I don't think he has quite that much gray, but he is young-ish still, so he may change.
Sometime I will post updated photos. I'm trying to keep two roosters together, and while it is working so far, I'm worried that one day they will try to kill each other and I'll lose both of them!

 

[1muttsfan]

I actually have 4 roosters in my main pen, all about the same age, two Basques and two blue wheaten Ams. They all are OK so far, although still young. There are a LOT of hens in that pen. One of the Ams is leaving this week, so as long as everyone gets along the other three will stay together. My other smaller pen has 3 bantam roosters, two cochins and a D'Uccle, also about the same age, with no fussing between them.

The boy above is very funny to watch with the hens. He has recently discovered his manhood and started crowing. When he dances for the girls he is SO clumsy - sometimes he trips over his big feet - and they just look annoyed and walk away. But he is figuring it out. I love his size, he is already a big beefy boy, with big stout legs and a nice deep crow.

 

[buckabucka]

I actually have 4 roosters in my main pen, all about the same age, two Basques and two blue wheaten Ams.  They all are OK so far, although still young.  There are a LOT of hens in that pen.  One of the Ams is leaving this week, so as long as everyone gets along the other three will stay together.  My other smaller pen has 3 bantam roosters, two cochins and a D'Uccle, also about the same age, with no fussing between them.

The boy above is very funny to watch with the hens.  He has recently discovered his manhood and started crowing.  When he dances for the girls he is SO clumsy - sometimes he trips over his big feet - and they just look annoyed and walk away.  But he is figuring it out.  I love his size, he is already a big beefy boy, with big stout legs and a nice deep crow.

How old is young? Are they from the Easter hatch like mine? Mine are starting to do battle. I heard a lot of screaming just this evening, and as I went to investigate, I saw the white-legged rooster jump up on the roost and the noise stopped. There were white feathers everywhere. I know they are going to fight some, but I keep hoping they can coexist. It may be unrealistic.

The roosters in the bachelor pen are harassing each other too, and I feel bad for my runty-but-very-pretty Basque in there, as he is lowest in the pecking order.