Gideon's Got a Girlfriend! Gideon's Got a Girlfriend! She Isn't Pleased!

[sumi]

She is beautiful. Lovely colour. Gideon looks a bit like her, same face and comb. I wonder sometimes if hens know who their kids are once they're grown up?
I'm off to bed now. Been sleepy all day, don't know what is wrong with me

Catch up with you tomorrow...

 

[speckledhen]

Good night, sumi!


Thanks re: Maretta. I've always thought she was very pretty. I have an older EE hen, not at all related to her, who looks quite a bit like her, my June, seen here on the nest:

 

[sumi]

Good morning!
I saw the pic and then read your post, I thought it was a pic of Maretta! See what you mean. They look like sisters.

 

[speckledhen]

They've produced sons who also look very much alike. Cetawin's hen she calls her "politician chicken", Junebug, is June and Ike's daughter.

 

[sumi]

Chicken genetics seem to be very good. My top roo, Heide (RIR x) and Henpecked produced Blackie, who went from pitch black as a chick to red, like his dad. His offspring are sometimes black, like he was, turning red/brown as they grow up, or white, like their Lohman Silver mothers, with dad's feathered feet and a few black feathers. We can always tell which chicks Blackie fathered. Which is most of them

I'm a little concerned about Heide's spurs. They are very long and he started walking like a cowboy so he doesn't trip over them! I don't know if I should remove them or not. You can see in this pic of him and Henpecked. That young chick is their grandchild and she looks just like Henpecked.

 

[speckledhen]

I blunt Isaac's spurs and shorten them periodically just enough so he doesn't trip himself up. He can still use them as weapons, but they aren't pointed spears.

 

[sumi]

Heide's are. Which is why I'm getting worried! How do you shorten them and what do you use? Talking about spurs, Blackie managed to break one of his clean off. He looks a bit silly with only the one, but it's not very long, so I'm leaving it.

 

[speckledhen]

I use a Dremel cutting tool, one of those electric ones with the round discs you can change out. It cauterizes as it cuts so no bleeding, even if you cut too close.

One of my BR roosters somehow snapped one of his off at the base and it never grew back.

 

[sumi]

Oh dear, so Blackie may end up looking even sillier with his one spur as it grows

How's Tiny's leg? I saw one of my hens limping today. DH said Blackie was a bit rough with the ladies yesterday. May have been him that hurt her. I gave her some of my noodles for lunch as I felt sorry for her. Hope she doesn't turn into yet another chicken with bad habits. We got quite a few of those already.

 

[speckledhen]

She is still limping some and holds it up when she stands still, especially when someone is watching her, LOL.

My oldest BR hen's leg is in much worse shape. Either it was dislocated or she has arthritis in the joint so badly, it's deformed and twisted inward. She stumps around in obvious pain and lays around in the coop much of the day.