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more like Tara's spring, sprung a leak.......
The bad news for the first day of spring was that Rick never sprang...he just went SPLAT!
Rick fell 13 feet and hit hard. Right side from the top of his head to the tips of his toes are bruised. Broke one rib and foot bone (fifth left metatarsal) which is one of the bones you balance with.
He and I are lucky he did not snap his neck or paralyse himself. He now has six weeks to think about all this and I have had my work load increase substantially. We saw a Specialist (thankfully no surgery required on the foot) and his regular practitioner. Last week just before retiring for the night, he could not breathe, so another trip to Emergency to find out because of the broken rib, pneumonia was about to set in, fluid on the lungs so we got that fixed up too. People die from pneumonia!! BUT I don't figure people die because of a fall, people die because of complications from falling. No matter. Exhausted, worried, I am an emotional wreck. Today was the first day I really got to notice the weather is warmer and I packed away a ton of bagged rations (40 fifty five pound bags tucked away). Finally had time to address some of the extra chore duties and my mind is thinking about spring cleaning of pens for the first time since that fateful day, first day of spring seems SO long, long ago. Time flies when having fun, not this round!
Wheelchair, air boot (that's what is on his foot), a cane for helping him walk. He is making a rapid recovery but it will still be a long time till he is really better. This spring will go on record as a medical one for sure.
Mar 30, 2017 - Pasture has defrosted and water with ice has slowly disappeared
Plant pond in Orchard has slowly settled
April 2, 2017
Weather has been on and off...one day spring, next day winter...in fact, last show day we came home and within like 20 minutes, the ground was white all over again.
April 2, 2017
The show was a nice interlude. Lacy did not win any more points but as Rick says, "What is the rush to finisher her?" So come the Fall, we shall once again gear up for dogging it.
Bought a nice fabric crate with a balcony section that zips out.
Have not had the girls in it yet...
Been too enthralled in that they don't have to be clean for the dog show.
This was Lacy few minutes in from being allowed to be a farm dog aka dirt dog!!
The blues sure don't l00k as dirty as the reds can
Was like a blizzard set in...Apr 2
How could you deny the girls this much FUN!
Apr 3, 2017 - Foamy happy to be a farm doggette
March 30, 2017 - Lacy before the dog show...
An unusual colour that I have not seen before...who wants to guess what breed of dog this is...
And this one...and I expect you to say the breed name, not the more commonly used one...hee hee...
Anyone wanna guess what kinda dog this one is...
This one in particular, a herding breed, captured our hearts...
Like a blue ACD but with merle in the hair coat and double dewclaws on the back feet...lovely dog!
And as I posted to you...
Never received this??
Tara it is full scale spring here, ALL the citrus trees are in full bloom and the smell is really intoxicating!
And look what I have decided to do!
We may always count on you to go that extra mile Benny. To capture the pleasures of spring flowers and have that essence, daily in your coffee - a true blessing.
I cannot access videos. So I cannot see this with the service provider that I have.
For me, proper Chanteclers of either gender have a medium length tail to match their medium length neck.
This above white cockerel is a blooming mess (not MY line, not IN my lines either)...the overall shape of the bird is wrong, the tail is way way too long, the plumage is yellowed, droopy wing, the body is a mess (next to a Buff cockerel the same age), I never kept this line for obvious reasons. Is it a phoenix or ??
There were some female's too of this line and they had split wing and some never thrived. Not something I ever want to introduce into my lines. No thanks...
Same male with a three point comb...how many strikes before it is out??
How about this INfamous Chantecler White male...I do not like this bird one little bit...even just in condition of the bird...dirty with broken feathers and...yeh...I need to quit on this bird!
Please explain how this SOP airbrushed drawing by Schilling from 1923 ever comes vaguely close to the above Whites...even close...no long tail here, now is there??
As per the Standard of Perfection, the Chantecler breed should never EVER have a long tail...I said in the comment to you
Any Chanteclers with "such a long tail" are not being bred to Standard and to me, therefore are not Chanteclers.
To be a breed, a specimen MUST have the correct breed shape or it is not a member of the breed. Keep mindful what goes in a breeding pen may often never grace the exhibition pen...in some instances, never shall the two ever be one and the same (though often enough, a good show bird can make a perfectly fine breeder bird).
You may have works in progress and ones that are only breeding prospects (used to make birds that conform to the Standard) but those have merits that are not deemed unworthy, just not necessarily of proper breed type. Does that make sense?
Here is a different perspective...dogs...
I was Spokesperson for getting the Australian Stumpy Tailed Cattle Dog recognized into Miscellaneous Class for our Canadian canine registry (The Canadian Kennel Club). The Stumpy is a close cousin to the Australian Cattle Dog BUT it is NOT an ACD with a stumpy tail. I don't need to see the dog's tail area to identify a Stumpy and an ACD... There are many qualities about both dog breeds that make them what breed they are. One of the basic rules for Stumpy versus ACD...having no tail, a Stumpy is square...an ACD has a tail (balance) and therefore can be 9:10, not 1:1 or square. I can look at a head shot of a Stumpy and an ACD and know which one is which. Breed = Shape...no matter what species.
You need to know your breed, upside down and backwards and with the APA and ABA...there are enough differences in most breeds...there should never EVER be someone thinking a bird with a
Cushion comb has to be a Chantecler. I have used LOTS of birds for making Chanteclers that did not possess the correct combs.
This male Bucky has a pea comb...but his diamonds are gorgeous...
What you use to make showable birds or birds that conform to the Standard, are not necessarily themselves "fitting the Standard!"
That said, you asked about width. Birds that don't have it, not really a Chantecler and most certainly without width and depth, room to make eggs from and room to hang meat off of...not really a productive chook are they? So many of us breed tons of birds and we need a plausible use for the ones that we choose not to retain for breeders...they should be makers of eggs or makers of meat...otherwise, how are they DUAL purpose? We need a good use for our culls and our Chanteclers with benefits means we get FOOD...lots of glorious food from our many extras.
The Chantecler is suppose to be a big wide bird...these Parti gals are Chanteclers...BAROOGAH...big gals....BIG!
This is Goliath Gert...she's a Chantecler...she's big!
Don't have a coffee can fulla grit and oyster shell to compare a Chantecler to, your own hand should do fine at feeling for a WIDE broad bird.
Big chickens are pretty chickens...yes??
And the Chantecler boys need to be big and wide too...
Medusa in 2009, alive and well here today
Pretty easy to know the correct shape of a Chantecler...think BRICK, think BLOCK, think of a chicken that is NOT V-shaped. Medium length tail with a medium length neck to match...balance, symmetry and touch of class.
I like to joke you could throw a small saddle up on those Chantecler backs...
Doggone & Chicken UP!
Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada
