Here are some picts from today -- finally I got some chickens moved around....
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Iris" is my 'best' IMO -- she has lavender-duckwing and barring. Her comb is more upright, some of the others have a flopping comb. You can see in face close-ups that it is turning a bit at the back, but still for the most part upright. She is also curious and smart. She has trained me that when she jumps up on a perch in the corner of her pen (just moved her out of 200 sq Ft chain link pen into 64 sq Ft hoop coop -- so she will have to train me for a new trick) -- She jumps up on a corner perch and I respond by giving her grass through the chain link. Stimulus-response, I would say.
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Her egg shells retain the tinted color -- she doesn't lay blue-green. The really good thing about that is that I can tell her eggs from the other pullets that are just about ready with eggs for the incubator. A couple of the younger ones that just came into lay also are laying tinted instead of ones influenced by the blue-egg gene -- but they are smaller. Iris's egg today weighed 1.7 - she is almost in the USDA size for medium eggs. She needs to add another 5-hundredths of an oz to be 1.75.
Now, here's the proposed mate for her:
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He's looking very noble although backlit - and here's a full body picture:
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He's good on color, has a nice disposition. It could be that he has his grandfather's fish-tail in his comb -- see the last two points before the blade? A little close together -- but does also then have the desirable 5-points on his comb (Leftover factoid from the Legbar SOP). He has a clear duckwing -- he's a nice boy. (this is a different pen from
Iris) Interestingly - this cockerel was going to be the backup - incase something happened to
Bart Robinson -- so his name
BB (backup boy) --
Bart got mean, and
BB had better coloration -- so BB's the guy for the breeding season. He's with another pullet that is showing the flop in her comb, see behind him? -- and the one behind her (behind the feeder) has a more upright comb like
Iris's. It's a look I prefer. The comb and wattles continue to grow throughout the chicken's lifespan, though don't theY?
ETA scratch that...enlarged the photo and the pullet behind the feeder has even more flopped.
I'll set eggs other than this pair -- but these two are closest to my desired outcome so I'm keeping a close eye on them.
Now -- here's the bad, sad, heartbreaking news. I had a Cream Legbar die and took her to A&M poultry diagnostic lab for Necropsy. The vet said that she had MS*. MS is contagious and transmitted horizontally and vertically. -- So I will consider all the birds here "infected". --- As a result, I'm going to close the flock 100%. It's sad, it's a blow below the belt...but it's a fact.
I need to deal with it. * MS doesn't seem to be the cause of death, that was pneumonia - but MS is considered something that can weaken the immune system.
Anyone who bought chickens from me -- PM me and I will refund your purchase price immediately. - I had no idea that my flock had this -- and would swear that they don't if I base it on their appearance and behavior -- but on the molecular-level they have it. The incubation period from what I read is 11-12 days...The eggs are safe for human consumption, and the birds are safe to eat, as I understand it --
How biosecure have I been? -- pretty much. Where did it come from? -- This year I have had wild birds sharing feeders with my flock -- Especially cardinals who fit nicely through the chain links. They land in one of the diamond-shapes and then go down to the feeders. Robins were especially plentiful during their annual migration -- zillions of them. Did the long summer of triple digits stress them and weaken them? -- what's the source? Last time I took a chicken for necropsy -- the vet was amazed that I had a flock that didn't have Mycoplasma, and he gave me instructions on how to keep it away. I wrote an article for the newsletter of the Cream Legbar Club - in which, at that time, I was an active member.... Here's a link if you want to read up on how to never get MS or MG in your flock.
About BioSecurity - with a focus on taking birds to chicken shows:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g4aklH2XpPWOGGrzq4Z5rER2JS0LjOL4cpgKLGSnbcA/edit?usp=sharing
I could have given the flock antibiotics going forward from that time -- but I'm not a fan of meds for chickens. Actually I didn't do any more chicken shows subsequently. Did sell some birds at chicken auctions in the summer...perhaps just being on that premises I brought it home.....
After hearing from TMVDL, I did treat all my flock with Denagard, and may use the egg soak outlined below:
This site
http://albertachickensetc.punbb-hosting.com/viewtopic.php?id=18095
gives the method that the poster used to do the egg-soak in antibiotics. A number of articles are mentioned. Using Google Scholar, I've only gotten as far as being able to pull up the abstracts and not the whole article (for free of course) as of yet.
I wish that there was a swab or blood test like the one that is done for P/T that one could monitor one's own flock.
But on the horizon for me there are also some major changes that will happen in the next 6-12 months or so -- therefore it is a really busy time.
My hope is that I can get the breeders together, and hatch some autosexing chicks -- and that those of you who are also working on this will continue the projects and the posts. If my next hatch results in some successes -- then we do have the 'recipe' for one path to get there..... There may be other recipes in the pipeline as well.
Of course CJ Waldon has already crossed the finish line -- and the major difference in our results are that she has chosen to retain the crest and she emphasizes blue eggs...I'm leaving the crest behind...and don't mind if the eggs end up tinted or blue or green.
