Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[mistyhollow]

Added this little group of bantams to my flock this weekend. Since I am fairly new to chickens and certainly am not familiar with all the breeds, can someone verify that they are splash old english game birds?

Could these be blue splash dutch bantam since they have white earlobes?

 

[mistyhollow]

My family thinks I am crazy after processing 38 chickens and 15 turkeys along with a steer. I have three freezers full and no place to store my pork that is due in two weeks. I told them to start eating home cooked meals for the next two weeks! No more fast food places!

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Idk dutch bantams. I hope someone does! I have d'uccle. If they are splash you can mate them to black for 100 percent blue offspring.

 

[mistyhollow]

Idk dutch bantams. I hope someone does! I have d'uccle. If they are splash you can mate them to black for 100 percent blue offsprin

You have some very beautiful d'uccle! I am not that familiar with the different breeds of chickens. I read on the Dutchbantamsociety.net
"breed blue cream lightbrowns. Most are thinking that they will be getting a bunch of blue chicks in the
near future. With each of these calls I try to carefully explain that this is not the best
way to go. Blue birds do not breed true. Genetically speaking, if you breed blue to blue you will get 50%
blue, 25% dark and 25% splash. Let’s plug this formula into blue cream lightbrown. This breeding will yield
50% blue cream lightbrown, 25% cream lightbrown and 25% blue cream light brown splash. Many
breeders consider splash to be a cull bird, so, unless you want to cull approximately 25% of you chicks
you need to breed differently. Most breeders choose to breed blue cream lightbrown to cream lightbrown. This
breeding will result in 50% blue cream and 50% cream lightbrown. I believe this result is the best
color of blue. With this breeding you also have the opportunity to consider all of your birds for possible show
stock, instead of just 75% of you hatch. Now, back to the splash birds. I personally like having a few splash birds
around, especially if you have some that are good Dutch type. To me splash is a valuable breeder. If you put
blue cream lightbrown splash with a cream lightbrown then you will get 100% blue cream lightbrown chicks.
Therefore, the best and quickest way to fill your brooders with blue cream lightbrown chicks is to
find splash and cream lightbrown"

So you can get splash but they are not a recognized color?

 

[fuzzybutt love]

I lost my pet ee yesterday from infection related fever; her impacted crop soured and passed all at once fri night/ sat morning; typically yhey pass in pieces and not all at once. I was overjoyed, but it was short lived. She got a nasty infection from all the poison hitting her system at once, and though i was on the right track treating the bacterial infection side of it with antibioticscand she started pooping normal the fever from the poison in her liver gave her a fever that spiked to 106 and seizures. I did rush her to an er, but she seizured there while they were trying to bring the fever down. She was close to 4 and was a lap "cat" who is horribly missed. Dr said i did all the same things she would have in treating this. Her body just quit on her. After the injection she used the last of her strength to raise up and struggle to find me. As soon as i got her onto my lap and petted her she relaxed and passed instantly. So those who think birds can't have feelings for their people i beg to differ. Was the only thing that kept her clinging to life a wilder bird would have simply quit eating when i had to hold her to the food and water to help her. This was an untypical situation that was bacterial vs the usual fungal infection.

Please do not comment back about her death , it is painful and i only share it to say that if you put straw in the nestbox know that even after 4 years of not eating straw they still could. I think it was a broken egg that triggered it. Other broken eggs were eaten out of straw over the years, i will never know why she did that day. Please be careful and learn from my mistake.

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Possibly not. I don't know the "cream lightbrown" color/ pattern they refer to. A splash +all black body =all blue body, but throw patterns together and you get all kinds of crazy patterns!!! (I have been on a blue birchen ee breeding attempt for years!) You will probably have a broody before you find a cream lightbrown!!! Many breeds recognize blues but not the splash so yes you can have a pure breed "mutt" (stupidest thing ever i.m.o. pure is pure)

My ee are blue birchen and my d'uccles are porcelain. Blue birchen looks like a darker version of porcelain minus the white in the pattern.

 

[fuzzybutt love]

 

[mistyhollow]

Those are some beautiful colored birds! Who knew that chicken ownership would cause so many headaches trying to figure out breeds, mutts, colors and genetics, etc?

 

[taprock]

Yesterday afternoon I discovered a big area of feathers. I wasn't sure if it was just molting or predator related. I went looking and found one missing but thinking there were more gone. I didn't get to finish looking as my DH was feeling dizzy/sick. He had someone drive him home from work which is unheard of, so I made him go in to be looked at. Thankfully not serious but caused by that darn inner ear inflammation. So this morning I went out with my list and checked everyone. I'm missing three girls so today I walk the property and try find remains and determine what did this. My guess is coyote because I don't think a hawk could pick up a standard size chicken and only leave a few feathers.

 

[Our Roost]

taprock, My neighbor has some chickens much like myself, but his seem to escape and freerange the wooded areas surrounding us. Anyhow, we take a golf cart ride on the trails and find a find a pile of feathers much like you expressed. No tracks from coyotes and just feathers were left. A hawk was my guess but no bones of the carcess were anywhere to be seen. A rooster is a lot of meat for a hawk to devour without help. I think turkey buzzards ate the remains.