MJ's little flock

[Ribh]

I've had bantams. They can be fun but the eggs are really small.

This might depend on the breed. Pebbles was a batam australorp. She laid a really good sized egg. Lottie, Wyandotte bantam, lays a tiny one when she lays. They're the only 2 I've had any experience with but Pebbles wasn't much smaller than a Campine's on a good day roughly the same size.

 

[BY Bob]

This might depend on the breed. Pebbles was a batam australorp. She laid a really good sized egg. Lottie, Wyandotte bantam, lays a tiny one when she lays. They're the only 2 I've had any experience with but Pebbles wasn't much smaller than a Campine's on a good day roughly the same size.

Mine were 1/2 the size of a Rhode Island Red egg. Of course there are different breeds of bantams as well. I should have assumed variable sizes in eggs.

 

[Ribh]

Mine were 1/2 the size of a Rhode Island Red egg. Of course there are different breeds of bantams as well. I should have assumed variable sizes in eggs.

You don't know what you don't know. I was always surprised by the size of Pebble's eggs because, like you, my previous experience led to the expectation of a really small egg. It was not so. For me they were a great hard boiled egg size & wonderful for devilled eggs. Lottie's are pretty useless & she doesn't lay all that often.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Reflecting on this photo

I'm really glad I expanded the hens' yard so that it takes up the whole back patch because they like to stand in the shade beside the old red garage on summer mornings. Then they use the tall grasses as cover while the sun passes over, "cover me grasses, I'm going over to the other side." So they needn't be in direct sunlight at all. Doesn't stop Janet and Sandy from sunbathing though - they like to fan their wings out under the sun. Mary has never tried sunbathing. I think her balck feathers heat up faster and cool down slower.

View attachment 2004900

Your backyard reminds me of my grandparent's yard with the pebbly concrete path, the corrugated iron and the enamel-ware bowl!

 

[Shadrach]

Not really. I can snip the wing feathers if neds be.

I can't tell if these are the European standard-sized Vorwerks or the american banty-sized. They look rather small against the Norfolk Grey.

View attachment 2005125

Also, is that a barred rock back there?

I think there are three standards for Vorwerks; American, European and the original Hamburg which isn't in any standards category.
The trouble with standards is each classification makes minor changes.
It's a bit like Marans. Ask the French Marans keepers in the region and they will tell you if it doesn't come from there direct it isn't a Marans.
Lots of stuff like that. Scotch, Champagne, Stilton, etc.
I'm all for it. The chickens the Americans call BCM's are fakes.

 

[Shadrach]

Wyandottes seem to be unreliable personality wise. My bantam , Lottie, is a Wyandotte & a lovelier hen it would be hard to find. WhoDat rehomed hers. She was a handful by all accounts. If you read through the comments section in the breeds you will get a variety of answers.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/reviews/wyandotte.10914/
Bit hit & miss it seems as to whether you get a lovely hen or a real stinker.

I don't know why people still insist on ascribing behavioral characteristics to chicken breeds.
There have been lots of posts and threads on this and it becomes apparent after a bit of reading that what was well behaved and friendly for one was a nightmare for another. But, the myths still roll on.

 

[Ribh]

I don't know why people still insist on ascribing behavioral characteristics to chicken breeds.
There have been lots of posts and threads on this and it becomes apparent after a bit of reading that what was well behaved and friendly for one was a nightmare for another. But, the myths still roll on.

Point taken.

 

[MaryJanet]

Your backyard reminds me of my grandparent's yard with the pebbly concrete path, the corrugated iron and the enamel-ware bowl!

My great-grandfather provided the house in which I now live for his wife and daughters. Those things you name may well have been his

I'm very lucky to live within walls that have always been treasured and that have protected generations before me. I love this old place

 

[MaryJanet]

I think there are three standards for Vorwerks; American, European and the original Hamburg which isn't in any standards category.
The trouble with standards is each classification makes minor changes.
It's a bit like Marans. Ask the French Marans keepers in the region and they will tell you if it doesn't come from there direct it isn't a Marans.
Lots of stuff like that. Scotch, Champagne, Stilton, etc.
I'm all for it. The chickens the Americans call BCM's are fakes.

Same with the Australorps! American Australorps look very different from Australian Australorps. Yet the very term 'Australian Australorps' seems weird to me.

 

[MaryJanet]

I don't know why people still insist on ascribing behavioral characteristics to chicken breeds.
There have been lots of posts and threads on this and it becomes apparent after a bit of reading that what was well behaved and friendly for one was a nightmare for another. But, the myths still roll on.

Thanks Shad I'll keep that in mind tomorrow morning.