When my wife's great grandpa passed away a few weeks ago, at the age of 97, he left us some of his most prized possessions, his chickens. He has bred and raised this line for over 85 years and have become very well know around the world for his line, well, at least that is what I am told. I only got to meet the man a few times before he died and didn't get to learn as much as I would have liked to about these chickens. He knew his chickens so well that he could tell you the blood line of each chicken he had and what would result if any of them were to cross. It amazed me how he never gave up on what he loved and had spent half of the day he died taking care of his chickens.
As I said I don't know very much about these chickens so any info you could give me would be great. We got four birds in all (didn't have a place for them at the time but do now), one full grown rooster, one cockerial, one hen and a pullet. The older two I am told are crosses between his signature birds (a form of "Greys") and "Reds" to increase genetic diversity and should have all signature offspring. The other two are "Greys" and are his signature birds, just too young to see their full potential.
Here are the older two "Greys" x "Reds" cross
The two smaller ones, Pure "Greys," the smallest, darker one, being the very young rooster.
The little male had an injured eye when I got him and don't know what happened or if it will heal. You can kind of see it in the next picture.
I would like to know about how old they are, if possible, so I can guess when I will get eggs and need to separate the two roosters. Currently they are all together, and seem to get along fine. Guessing the oldest hen isn't laying due to new environment and will shortly start laying.
As I said before any info would be helpful and very welcome. I have had cochins in the past but felt this might be an entirely different experience.
As I said I don't know very much about these chickens so any info you could give me would be great. We got four birds in all (didn't have a place for them at the time but do now), one full grown rooster, one cockerial, one hen and a pullet. The older two I am told are crosses between his signature birds (a form of "Greys") and "Reds" to increase genetic diversity and should have all signature offspring. The other two are "Greys" and are his signature birds, just too young to see their full potential.
Here are the older two "Greys" x "Reds" cross
The two smaller ones, Pure "Greys," the smallest, darker one, being the very young rooster.
The little male had an injured eye when I got him and don't know what happened or if it will heal. You can kind of see it in the next picture.
I would like to know about how old they are, if possible, so I can guess when I will get eggs and need to separate the two roosters. Currently they are all together, and seem to get along fine. Guessing the oldest hen isn't laying due to new environment and will shortly start laying.
As I said before any info would be helpful and very welcome. I have had cochins in the past but felt this might be an entirely different experience.
