Or....this color..a light buff coloring..again, pretty. Need to start looking for some eggs that will give something different. Easter Hatch A Long has started! I guess I can start looking at eggs now..
I've been checking fertility of all of my girls' eggs and I'm finally starting to see consistent bulls-eyes in their eggs now that the weather has been warming up and cupid shot his arrows and sprinkled his love dust in the air.
Many of my birds are Nn (I know...it's actually NaNa) so there's still a chance of hatching fully feathered birds, but there's definitely been a lot of mating going on.
Quote: They all have feathered legs. I've accepted that I will have feathered legs in my marans and OEs, but I don't particularly like them, and don't want them in my NNs. I could cross with Cornish, but the Ameraucanas would give me green eggs, too.
Quote: SG NNs from Dunlap and Aloha NNs from alohachickens. Hatch date for the SG NNs is February 22, and hatch date for the Alohas is Feb 20. It'll be a busy week. I have another brooder to build because I haven't moved the 5 week olds outside yet. If the SGs don't impress me enough, they'll end up almost all culled like a batch of meat chickens, though I may still keep good pullets. If they do impress me, then maybe I'll keep a cockerel. But I'm likely considering keeping two boys from my two home hatches (Big Boy and the little NN with rose comb - who I want to name Khan because he reminds me of Ricardo Montalban in that role).
Too much of a good thing is still a LOT of work. I just got an Igloo drinking cooler form Lowes that I'm going to try to adapt as a gravity-fed "automatic" drinker - with a Y-adapter so it feeds both an "open" waterer with a float valve AND a set of horizontal nipples and drinking cups along a PVC pipe. Idea is to use a five gallon one for smaller groups, 10 gallon one for bigger groups. I would still need to fill with a hose occasionally, but would not have the amount of work I have now refilling and rinsing, etc, and the water will stay cleaner and cooler in the summer (and I can toss ice chunks in there). I need to make things as simple as possible for chicken sitters as well. I run misters for the hottest parts of the summer already, and there's only so many hoses I can criss-cross across an acre before I lose my mind...
My husband caught me watching all of the chicken porn videos that were posted here lately and looked at me very accusingly. I told him I'm not confident that Tubbs can get the job done without help, and I really want to cross him with some of my NN girls. He mumbled something about me being a dominatrix and walked away, LOL!
The more I hear about those SG chicks, the more I am tempted to order some.... I do have barbezieux coming in a month.... I could brood them all together.... Must.... resist....
I've been checking fertility of all of my girls' eggs and I'm finally starting to see consistent bulls-eyes in their eggs now that the weather has been warming up and cupid shot his arrows and sprinkled his love dust in the air. Many of my birds are Nn (I know...it's actually NaNa) so there's still a chance of hatching fully feathered birds, but there's definitely been a lot of mating going on.
The more I hear about those SG chicks, the more I am tempted to order some.... I do have barbezieux coming in a month.... I could brood them all together.... Must.... resist....
Just wait. Mine are going to be from the first hatch of the year, and I'm going to track growth carefully, so we can see if the hype is real or not - I got some really chunkers just out of my mixed group from Ideal, and am going to be looking for something superlative... If they look good preliminarily, you'll still have time to get in an order I am thinking/hoping.
They all have feathered legs. I've accepted that I will have feathered legs in my marans and OEs, but I don't particularly like them, and don't want them in my NNs. I could cross with Cornish, but the Ameraucanas would give me green eggs, too.
SG NNs from Dunlap and Aloha NNs from alohachickens. Hatch date for the SG NNs is February 22, and hatch date for the Alohas is Feb 20. It'll be a busy week. I have another brooder to build because I haven't moved the 5 week olds outside yet. If the SGs don't impress me enough, they'll end up almost all culled like a batch of meat chickens, though I may still keep good pullets.
Quote:
So sorry - S&G is a hatchery in Alabama that was "famous" for having big, fast growing, broiler-type Naked Necks. We all wanted to try them, but their minimum order was 100 chicks. Last year they sold all their stock to Dunlap Hatchery, which allows for orders of 25. I called and they assured me that all their large fowl NNs are from the S&G stock. So lots of folks are curious if the stories about the S&G NN growth are true...
One of my buff NNs, Duckie, has either Orpington or Cochin blood in her. I always love her fluffy feathering and regal look. She gave me a gorgeous cockerel with feathered legs. Duckie: Duckie's son, Peta: Not the best photo of him, but he hates to be photographed. He's got a gypsy face and gorgeous dark eyes.
Many of my birds are Nn (I know...it's actually NaNa) so there's still a chance of hatching fully feathered birds, but there's definitely been a lot of mating going on.
