Naked Neck/Turken Thread

[Kev]

It would require a move to a tropical climate but I would love to have some scaleless chickens, however impractical.

I could have them here but their lives would be miserable (locked up and heated) for a good part of the year and even summertime is peppered with night temps that could be lethal.

That is my dream..... tropical setting.... scaleless chickens scratching under mangoes, mangosteens, Ice Cream bananas, etc.... the only clothing they might ever wear are grass skirts...

 

[Kev]

my NNs are in a separate coop and run and only 2 whites are laying, so no problem for the eggs. their eggs are different in size so I know exactly who laid them. fingers crossed that the other one doesn't give up broodiness! I don't have incubator (I decided to keep chickens raised by broodies only).

can you help me define this colour:





he is getting more black spots on his breast but still is mostly mahogany red with orange sheen on hackle and saddle feathers. the pics are not good, he is much darker than it seems (dark red/mahogany).

Wow those are tough ones... what color were their chick down?

 

[Kev]

Love the pics! We have a greyhound rescue group in the Tucson area (because we also have a greyhound race track) and I've seen first-hand how wonderful these dogs can be. One of our customers has a beautiful Greyhound rescue named Danny Boy. She sometimes brings him by the shop just to visit with me because we bonded very quickly. She's told me that if anything happens to her, she's asked that Danny Boy be brought to me to be cared for since I'm the only other person he's really latched on to. I take it as an honor.

That is really sweet.... loved seeing the greyhound pics.

 

[Skink]

It would require a move to a tropical climate but I would love to have some scaleless chickens, however impractical.

I could have them here but their lives would be miserable (locked up and heated) for a good part of the year and even summertime is peppered with night temps that could be lethal.

I jave the same problem here. They couldn't be outside more then two-three months. Even tough I have to say I "cooled down" on them. When I first saw Rudy, I was crazy about scaleless chickens, and even I still like to see them, I passed the will of having them.

I can't say I blame ya'll. I think if I lived somewhere cooler than where I am, I couldn't have 'em. We still have the possibility of getting a rare snowfall during the winter sometimes, which is something I am worried about, though it isn't even particularly cold outside yet here right now. It tends to be cold here mid Dec to the beginning of March, and then the heat sets in straight off. So poor Pork might be a little sad to be locked up and stuck in a sweater 2 1/2 months out of the year. If they turn out to be a she, I might just keep her as a permanent house chicken. We've already got 3, so she wouldn't be alone.



I won't mind working with splits 'til I can build a separate heated coop just in case. Maybe I put the cart before the horse on that one, but this is already looking like it'll take me a couple years to get going anyway!

 

[Kev]

Everyone has kept growing and their combs haven’t kept up. I’ve gone from thinking I have mostly roosters to wondering if I have any roosters at all! I suppose time will tell! If I have no roosters, that complicates my scaleless project a little, but it would also afford me the opportunity to adopt a mature rooster who has a known temperament. I can't complain of an opportunity to give a roo a home. Otherwise, I am thinking a salmon faverolle roo baby in the spring maybe!

Haha! I have a guess to Pork's gender but....

those are great pictures, very different.

 

[Kev]

I won't mind working with splits

That reminds me, since all of the other chicks are definite splits, can you tell if they're showing areas or rows of missing scales on their legs? It's obvious on some from very early ages, while some don;t really show it so plainly until they;re bigger though. Just curious.

 

[Phill98]

I can't say I blame ya'll. I think if I lived somewhere cooler than where I am, I couldn't have 'em. We still have the possibility of getting a rare snowfall during the winter sometimes, which is something I am worried about, though it isn't even particularly cold outside yet here right now. It tends to be cold here mid Dec to the beginning of March, and then the heat sets in straight off. So poor Pork might be a little sad to be locked up and stuck in a sweater 2 1/2 months out of the year. If they turn out to be a she, I might just keep her as a permanent house chicken. We've already got 3, so she wouldn't be alone. I won't mind working with splits 'til I can build a separate heated coop just in case. Maybe I put the cart before the horse on that one, but this is already looking like it'll take me a couple years to get going anyway!

I have to say that it's pretty nice weather right now. This weather right now is typical for May in our country. It's very nice, little chilly and foggy in eary morning, but in the afternoon we walk in T-shirts. But this is exception, not a rule. Maybe in few years I will be able to keep them. I remeber when I was a kid ( I still am, but..) it was snowing since November. Last three years, we didn't have snow until January. Climate is changing and it's changing fast. So do you have other chickens beside your house chickens and these 5 chicks?

 

[Kev]

Once you decide which cockerels to keep, how do you find it the best way to reintegrate them with the ladies? I'd like one flock cockerel/rooster with the girls all the time (protection when ranging, etc.), but will I need to house the others separately? (I'm beginning to get coop-building fatigue...)

- Ant Farm

Oh that sucks.

Don't worry much about introducing a rooster to the hens. A good rooster becomes extremely excited and constantly courts the hens immediately.

The hens can be anything from very wary to outright challenging him. again, a good rooster ignores the challenges and continues to court hard, but it is ok if he gives her a good peck and stops if she backs down immediately. The wary hens will eventually be won over.

Other okay things: if rooster immediately chases and breeds a hen.. but then starts courting after. It is also okay if a hen fights him and he fights back.. as long as he does not try to beat her up after she surrenders.

To be honest, I worry more about introducing new hens to other hens rather than rooster to hens.

 

[Phill98]

Oh that sucks.

Don't worry much about introducing a rooster to the hens.  A good rooster becomes extremely excited and constantly courts the hens immediately.

The hens can be anything from very wary to outright challenging him.  again, a good rooster ignores the challenges and continues to court hard, but it is ok if he gives her a good peck and stops if she backs down immediately.   The wary hens will eventually be won over.

Other okay things: if rooster immediately chases and breeds a hen.. but then starts courting after.  It is also okay if a hen fights him and he fights back.. as long as he does not try to beat her up after she surrenders.

To be honest, I worry more about introducing new hens to other hens rather than rooster to hens.

I couldn't agree more! Also I find it a lot easier to introduce a hen WITH rooster to flock or a single or more hens to flock that already has rooster.

 

[Skink]

Haha! I have a guess to Pork's gender but....

those are great pictures, very different.

A rooster after all d'ythink? My heart is starting to want a hen (I don't want to put sweet cuddly Pork out oh no,) but honestly it is win win either way! Having a scaleless rooster in the pen would give me all split babies faster than if I have to work my way through sons. Having a hen means I have an excuse to keep Pork as a spoiled house bab.

That reminds me, since all of the other chicks are definite splits, can you tell if they're showing areas or rows of missing scales on their legs? It's obvious on some from very early ages, while some don;t really show it so plainly until they;re bigger though. Just curious.

I was just looking at their legs today and yes! Mostly all near the ankle or the meat of the foot on the side of the leg, little soft patches of skin. I couldn't find them until they got a bit bigger but while taking these photos today I found them pretty easily. I only haven't seen it on Marshmallow, who has the spindliest legs of the lot.

I have to say that it's pretty nice weather right now. This weather right now is typical for May in our country. It's very nice, little chilly and foggy in eary morning, but in the afternoon we walk in T-shirts. But this is exception, not a rule. Maybe in few years I will be able to keep them. I remeber when I was a kid ( I still am, but..) it was snowing since November. Last three years, we didn't have snow until January. Climate is changing and it's changing fast.

So do you have other chickens beside your house chickens and these 5 chicks?

That sounds lovely! It sounds like summer where I grew up, much further north. Chilly fog that burned off in to comfortable warm. Are you near the sea? I wish I could say we've had t-shirt weather, but there's been an uncharacteristic amount of rain and wind this past two weeks. I hear you on the changing climate! We're getting a lot more precipitation over all. I said snow is rare here, but it has snowed at least once each winter since I moved here 5 years ago. Supposedly before that, my husband (he's lived here all his life) had only seen snow twice before. I brought my crummy northerner curse with me

It started with just the white cochin back when I lived in an apartment. Now I have a couple pens of serama that I am breeding, and a mixed layer flock of 11 hens. I have a feeling I have a lot more NN in my future