Hello every one. I have read through many of your threads and learned quite a lot from your community already. Even though I am new to this community I'm not all together new to chickens, having hatched a few batches before, only to give them away to friends. This is however the first time that I've had to weather a flock over the winter and also the first time. This is also the first time I've had the opportunity to hatch birds from my own flock with a mix of chickens it has been fun to try to guess what each bird was going to look like when it hatched. It has been the first time that I have gotten to practically use some of my knowledge of genetics and expand on my high school biology. This experience has really inspired me to pursue several new projects that I hope to discuss more in depth later. I'm looking forward to getting to know every one and learning more about these birds in the process.
Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined our "flock"! We'll be happy to answer any questions you may have. What breeds do you have?
Right now the only two birds that I for sure know the breeds are my white Leghorn rooster and a black Australorp hen. I also have two hens that I can't identify one lays a green egg, and the other lays a brown egg and has Bielefelder colors and markings but seems to have a slightly larger comb. I also have 5 birds that are a mix of the WL and the two unknown hens.
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to our flock. You're green egg layer is an Easter Egger (a hybrid produced by crossing a blue egg layer with a brown egg layer). Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your hatches.
I had the Easter Egger pretty well figured out. The only chick that I'm reasonably certain is a rooster is one of hers would love for him to be a her just because he is marked so beautifully. I can't vent sex chicks yet so I am having to wait for secondary indicators to show themselves.
Welcome to Backyard chickens, so glad you joined the flock . If might take awhile to meet all of us - BYC has more than 300,000 thousand members and headed toward 310,000 (guessing contest in progress) Would love to hear about some of your projects.
Thank you everyone for the warm welcome. When I am closer to starting my projects I will start threads on them. My biggest one (and the one I may need the most help with) will be whether or not I can develop my own breed of chicken.