Office Work.......

[wegotchickens]

Buffy, the pinwheels are very tasty. Like a low-carb sandwich with an extra dash of fun. I really wish there'd been pretty baby spinach leaves at the store yesterday. The green really jazzes up the pinwheels. They're kinda monochromatic otherwise...

Beth, those are called lavender (aka self-blue) and are VERY popular. I hate the way they feather out, though. Mine are more PQ than SQ. So I've crossed them with my millie roo to see if I can improve the feathering. Right now I have black d'Uccles (50% split to lav) hatching. I will cross those back to the lavenders and hopefully end up with a higher quality bird. And as a fringe benefit I have a lovely science project for DD if she needs one...

Some of the eggs currently being incubated are by the millie hens with the lav roo. I can't find any concrete info that says feather quality is carried by the male or the female. Weird. So I'm hedging my success by trying both. Maybe I'll answer the inheritance question for myself. Or maybe its just a gnentic crapshoot. Either way, I plan to have drop-dead gorgeous lavenders next year...

And I'll have some black d'Uccles as well. I so very badly want a black d'Uccle rooster that has Tennessee's shape & feathering in glossy black with a green sheen

 

[Beth G.]

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That sounds exciting!! I love Lav's. I currently have One Lav Orp Roo, One Lav Orp Hen, and 3 black orp hens that carry the lav gene. I just bought a bator to see if I could hatch out some of their offspring plus a couple of partridge silkies too. I personally have never incubated anything but, lately I have no broodies in the coop so, I am left with no choice but, to do the bator thingy. It's supposed to come by Friday and I am saving my eggs all week for the new try out.

 

[sparkles2307]

I love my accidental d'uccles

Got them in a grab bin at TSC thinking they were bantam cochins. Ended up with two pullets and an OEGB roo so I think between the 3 of them, altho the babies wont be pure, they will be pretty! One of the d'uccles is very people shy, but the other, Lil Miss, is so sweet and friendly, she likes to sit on my feet while I feed everyone, and we never really held her much as a chick (we're busy, chickens are for visual enjoyment but we dont have time for holding them much) so its all her own personality that leads her to follow us and talk to us and sit on us. We love her and DH likes her more than the silkie he begged me to get him because Lil Miss isnt totally helpless like Cutie Pie. The dog takes good care of the silkie tho so we dont worry about her much.

 

[Beth G.]

Our TSC's around here only carry boring breeds like sex links, RIR's, etc... I just posted something on Sunday, I wish someone in CT would have a chicken stock/swap!! The closest one I've ever seen is way up near NH/MA border. It's like a 2 1/2 hour drive and too far for me. That is why I resulted in doing the mail order thing. I hope my chicky babies are okay! I hear of alot of horrible stories about mail babies dying for pasting up etc...

 

[wegotchickens]

Our first chicks were from MPC and they did great. Did have one that tried to paste up, days later, but I nursed her through it. She now lives with another family I addicted to chickens

Buffy, their foot feathers can get yucky, but I add playsand to my runs to keep the splort from stinking so badly, and the sand keeps the runs from getting to muddy/icky. I never bathe my chicks before a show, I just let them run around in dew-soaked grass the day before. It makes those foot feathers all spiffy with no stress for the birds.

Our TSC has a bantam bin, but I've sworn off hatchery birds. There is a HUGE difference between my heritage millies and the hatchery lavs. My goldnecks are a mix of hatchery & heritage and I can see a difference in them for sure. Makes it easier to walk past the peeping boxes every spring.

My silkies aren't helpless, except for Spikely. S/he was names Spike because s/he kept pecking me when I'd reach out. Now Spikely comes for loving on and to get extra treats. Spikely is as likely as the millies to be underfoot as I clean the coop and such. S/he drove DH nuts when he was modifying the coop brooder because Dh is a firm believer that the chickers should either be outside or locked up. Never loose in the 'people' zones. Spikely doesn't recognize those boundaries.
I think Spikely is a she, but you can never be sure with a silkie baby, but she has 'wing fingers'. I haven't read up on it yet, but I think wing-fingers are a bad thing. Poor Spikely...

 

[wegotchickens]

Beth G. :

ee

My chicks came in but, to the wrong PO. I can't leave till 11:45am. The wait is going to kill me

Only 45 more minutes to go! I think you'll live....​

 

[Beth G.]

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Only 45 more minutes to go! I think you'll live....

I know but, talk about soo close but, yet soo far away....lol (((whining))))

 

[Buff Hooligans]

Beth G. :

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Only 45 more minutes to go! I think you'll live....

I know but, talk about soo close but, yet soo far away....lol (((whining))))​

Want some cheese to go with that whinnnnne?

 

[Beth G.]

Quote:
I know but, talk about soo close but, yet soo far away....lol (((whining))))

Want some cheese to go with that whinnnnne?

Tee-Hee Yes please a good CA Cab would go nice with a little Dutch Blue Cheese!!

 

[wegotchickens]

Quote:
I like to pretend they're children and I'm a kindergarten teacher. You'd be amazed how well that works. Both to get the desired results from others while preserving my sanity!