***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[HeyBigRhondaq]

@ashtree There is a very nice lady and her family who live in Choctaw (Carrie & Cam-mom/daughter but I can't remember which is which). Anyway, she sells a variety of chickens, one of which is a true, pure BBS Ameraucana. PM me if you want her phone number. I don't know what she's got right now, but I've been very pleased with all my chickens from her (Welsummers, Marans too).
And Carrie/Cam, if you're on here, show yourself! Lol

 

[artsyrobin]

EE is an easter egger, they are mixes sold in feed stores as americauna, misrepresentation, but they usually lay green, blue eggs- and are a variety of colors-

 

[NanaKat]

I'm an Okie and new on here...new to chickens too!  We got ours on Monday so we are truly newbies.  But I have been reading and learning from the posts on here.  I expect this is going to be a fun adventure!

Welcome to the OKIE thread and to chicken addiction.

Betsy...sounds like you were very lucky too! A copperhead that big...my word! Your garden sounds wonderful.

 

[mjgigax]

Thank you. I am so excited!!!!

Congratulations!

 

[mjgigax]

My lucky day? Non-aggressive Copperhead! I think copperheads are not very aggressive as a rule.

Was transplanting a large clump of hellibores, and had just reached in with my bare hand trying unsuccessfully to separate the clump. Took the shovel to it again, and a 30" copperhead emerged from it! I've not seen one that large, and at the moment it seemed gigantic! This was right flush up against the house, so I wasn't expecting a snake there. Snake lost. Our older cat did a good job of keeping snakes away, but our current cat may not have the same interest. Schuster seemed to enjoy playing with even the venomous copperheads.

First garden of any size in quite a few years is doing well. We've frozen green beans and Swiss Chard that are producing faster than we can eat them and have eaten three zucchinis. However, today I found what I took to be juvenile squash bugs on the underside of a squash. Noticed some wilting of leaves, and so have treated liberally with Sevin dust. Have 9 plants, so am hoping they'll still produce. Hate to use insecticides and herbicides (using on poison ivy), but sometimes you must. Swiss Chard is lacy from the bugs eating it, but we figure so long as we get all the bugs off it is still good to eat!

Tomato plants taller than my head are loaded with green tomatoes, and two kinds of okra are growing fast though not to blooming stage yet. Chicken litter does wonders for soil quality!

Silkie hens continue to hatch chicks sporadically, and two Royal Purple keets hatched today. Wasn't really expecting keets, as the flock is mostly confined and conditions are not ideal in their very large pens. One hen has been trying to brood a very large pile of eggs that the others keep adding to, but she can't cover them all, which hinders hatching. Another hen has now joined her. The keets are in a brooder in our small Dutch barn (air conditioned and heated) with the youngest silkies, which will keep them safe and make them much calmer than keets raised by mamas.

My Blue Showgirl hen hatched an adorable Silkie chick with a nice dome and 5 toes on each foot. Hope my Cochins don't notice how much I love your birds!

 

[mjgigax]

@ashtree There is a very nice lady and her family who live in Choctaw (Carrie & Cam-mom/daughter but I can't remember which is which). Anyway, she sells a variety of chickens, one of which is a true, pure BBS Ameraucana. PM me if you want her phone number. I don't know what she's got right now, but I've been very pleased with all my chickens from her (Welsummers, Marans too).
And Carrie/Cam, if you're on here, show yourself! Lol

Carrie, (the Mom), is my neighbor and a good friend to Jack, (neighbor across the street and my Chicken Mentor) and me. She is a dear lady and has nice flocks.

Aneraucanas in a "pure" flock occasionally hatch out some birds with EE coloring. Over 5 years I have seen Jack's Bule/Splash flock hatch out fewer and fewer birds with EE coloring.

 

[Kyzmette]

I hope I don't want more than we have!  We wanted 6 and had to take 16...two died, dang.  I don't know a lot about how to take care of chickens, much less 14!  This will be quite a ride, I think!

Okay now for a dumb question:  what's an "EE"?  And thank you for the welcome!

There are no dumb questions. We all had to ask at one point.

An Ameraucana is an actual breed and can be shown at breed shows. Theres an association dedicated to the breed and a standard of perfection to breed by. They lay pretty blue eggs and have muffs (beards).

EEs (Easter Eggers) are mutts, but 99% of chicken people call them Ameraucanas. If you go to a poultry show every muffed chicken will be auctioned off as an Ameraucana, even though they're not.

Imagine the whole world acting like every large, black, short-haired dog was a purebred Labrador, and that would be similar.

 

[mjgigax]

It has been a very hard week. Last week we visited my Husband's dad in Mississippi. Dad is only 71 and in good psysical health but has dymensia and is now in a home. It is very hard for my Husband who hasn't had much time with him since he was 14 and moved with his Mom to Texas.

While we were in MS, our dear dog jumped the fence at DH's Aunt's house, where we were staying, and died. We are heartbroken. Louie was a wonderful dog and my shawdow. I am still looking for him every time I go to sleep, wake up and when I go from room to room and pen to pen.

 

[BetsyOK]

Mary Jo, glad the silkies and showgirls are doing well for you.

The cat didn't win against the copperhead--this one doesn't seem to pay much attention (at least I don't see her "playing" with them)--this human did.

 

[BetsyOK]

MJ, so sorry for your two-pronged bad news. It is so hard to lose loved ones (human or "near'human") or see them going drastically down hill.

Welcome to all the newbies!