Our introduction to keeping chickens, the high's, the lows and pics of our journey.

[Fancychooklady]

Way too much testosterone at your place Ben, some more pics of my new " wylkies ".

 

[CB and CG]

Looks like you will be continuing your search for the elusive blue Australorp again lol.
Beautiful babies Ben and Fancy

 

[babyfoot]

Mmmmm looking at your males versus females pics and am beginning to wonder about mine. I have only three yet the one I was convinced is a female has a tiny comb at 3 weeks old and yet has less feathers than the other two plus she's wearing extended eyeliner. The other two, (one pure white) have slightly larger combs but are almost fully feathered except for the neck and chest and those are coming in now. Mine are a mixed lot though, so maybe it all means nothing and I'll just have to wait and see. I really really wanted another pure white hen, if it's a rooster I can't keep it None of them have yellow legs either, two have dark grey/silver legs and one has bright orange. When you have a motley crew of hens and two mix breed roosters anyhting can happen

 

[babyfoot]

Way too much testosterone at your place Ben, some more pics of my new " wylkies ".

She is gorgeous

 

[Bens-Hens]

Way too much testosterone at your place Ben, some more pics of my new " wylkies ".

Yes, indeed. I was hoping to be able to sell my roo's as pairs, but it does not look like we have the numbers for that.

Looks like you will be continuing your search for the elusive blue Australorp again lol.
Beautiful babies Ben and Fancy

Too true, next time I try we will go to Renise, or you if you are happy with fertility.

Mmmmm looking at your males versus females pics and am beginning to wonder about mine. I have only three yet the one I was convinced is a female has a tiny comb at 3 weeks old and yet has less feathers than the other two plus she's wearing extended eyeliner. The other two, (one pure white) have slightly larger combs but are almost fully feathered except for the neck and chest and those are coming in now. Mine are a mixed lot though, so maybe it all means nothing and I'll just have to wait and see. I really really wanted another pure white hen, if it's a rooster I can't keep it None of them have yellow legs either, two have dark grey/silver legs and one has bright orange. When you have a motley crew of hens and two mix breed roosters anyhting can happen

I think the eyeliner thing is for Welsummers, maybe post a couple of pics. I don't mind having a go, or if you want a bigger audience, try the gender and breed forum.

Had to gauge without an image.

 

[Wrightsx4]

Chicks look wonderful - hey, those barneveldor/Smudge chicks have very cool eyes! Do bv's have that color? I didn't notice it in the other Smudge chicks.
Nova - hope you don't mind I reshared your hoop pen idea with Joanne over on her injured hen thread.
just heard about Oz's hatching effort to help in the Phillipines - awesome idea! Read it on the faverolles thread. I'm sure he has more details on his, but sounds like he's collecting eggs to hatch and give trios to families who lost their flocks. I wish I could send eggs safely but since mine mostly arrive to me broken - even from across state- I doubt it. Besides, my flock is mostly built for the cold. Lol.

 

[Bens-Hens]

I was just chatting about that in another thread too.

I don't think we can provide eggs from Oz either. I have been working my guts out in order to join his trip in March next year. I have completed nearly 1000 k's (621 miles) in training for an Ultra Marathon (80 km or 50 miles). I hope to be able to raise the funds needed to get me over there and contribute to the cause, which has only magnified a couple of times since the plan was first hatched a few months ago with all the storms and flooding over there.

Hopefully I can get the logistics behind this run together so I can be there to help out.

Are you still getting out for a run Pam? I know it's getting cold in your part of the world, not sure how that effects motivation lol.

As for our BV Barney (roo) he did have similar eyes. I don't have any clear shots of Curly the BV mum from our mix though. I am really looking forward to seeing what they feather out like. I hope they are not just plain black.

 

[Wrightsx4]

I bet they won't be plain black. Especially if one of them is already showing some leakage coloring.
Regretfully I have resigned to running on the treadmill for the winter. I see other people doing it, but I've never been able to run in the cold - it hurts my lungs too much. I guess I just don't have the motivation to reach that conditioning level!
Good luck to you though, I hope you're able to meet your goal!

 

[joannefiddler]

Great pics Ben and Lisa! Ben, I love your extended yard for the kids...innovative as usual lol. Lisa, the look on Mama hen's face is priceless..."don't mess with my babies!"

I'll take some pics of my "ICU" setup for my hurt hen. Thanks to all who commented and shared Nova's temporary confinement link.

 

[NovaAman]

Absolutely. It's simple and cheap that confinement.

Glad to know your family made it through, Oz.

Chicks... chicks are so cute!! I have a freak silkie on freak eggs right now. Why freak eggs? Well... see... They are eggs from the hens in the garage right... and that's cool... BUT there are a few roos in there that are NOT matching to the hens. HEHE. I have no idea where the fertilization will come from. BUT I am thinking there will be several faverolle/phoenix crosses, a silkie/phoenix, even possible serema/phoenix. Yes... Serious muttitude going on in there. LOL man... it's going to be funny.

How's the foot strike change going Ben? I wish I could run, but I have freaking awful knees. Maybe when the weight is down more. I did do a teensy bit of running with the boys, but on the grass, and that seemed to be ok, but boy did my knees hate me the next day. I have that now too from going up and down ladders... I feel OLD. Just keep on keeping on with the eliptical and the bike... No impact.