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

[CB and CG]

Look forward to seeing some pics of your Blue cockerels Ben.
I need to take some photos of mine as they are 10 weeks old now and out of their ugly stage.....Well the pullets are looking good anyway. The cockerels are starting to grow in the tails now so still looking a little on the awkward side.

 

[Bens-Hens]

I just came in to post some. The boy boys were being difficult, I will get some better ones another time.

Just some random 'sitting watching chicken TV' shots today.

"Who's the Man?" "I'm the Maran!"


We know we are keeping he, so she has been named Sal. Is this bare patch common for Salmon Fav's? Both ours have it in the same spot, same size.


Dark Blue Boy...who ever is kept will be called Blue Boy. I know we are not very original in the name department hahahaha


Miss Maran, she is the one without a French accent.


Miss Araucana strutting her thang.


This was the 'swing' Wellie..seems some wattles popped up over night....hmmmmm Will be watching those for pinkness.


For comparison, here is the male Wellie giving the me anti paparazzi stare down.


Light Blue Boy making a rapid get away. I swear they know when they are the one in the spot light.


Some certainly have heavier feathered shanks!


Dark Blue Boy presiding.


They are back in the Franken -brooder for the night.

In other news we have been down to 4 eggs in the incubator, but one of those looks to have stopped a number of days ago. we have three dark masses, two have unusual air cells which I hope don't cause too many issues. One looks perfectly normal, even saw it move last night.

The hatcher is up and running correctly, tomorrow is Day 18, so we should see some action there soon. Can't wait to meet a few Coronation Sussex!

 

[babyfoot]

Look forward to seeing some pics of your Blue cockerels Ben.
I need to take some photos of mine as they are 10 weeks old now and out of their ugly stage.....Well the pullets are looking good anyway. The cockerels are starting to grow in the tails now so still looking a little on the awkward side.

Oh Noooooo, they are never ugly, just like children they are gorgeous at every stage but when they reach adulthood, they are at their best

 

[CB and CG]

Babyfoot,
I forget I am talking to chicken folk sometimes and I agree they are always cute. However when showing my young birds to non chicken folk you do get the 'ugly' comment a lot.

Ben,
Lovely chicks!, I can see the lacing you are talking about on the lighter blue cockerel however I would wait until they feather up more to make your decision. I am optimistic that the darker one will ultimatey feather up with better lacing. In a few weeks, if you spread their wings and look at their flight feathers, generally the bird that will have better lacing will have very defined lacing already on their flight feathers (Light ground colour with dark lacing)

Here is a pic taken yesterday of my Blue Australorp cockerel. His colour is looking spot on at the moment but the picture probably does not do him justice as he is in poor lighting. I can already tell that his body shape is going to be very good too! The blue pullet behind him looks to have very good colouring as well.

 

[babyfoot]

Babyfoot,
I forget I am talking to chicken folk sometimes and I agree they are always cute. However when showing my young birds to non chicken folk you do get the 'ugly' comment a lot.

Ben,
Lovely chicks!, I can see the lacing you are talking about on the lighter blue cockerel however I would wait until they feather up more to make your decision. I am optimistic that the darker one will ultimatey feather up with better lacing. In a few weeks, if you spread their wings and look at their flight feathers, generally the bird that will have better lacing will have very defined lacing already on their flight feathers (Light ground colour with dark lacing)

Here is a pic taken yesterday of my Blue Australorp cockerel. His colour is looking spot on at the moment but the picture probably does not do him justice as he is in poor lighting. I can already tell that his body shape is going to be very good too! The blue pullet behind him looks to have very good colouring as well.

I understand, many people have said they cannot stand to be near chickens as they are so ugly. My hen with the crossed beak to me is gorgeous but others say she is ugly.

So... what you guys call 'blue' I call grey. Is BLUE a proper terminology for that colouring? I have a rooster with gray tail feathers and a grey lacy style chest, his mum is a RIR x (I think) and has a grey rump. I have to admit, blue sounds nicer than grey.

Ben I'm thinking you and the other person who commented on gender of my chicks is correct... the middle one with loads of feathering has now sprouted a grey tail almost overnight. Little boy... alas... I have no one to give him to and I cannot keep another

 

[babyfoot]

Here is a pic taken yesterday of my Blue Australorp cockerel. His colour is looking spot on at the moment but the picture probably does not do him justice as he is in poor lighting. I can already tell that his body shape is going to be very good too! The blue pullet behind him looks to have very good colouring as well.

he is beautiful , just wanna pick him up and cuddle him

 

[CB and CG]

Hi Babyfoot,
Yes the correct terminology for his colour is blue.

 

[EverMystique1]

Rain and wind all night. Had to turn off the heat because I couldn't breathe. And in the syrong winds warning area until 1am tomorrow. Moderate risk of isolated tornadoes. All I have to say is that if a tornado were to hit, it needs to wipe out my house really well so that I can build fresh, but leave my coop, and the birds therein, untouched. Lol.

I swear the weather conspires against me being able to spend much time outside.

 

[Bens-Hens]

Babyfoot,
I forget I am talking to chicken folk sometimes and I agree they are always cute. However when showing my young birds to non chicken folk you do get the 'ugly' comment a lot.

Ben,
Lovely chicks!, I can see the lacing you are talking about on the lighter blue cockerel however I would wait until they feather up more to make your decision. I am optimistic that the darker one will ultimatey feather up with better lacing. In a few weeks, if you spread their wings and look at their flight feathers, generally the bird that will have better lacing will have very defined lacing already on their flight feathers (Light ground colour with dark lacing)

Here is a pic taken yesterday of my Blue Australorp cockerel. His colour is looking spot on at the moment but the picture probably does not do him justice as he is in poor lighting. I can already tell that his body shape is going to be very good too! The blue pullet behind him looks to have very good colouring as well.

I'm a chicken folk and I think they certainly have an 'awkward' phase lol.

Your cockerel looks amazing. I am not up to speed on required type and so on for SOP, but I do know what I like. If one of our boys can throw some girls we would be very happy!

We will wait as you say and see what feathers we get once they are on grower feed.

I understand, many people have said they cannot stand to be near chickens as they are so ugly. My hen with the crossed beak to me is gorgeous but others say she is ugly.

So... what you guys call 'blue' I call grey. Is BLUE a proper terminology for that colouring? I have a rooster with gray tail feathers and a grey lacy style chest, his mum is a RIR x (I think) and has a grey rump. I have to admit, blue sounds nicer than grey.

Ben I'm thinking you and the other person who commented on gender of my chicks is correct... the middle one with loads of feathering has now sprouted a grey tail almost overnight. Little boy... alas... I have no one to give him to and I cannot keep another

I am not certain why blue is called blue, but I know there are two grey's and neither of them are called grey. The pic above is a blue, but has been been created with a black, so it also has the black lacing around the edge of the feathers. That does not occur with a Lavender colour. I do understand that there are more genetic differences between the two (blue and lavender) so how they react with each other and other colours is very different.

I am sure there are people that know much more about it than I.

Now off to have a look at your feathered family album Babyfoot If you are on FB, there are some groups who might be able to put the word out to give your roo a new home, or you could advertise him on gumtree for a small fee. Best to wait a little longer to make sure it is a he though

 

[Wrightsx4]

Forget what I said about rarely having severe weather!!! Okay, still rare, but I guess I should have knocked on wood upon saying it. Pouring rain, 60mph wind, tornado watch...
Hope all the Michigan people on our thread (and their flocks) are safe through it!