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

[Wrightsx4]

Oh I missed that! My half fav (Salomon) was feather pecked in the brooder. Had to keep his back covered - made him a pirate cape. They pecked through the blu-kote but on the head there aren't really other options except to separate them from the instigators. It took a long time to figure out who my instigators were - the bluebell girls. I read all kinds of advice about "why" they do it: protein and calcium deficiency, lack of space, boredom. I addressed all possibilities while they were young but they just liked to pluck feathers. Still did it as adults until they earned some fancy glasses. Seems extreme but the alternative was to cull three otherwise good pullets. Pretty sure it's inherited (in my case anyway) so I may avoid using a bluebell for breeding. Evil Alice is an awfully pretty blue though!
Ben, when I saw that you're thinking of keeping a blue roo (how could you not?) I laughed. They'll be perfect age for another birthday hatch

 

[Bens-Hens]

They are some great shots....I might have to stop taking shots with my phone lol

Very glad to hear those in MI are doing ok, looked pretty bad on the news.

CB, we have three wigglers so far we are on track with those. Should know for sure in the next day or 2.

Nova, both our Fav's had that bald line on their head at hatch, it has not been pecked. The male has had some tail feathers plucked, part of the reason I wanted to give them more space with the temp run but the line has always been there since they plopped out all gooey like. The male seems to not have got any bigger, but the female seems to stay comparative to here size. Neither have got any feathers that far up yet so not sure if they will close over themselves with feather or not.

EDIT:, I didn't see the new page!

Pam, if all goes well they would e perfect age, keen for another hatch-a-long? My last one was nothing like our one, and with the Coro's I could not find a coherent thread to follow so I have sort of gone alone, just putting updates in here instead.

As I said above, the bald spot was a hatch defect in both sexs, was not sure if it was 'normal' I feel silly now asking as clearly it'
s not normal, but they are such funky breeds (I trip out watching those five toes walk away from me!) I thought anything could be possible!

 

[Wrightsx4]

Do you have contact with the person you received the fav eggs from? Maybe it's an inherited trait in that flock to have that bald spot at hatch? Glad to know they aren't getting pecked, well, on the head anyway. Let me know if you want to make a pirate cape of your own for the male. Poor Salomon was bare until I covered him up to let his tail and back grow back in.

 

[Bens-Hens]

Oh, I nearly forgot. I stumbled across a project where a place had bred Isabel Welsummers. Great coloured birds. The originator walked me through the process of creating that colour in just about any breed. As it turns out, I have all the 'ingredient birds' to cook up my very own line.

Seems like an exciting way to breed. Sadly though, I don't think we have the space or neighbours that would tolerate such a program so it will have to wait until we have that extra space.

I will copy a link in here for anyone that would like a look, they have some awesome rooster pics on page two!

The base you have is definitely there to work with. If you have patience and plenty of money for feed then the rest is super easy. First off with any project I always look for the shortest path of resistance. Example if I'm working with a clean legged shank dark egg layer I try to find the two birds with some similarities. This just makes the process easier and I can be a little impatient and I'd hate to have a throwback pop up down the road. So frustrating. But basically cross your lavender over your desired bird. Let's say Wheaten Marans. Your off spring is gonna be solid black in males and females and you'll even get some black with Mossiness of the wheaten in it. With the lavender gene you have to do a sibling mating to pull the lavender back out. Breed brother and sister together and you'll get a wide variety of colors. Thus being blacks, lavenders, wheaten and finally your Isabel. The first Isabel's will be sparse on the first mating and you have to hatch off a good bit to find the perfect chicks to work with. Like I said, always look for the shortest path of resistance and finding your best Isabel's as chicks will cut down on feed and perfection time. Now through my experience with the first Isabel's I did I have a couple Isabel's throw off a lavender so I did large flock matings so I'd not have to start back all over. Now this part could vary from project to project but the ratio for me was around 1 Isabel for every 25 chicks hatched give or take. Take your best Isabel's and cross them back into your wheaten Marans again and you'll notice something different happen. Now your gonna get solid wheaten Marans which will be split lavender. Let me back up a second. You can cross your Isabel's with male or female Wheatens or do both at he same time. It won't matter one bit when working with this gene. Even better if you had the space and money you could cross Isabel males into wheaten females and cross Wheaten males into Isabel females and the Wheatens be from two different lines or lineage. This makes them even stronger in my opinion. Ok now take your split lavender wheaten Marans and do another sibling mating. The offspring this time will only be wheaten Marans and Isabel wheaten Marans. This is basically the end of the process on establishing the Isabel. After this point it's up to you on perfection. Keep crossing the Isabel back into your Wheaten until you've established it's full traits.
I mean let's be honest here. No matter what the breed is you'll never ever be finished perfecting it. It's an endless cycle. There are standards and those guidelines do have to be followed but it's all about having fun and what matters to you.
I explained this process in simple terms as there are so many variables and correct pronunciations that wouldn't do nothing but confuse some first time people and steer them away from attempting to do it. But I hope I explained it as simple as possible and you got an idea of the process of doing your own Isabel project

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/834283/isabel-welsummer/20#post_12350439

 

[Wrightsx4]

I may do a small birthday hatch - we'll see as it gets closer. Our hatchalong was so much fun. I know what you mean, I tried to follow one in June when I did the broody hatch - not like ours in April at all!
Lol, no I don't think the bald spots are "normal" for the breed but could be very normal from their flock. It probably only affects the down and the big kid feathers will fill right in.

 

[Wrightsx4]

Oh my goodness - love the info from skylinepoultry.

 

[Fancychooklady]

They are some great shots....I might have to stop taking shots with my phone lol

Very glad to hear those in MI are doing ok, looked pretty bad on the news.

CB, we have three wigglers so far we are on track with those. Should know for sure in the next day or 2.

Nova, both our Fav's had that bald line on their head at hatch, it has not been pecked. The male has had some tail feathers plucked, part of the reason I wanted to give them more space with the temp run but the line has always been there since they plopped out all gooey like. The male seems to not have got any bigger, but the female seems to stay comparative to here size. Neither have got any feathers that far up yet so not sure if they will close over themselves with feather or not.

EDIT:, I didn't see the new page!

Pam, if all goes well they would e perfect age, keen for another hatch-a-long? My last one was nothing like our one, and with the Coro's I could not find a coherent thread to follow so I have sort of gone alone, just putting updates in here instead.

As I said above, the bald spot was a hatch defect in both sexs, was not sure if it was 'normal' I feel silly now asking as clearly it'
s not normal, but they are such funky breeds (I trip out watching those five toes walk away from me!) I thought anything could be possible!

Hey Ben, Phillip Evans is the man with all the answers on coro's. It is as a result of his efforts that the breed even exists today. He lives about 20 mins south of me. I googled him and found what I needed to know, but I'm no where near as inquisitive as you.

 

[Bens-Hens]

Thanks Lisa, I will keep that in mind if I have any questions.

We don't have any pips just yet, but the crazy painted brooder is ready and everything else looks good. Now we just need those three guests to join the party

Pam, I found that info from Skyline so interesting and really gets the mind ticking over!

 

[ozexpat]

Thanks Lisa, I will keep that in mind if I have any questions.

We don't have any pips just yet, but the crazy painted brooder is ready and everything else looks good. Now we just need those three guests to join the party

Pam, I found that info from Skyline so interesting and really gets the mind ticking over!

i have lots of lavender orps.......

 

[Fancychooklady]

I love orps, especially lavender . King George loves babies. He calls them in for food and then holds his head down low for them to peck at his comb.