PenedeSenca advice hunt

[nunlef]

Hi,
Last week I ordered a special discount surprise egg collection. In it was 11 penedesenca eggs and 3 partridge penedesenca eggs. I had never heard of that breed before, and google didn't turn up too much information.

I'm trying to figure out if I will keep these guys or not. I live in the mid Atlantic, so winter lows can be 9 degrees (not the most extreme, but a little lower than average). Birds are in tractors over a 1 acre veggie garden with 12 sf per bird outside and 4 sf inside. They are free to pasture about 1 hour a day, and 8 hours once a week on 5 acres of open land. We have significant predators in the area, including coyote, but our dog does a good job of marking our field, and we have never seen anything on our property (dog is indoors a lot, though).

We have children that like to play with chickens, but we don't sit them in laps, just pet them at treat time. My goal in chicken keeping is to get eggs for my family and sell off baby chicks that I like to hatch.

ANY adviceis appreciated, we are not low on room, but I do want to only keep chickens that are easy keepers (our other chickens are black copper marans, australorps, ameraucanas, and Easter eggers)

Thanks!

 

[Oldhound]

Do a search on here , there is a Penedesenca thread here with lots of information and pictures . there is also a club http://penedesencausapoultryclub.com/ I like mine(black) , but they are not for everyone. If "imprinted' at hatching they should be easier to handle but they are not a childs pet. IMO the breed has some outstanding egg producers but also a big percentage of poor layers that need to be removed from breeding programs. What the breed really needs is dedicated breeders who have the patience and ability to improve and stabilize the very small gene pool. I have read that they make good free range birds with high survival instincts. Good Luck , and check out that other thread.

 

[nunlef]

Thanks so much for your response. I think i may have spelled it wrong last night when I was search byc. I came up with tons of info this time. And it turns out, these guys will be going to live somewhere else, flighty birds are too hard to chase down when pasture time is over

Thanks, heather

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

My black penedesenca was just at the patio door begging for a treat. I was just thinking "I should breed those instead of orpingtons". Maybe I just have a weird hen for the breed but she is not flighty at all. And I think she's one of my friendliest chickens. Here is a picture of her being nosey when I was trying to photograph my lavender orpingtons.

It doesn't sound like the right breed for you. But I love mine.

 

[josh44]

I will keep it simple keeping penedesenca temperment weise is like keeping leghorns.
they are flighty, kinda vocal, very active and lay a good amount of eggs.

They are a dual purpose.breed and have more meat on them than a leghorns and lay dark brown eggs usually a terracotta color.

 

[mstricer]

Flighty, did I say flighty. Yes they are flighty. I had one, she went broody hatched out a few. But then died from the heat. Weird huh

 

[nunlef]

I do have a leghorn, and I like her just fine. She does go in the coop at night, but she is not much in the way of personality. I did buy her as a started pullet from a local commercial hatchery, so maybe she just hasn't gotten used to people yet. (btw, I will never buy that way again, those poor birds had actual poop on them and one was missing part of its beak). Maybe I'll grow these chicks out a little bit before I decide

 

[3riverschick]

Hi,
Find "mothermastiff" online with a search engine. She has bred them for years and is encylopedic on the breed.
I think, she mported the very first ones from Spain.
Here ya go : http://www.mothermastiff.com/
Best Regards,
Karen in western PA

 

[stephanie1992]

i had one. they are the only breed with white earlobes to lay dark eggs mine was partridge. he didnt develope his white earlobes yet when this pic was taken, only the males develope branches on the backs of there combs. females combs flop over. Partridge ones have slate blue legs. idk if other colors do. i no longer have him. but they are flighty and he was agressive.