Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[fisherlady]

Some?

I know she's not special to anyone else, but my free silkie mix hen is gorgeous. She is solid black (beak, toes, wattles comb etc.). She is kind of a feral transplant, but for that reason can really hold her own. She has smooth feathers, but has retained the "puff" on top of her head. She is also consistently laying an egg every other day. (Go figure, my best layers are were free chickens!)

She's just a mutt, but her solid black coloring and hardiness are something I wish I could duplicate. She is not very friendly, but definitely the smartest of the bunch. Because she's all black he name is Malificent.
That's very interesting! Who knew?

I know exactly what you are speaking of!! We have a girl like that also, she is a mix of our Black Australorp roo and an EE hen.... in fact her sister is also jet black but the sister has a comb and wattles. As chicks they looked like 2 little crows so they were named Heckle and Jeckle. I love the black hens, we have a number of them, some have lighter legs or eyes, but Jeckle is just a standout because everything is jet black on her.... and she lays an olive/camo green egg and is currently broody for the second time this year.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Oh yeah, the whole reason I got on here lol. My husband turned to me today and said that I need to get the incubator going. I think I'm still in shock lol. He wants more for food but still, he's giving me permission to get hatching! WOOO! Now I just need the girls laying again lol

You lucky duck! Go for it girl!

That is the biggest downside to a "barnyard mix", they are, almost by definition, one of a kind (except for controlled hybrids like the commercial sex links). We have some beautiful roos around the farm, and even some hens that look like their sisters (very possible), but breeding them together would result in their heterozygous characteristics segregating into chickens that look different than either parent. Unless you know the original cross, you will never be able to sort out the genetics and make another Malificent 

I'm sure that is the downside. I'll never know her lineage as she is two years old and was a freebie from Craigslist, but I would love some opinions when I post pics of her. You kind of lost me with the genetics explanation.

Ok so i'm on again for what have become my rare visits.... I miss hanging with you folksies....


So I have an odd problem for December ..... I have too many eggs!!!!    I'm getting approx 2 doz eggs a day.   My primary source of egg sales (a local farm produce store) closes from December to May).   I'm hesitant to hang the eggs for sale sign out because the store wants up to 10 doz eggs a week during season.... and the sign would have to come down again .....

Whoa! How many chickens do you have to get two dozen eggs a day in December? I think you need to share your secrets with LIttleMissPurdy

  Great! Way to go!

   Pictures? We all like pictures of each other's favorite chickens.

   Need eggs?  We have some available. We are in the Denver area.

   Do you have any pictures of them? Depending on how they look I would be interested in one.

I will try to post pics of her if I can get close enough, she is truly a wild feral girl. The first few days in the yard, she was freaking out, but has settled in very well. I don't think I have ever even been able to pick her up, now that I think about it.

I know exactly what you are speaking of!!  We have a girl like that also, she is a mix of our Black Australorp roo and an EE hen.... in fact her sister is also jet black but the sister has a comb and wattles.  As chicks they looked like 2 little crows so they were named Heckle and Jeckle.   I love the black hens, we have a number of them, some have lighter legs or eyes, but Jeckle is just a standout because everything is jet black on her.... and she lays an olive/camo green egg and is currently broody for the second time this year.

That's awesome! Heckle and Jeckle and perfect names! My two "twin" girls are named Flora & Fauna. I think the broody one is Fauna, but I can't really tell them apart. I'd love to see pictures of Heckle and Jeckle.

 

[wingstone]

Those of you with the white rocks, keep me in mind when you start to get eggs that can be shipped, I have all hens, no rooster.
Anne, I have a few silkie mixes also, they seem to be so much more hardy than most silkies, my favorite rooster is a silkie mix.
Silkie, I have everyone housed together for the winter, so nothing pure, I can send mixes in both chicken and duck if you want them

 

[SilkieSensation]

@wingstone Mixes are fine with me, especially for my layer pen. I still have that bresse/ee cross I hatched from you out there. The kids call her Flapper. She was pretty slow growing, but has a nice heavy body style now. I like meaty birds. Mixed ducks are fine too. We can hold onto some for eggs & make diner of extra drakes. Christmas diner this year will be turducken. I have a spare tom, a spare ancona drake & 2 extra roos. Into the roaster pan they all go...lol

 

[dheltzel]

That's soo creepy having those people hunting close by! Ahhh!


I looked up pics of the ayam-cemani chickens and OMG. They were mesmerizing!!!! Like a statue. So amazing! I showed it to my finace
and he was mesmerized too. I never could have imagined a chicken to look so captivating! Does anyone know if they are imported to america yet? Any random facts about them?

The only other chicken I can think of that is black like that is the silkie.

You can look up a lot of info on them, but be prepared to be shocked by the price. Prices will come down dramatically and we'll start to see a lot of hybrids from people buying a roo and crossing to black silkies and such. At some point, everyone who is interested in them will have them and then they will get cheap as people try to sell their progeny for $10 to recoup some of what they paid. Chicken prices can drop pretty dramatically because a single pair can produce hundreds of offspring a year. Unless the breed proves to be hard to manage and has a high rate of failures. That is what keeps prices high for things like peafowl and Sebastopol geese, they just lay far fewer eggs. Some chickens are poor layers too, keeping their prices higher, but making them "pet only" birds that never get produced by the thousands.

 

[Kinmera]

Hey there! glad to see you stopped in...

How are your White Rocks doing? Ours are getting huge, but we only have 2 hens and don't have the pens separated yet to get hatching eggs. We actually have 2 extra roosters ourselves, they are gorgeous birds and I am hoping to end up with a few more hens by spring. 2 of the roosters follow me around like puppies in the yard and woods, I am really liking them so far.

We will be selling a trio of the Silver pencils as soon as I get a good photo of them and have a chance to post them, we also have 5 hens who are broody right now, haven't decided on what to do about eggs for them yet.... darn girls need to look at the calendar!

My rocks are doing amazing right now. I have 2 WPR roos that I am using (1 from the same breeder we got our original stock and 1 that we hatched ourselves) and 12 girls at the moment - 11 white and 1 lavender (a self hatched). I'm getting about 6 eggs a day from them at the moment. I'm crossing fingers that the eggs hatch. I will try to get pictures of some of them with my daughter this weekend -- she's about 5 foot tall so that will give you a reference as to the size of the chickens.

I'm actually HOPING that some of my girls start to go broody - so I can shove some eggs under them.

 

[Kinmera]

That's soo creepy having those people hunting close by! Ahhh!


I looked up pics of the ayam-cemani chickens and OMG. They were mesmerizing!!!! Like a statue. So amazing! I showed it to my finace
and he was mesmerized too. I never could have imagined a chicken to look so captivating! Does anyone know if they are imported to america yet? Any random facts about them?

The only other chicken I can think of that is black like that is the silkie.

Sumatra's can be black like Ayam Cemani's and silkies.

They have mulberry black combs and black legs. (P.S. these are NOT my birds)

Yes A-C's are in the US barely - the only true breeder that I know of them in the US wants $$$$ (3 - 4 figures a pair).

 

[Kinmera]

Whoa! How many chickens do you have to get two dozen eggs a day in December? I think you need to share your secrets with LIttleMissPurdy

About 4 dozen layers of various varieties

No big secrets
17% layer crumble, fermented
Cracked Corn for extra energy

All coops have lights strung up about 2 feet over the water dish to keep the water from freezing. I think that little bit of extra light is whats helping. They still have dark areas in the coops for sleeping.

 

[Kinmera]

Those of you with the white rocks, keep me in mind when you start to get eggs that can be shipped, I have all hens, no rooster.
Anne, I have a few silkie mixes also, they seem to be so much more hardy than most silkies, my favorite rooster is a silkie mix.
Silkie, I have everyone housed together for the winter, so nothing pure, I can send mixes in both chicken and duck if you want them

Not a problem at all wing on the WPRs

I'm actually in the market for 2 - 3 silkie hens. I want to experiment with using them as natural incubators.

 

[fisherlady]

Those of you with the white rocks, keep me in mind when you start to get eggs that can be shipped, I have all hens, no rooster.
Anne, I have a few silkie mixes also, they seem to be so much more hardy than most silkies, my favorite rooster is a silkie mix.
Silkie, I have everyone housed together for the winter, so nothing pure, I can send mixes in both chicken and duck if you want them

Looks like I may have to make a trip east after Christmas with the DH to hit Cabelas and Bass Pro.... I would think I could add a bird or two to the list of things to pack!

would you be able to find space for a 10+ pound rooster with your girls? LOL