Pipd's Peeps!

[NagemTX]

That one silver and black hen is beautiful, almost yellow-tinged! Is she part Phoenix? She reminds me a bit of my one Birchen Marans hen, Mavis, who had yellow-tinged hackles. Hens can't be gold-silver split like roosters can, so I'd always just assumed she was silver-based and the yellowish color came from her mother's mahogany gene. But I do recall that your Golden Phoenixes seemed to have other genes at play that made them Golden other than just the gold-silver split that is typical of other golden varieties.

Oops used quotes weirdly, haha.

Yes she is silver Phoenix based. So I'm guessing its the mahogany gene or if nicalandia is correct that the Phoenix have the cream gene it could be that.

Its still raining .... and raining hard. Monday I'll start getting the pea gravel again but I'm hopping on Sunday its stopped enough that I can start putting out the shavings I have left from brooding out. Or go to TSC and get some of the pellet bedding to try out.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

But I imagine the gravel would work just as well, too! I keep wanting to try that Chip Drop thing to get wood chips for our mud, but every time we actually need them, something else has come up so there's nowhere available for them to be dropped off.

I've thought about chip drop too. But, too anxious about the unknown (you know how's it really going to work?).

 

[NagemTX]

I've put out my 3 bails of white bag shavings and it's working so I ordered 10 of to be delivered tomorrow.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Might be able to get a pallet on Monday from work. Only having a mustang car to transport stuff makes it really hard to get bigger things!

Ugh, I know that struggle! My parents used to have a truck I could use for hauling things like lumber, but it's broken down and hardly usable now, so anything I get has to fit in one of the cars. Fortunately, my parents switched out their little station wagon for a big SUV a year or two ago, so that made things a little easier!

Yes she is silver Phoenix based. So I'm guessing its the mahogany gene or if nicalandia is correct that the Phoenix have the cream gene it could be that.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking! Either way, she's a gorgeous bird. Not just color-wise, I love her shape, too

I've thought about chip drop too. But, too anxious about the unknown (you know how's it really going to work?).

That makes me a bit uneasy, too, but at the same time when I'm in ankle-deep mud struggling to slosh my way through without losing a boot to it, I can't help but think about how nice it would be to just dump a ton of wood chips over it and be done with it.

I've put out my 3 bails of white bag shavings and it's working so I ordered 10 of to be delivered tomorrow.

Hopefully you get a nice, long dry spell once that rain has passed. Good ol' TSC flake shavings to the rescue!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Picture of the day 48! If you've ever wondered how the large fowl Cochins compare in size to the bantam Cochins, here you go! Caz (the large fowl girl) is a hatchery-grade Cochin, too, and on the dainty side compared to some of the large fowl Cochins I've seen in show!

Yeah, that stupid sour cream tub is still sitting out there. I need to get it and toss it, I think it must have cracked somewhere in the winter because it doesn't seem to be holding water like it should.

Anyway, runner up picture is just Cazzie giving me looks for judging her size I guess

 

[2ndTink]

Picture of the day 48! If you've ever wondered how the large fowl Cochins compare in size to the bantam Cochins, here you go! Caz (the large fowl girl) is a hatchery-grade Cochin, too, and on the dainty side compared to some of the large fowl Cochins I've seen in show!

View attachment 3903603

Yeah, that stupid sour cream tub is still sitting out there. I need to get it and toss it, I think it must have cracked somewhere in the winter because it doesn't seem to be holding water like it should.

Anyway, runner up picture is just Cazzie giving me looks for judging her size I guess

View attachment 3903606

Wow, that's a big difference!

Do you know how the LF Cochins compare in size to a breeder stock Orpington? (I may have some Orpington eggies set...) I've never had Orpingtons or Cochins yet. About to fix that possibility of a splash Orpington too

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Breeder stock of both of them is about the same size to my eye--they're YUUUGE!

I don't know if I have any pictures of hens in show that really show the size. But this is a picture of two Orpington cockerels I hatched from a breeder a few years back, and that's a normal 2x4 sunk into the ground underneath the one if that helps visualize the size. Hens would, of course, be a little smaller, but I have no pictures of them to show because each and every one of that set of eggs hatched into a cockerel, of course.

Hatcheries focus more on production than breeders generally do, so in the case of either breed, the hatchery-grade birds tend to be a bit smaller, simply because larger birds like the above tend to be super slow to mature and less productive in general. So while Cazzie is impressively fluffy and wide, she's still I'd say a good few inches shorter and narrower than the large fowl hens I've seen in show!

 

[NagemTX]

I had decent quality silver laced English Orpingtons from Cackle. They are huge! Just gave my last two hens from that order to my cousin.

They where the biggest chickens I've had so far. Got them because I had gotten 4 lavender American Orpingtons by accident from Cackle and thought I would try them out. They are not for me though. Ameraucana is about as fluffy as I want in a big chicken.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Yeah, I find I prefer my extra fluffy chickens in miniature. The Orpingtons are impressive, but not my taste. I actually only got those hatching eggs for my mom, who loves the cuddliness of large fowl Orpingtons, but the only one I have at the moment is a hatchery Blue (Izzy) who is not very human-friendly. Then they all hatched out male so it was a wash anyway because I can't keep a gigantic rooster in my mixed flock with eensy tiny bantam hens.

I ought to try again, though. My family (well, my sister who does most of the cooking) is always carrying on about wanting more large eggs. I mostly get bantam Cochin eggs these days with only a few large eggs from my remaining large fowl hens.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Picture of the day 49! Molting really hits my poor OEGB boys hard--half of their visual size is in those tail feathers!

Runner up, are y'all sick of seeing my silkied Cochins every day yet? This little cutie is Kya's only pullet she hatched. I just find the little spot on her head so cute for some reason. The other side of her head is pure white/whitish-gray so it's just that one little blotch there.