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You should be ashamed of yourself! Allowing such nice White Orpingtons to have interaction with Naked Necks! Though, for a Naked Neck, those are nice looking.
some pretty nice birds lildinkem..you always give such great tours of the farm...I know one or 2 of the cockerals I got from Jody look like the broad side of the barn walking toward you..great big chests ..real nice birds..cant wait to see how they finish out .they are only 4 1/2 mos old in this pic and already big as a young turkey. I have such a great time looking at everyones birds..thats why I like going to the poultry shows so much..I get to see everything from the great bantams to the big jersey giants and everything inbetween. the leg tags in these photos are USDA NYS inspection for npip..Jody has been listed as a clean flock though these birds..her farm appear on thier cert and inspection results.so thats kind of nice for people wanting npip birds.
boy the fox and coyotes have been a real scourge this year for us too..we had 25 laying hens and we are down to 6 over the last couple years assults. My husband calls that hedge line to the woods the vietcong of chickens..we are installing a much bigger fence all the way to the garden..the bigger coyotes jump in and right back out , they test weak spots in the fence..it is 4 ft..my husband rescued a hen from a fox this last spring, she was really torn up and we had to do a lot of work to fix her back up, we thought we were going to loose her too but other than scarred and feather damage she is fine now..just this morning a racoon came around the corner and was crunching away in the baby pen feeder while i was standing right there..and I must be watering the whole forest because we fill one of those huge poultry founts and within 2 days its empty..
aveca nice Blacks. You should have a fun time with them at the APA Shows. I hope you keep them in a protected area at nites. Get them Foxes and Yotes!!
Yours are pretty nice too..This is the first time I have owned blk orps..the australorp we have is very big so Im wondering just how big these guys will be when they get adult ..funny how much they are alike , the blk orps are more bulk but so similar..and the tails are similar also, blk orps are the foundation for that breed..the aussie rooster is very elegant in person..the blk orps has nicest face and big but not an unhealthy big like the commercial birds.
the aussie has same exact eye as the old time orps. look how similar the tail is .amazing what some of these breeders have done.this rooster is out of a very old line.
blk orp
aussie his tail pretty much looked like the above but I plucked the broken feathers off ,poor guy my yard looked like poultry processing yard..I lost one broken feather and couldnt find it again its still in there , at that point I figured I bothered him long enough. hes breeding bird and not really top show bird but lord hes beautiful in person..we give the show birds either beef liver or hamburg a couple times a week, thier feathers really start to glow..the ones I removed will be replaced with some very shiney new ones.
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My first Blacks were from a local Black Orp breeder and hero of mine Russ Milkey. He is a former Notre Dame offensive tackle and one heck of a great guy. He is ALL about the hobby and about helping the youngsters. No one I ever met is a nicer and better ambassador for Poultry then Russ. His Blacks are pretty darn nice too. His main Black cock weighed last fall at 14 lbs. I have one hen from Russ's line. My hen's mom won Reserve of Breed at last years Central Indiana Poultry Show. She too is one heck of a nice Black.
you should be very happy to have them. Enjoy showing them and learn from others at these APA shows. I am lucky since I live in INDY to be right in the cross hairs of some of the best Poultry Shows in America. And have loved showing them ever since my first show. Hope you have the same experience.