Ribh's D'Coopage

[BY Bob]

Just so we are all clear: A Leghorn chicken is white (but could be any color), with a big floppy single comb (but could have a rose comb), a lanky body (but could be any shape) and lays lots of white eggs. I am sure someone is about to tell me some Leghorns lay purple eggs.
It is as clear as mud!

Almost right, the body shape should be consistent (lean and lanky), the wing to body ratio should always be the same, their posture should always be the same, and as far as I know, prolific layers of only white eggs.

 

[featherhead007]

That little roo costs me much more than that each month, (But worth every penny)

All my precious pets are!!!

 

[BY Bob]

I am retiring in 369 days and counting. It will be a busy year but I am excited!

Now that's exciting!

 

[BY Bob]

The bantams seem to be using their size and speed to their advantage and don't seem to be missing out at the food bucket one little bit. I love it!

They seem very feisty to me. So much fun to come with them! It's exciting.

 

[RoyalChick]

Almost right, the body shape should be consistent (lean and lanky), the wing to body ratio should always be the same, their posture should always be the same, and as far as I know, prolific layers of only white eggs.

Look back at the last picture of Tsuki. Beautiful? For sure! Lean and lanky? Not so much!

 

[BY Bob]

Look back at the last picture of Tsuki. Beautiful? For sure! Lean and lanky? Not so much!

Just because 1 hen bullies her way to a pleasing plumpness doesn't mean she did not start out lean and lanky.

 

[micstrachan]

Flock Dynamics

Flock dynamics are so interesting. I’m sure Bridge is still the Alpha, but she is so chill, she doesn’t push her weight around. She is subtle about it and rules the roost with just firm look. I just love that calm confidence in her.

It is really interesting to see how the Littles are coming along. Flo is working hard to establish her place in the pecking order in the main flock. Just in a short amount of time this morning, I saw her challenge Bridge, Buttercup, and Ruby. Bridge just had a stare down with her and eventually Flo backed off. Buttercup, on the other hand, went after her and beat her up a little bit (not really, but she definitely pecked snd chased Flo off). Ruby is pretty chill and still outranks Flo, but she didn’t put up a big fuss about it.

Flo also seems to think that I belong to her. She seems a little confused if one of the higher ranked birds gets in my lap or gets my attention. Poor thing! It’s super cute! Of all the birds, definitely the babies are the happiest to see me.

Ester’s molt is significant. If she fluffs and shakes herself, 20 feathers come flying off! She’s warming herself in the sun at the moment, along with Dorothy. I’m so glad I wired in this little area, which I call their “sun room.” It is the area under the upper level of the coop (upper level was previously the deck of the kids’ redwood play structure). I leave the little pop door open year round for ventilation and so they have access to the sun room. One side is removable for human access (cleaning). I often leave it off when they are free ranging so they have another entry to the safe area. Everything is wet outside, so even though they are free ranging, they are doing their sunning from inside the covered part of the run and/or the sunroom. Those are the only dry spots.

After I wrote this post, more girls piled into the sun room, but I didn’t catch it at its fullest. Here are Cashew and Buttercup as Lucky enters the scene:

 

[rjohns39]

Hay ya Bob!View attachment 2466151

Good afternoon Alex, have a great day

What breed is that Bob?

Barred Holland

 

[micstrachan]

My Fatties - Not So Much?

It’s fun to observe the girls with fresh eyes. I picked each one up as a weight estimate (except Ester, of course - worst molt I’ve seen in my flock, I think). I think they are less fat, except maybe Ruby, who is on borrowed time. Little Mill also feels like one of the heaviest (after Buttercup, of course). I am hoping my efforts to lean them down have been paying off. I’ll have to remove the large feeders I left out while being out of town. I haven’t weighed them in over a year! I should do that, too.

While I’m at it, here are more sunning images:
(Bridge, Ester, Dorothy, Minnie, Ruby, Sunshine)

 

[Shadrach]

Good morning folks


Thanks, I thought so. I need to go back and read up on their history. I'm pretty sure they first showed up in Europe as some kind of strange mutation. Then where ever it was tried to duplicate/breed true and documented their approach. The guy here who created them followed that research. But to Shad's point they aren't sustainable as a breed variant. To maintain color you have to constantly breed in new blood every three years.

I didn't realise that colour had to be bred in that often.