Ribh's D'Coopage

[Ribh]

Long time no chat I'm hanging in there. Some things are better, some are a work in progress .

I love reading about your girls !!

Thanks, Sue. I will write as soon as we get a break. Just now it is insane & I am tired to the bone. Plus we are now in serious lockdown again, so many things are that bit more difficult.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

OK, you have flat packs. Are you assembling yourselves? Oh, my gosh. So exciting!

Hubby and I are not very handy. We are having people install it next week. It is supposed to take from Wednesday to Friday then we get the electricals and water re-connected the following Monday.

We are kind of hermits in our family, so having trades people over is rather stressful. The offspring will be hiding in their rooms most of the time.

Only 9 days until the new kitchen!

Then I have to learn how to do tiling. Do I paint first and then tile over the gyprock?

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Does this help.
The background colour is straw/wheaten. The blue & white spangles go on top ~ sort of.
View attachment 2779720

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So pretty. Will you save some feathers when she moults? You could take some nice feather photos without stressing her then.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Happy Caturday Ribh!

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She's unaware of any reason why the human should be permitted to sit on the cushions.

It's Caturday and I have joined the humans who have been kicked out of their chairs.

Noodle is peering at me through her eyelashes.
"My chair!"

 

[BY Bob]

Does this help.
The background colour is straw/wheaten. The blue & white spangles go on top ~ sort of.
View attachment 2779720

View attachment 2779723
View attachment 2779725​

Those are spectacular feathers for certain!

 

[BY Bob]

CHOOK of the WEEK.
Soda.​

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Soda is a Barred Rock, one of 2. She & her sister Hepzibah, are part of the 5 original hens I purchased when I returned to chicken keeping after a prolonged absence & is now my lead hen. This is somewhat surprising as she was the youngest of the 3 BRs I got, the last to lay, lowest in the pecking order & seemed to be always playing catch~ups to impress the bigger girls. With the loss of my Australorps she rose to prominence as her sister wasn't interested in being the lead hen. She is a big, calm steady hen with a preponderance of the meat genes for a dual purpose bird. She's one very big lady. Hepzibah is less than 1/2 her size.

This is an American breed & has always been very popular since they were developed in the latter half of the 19th centaury as the hens are good steady layers of fairly large brown eggs. My girls have always laid more buff coloured ones & as they age the eggs are getting much lighter coloured & are now barely coloured @ all.

Dominiques, Cochins, Black Javas & Brahamas probably went into the mix that created these birds ~ but as is usually the case, no~one really knows 100% for sure. They are however a sex~linked bird so you can tell the males from the females right from the get go ~ which is not good news for the young cockerels but helpful for those of us who are not allowed roosters.

I chose BRs for my 1st hens as they have a reputation for being calm, friendly, non aggressive birds ~ & it's true they were nowhere near as dominant as my Australorps, who could be downright mean, but they are certainly the most dominant of the breeds I now own ~ though Portia & Shuri, being Wyandottes, may give them a run for their money as they mature. Certainly Portia can compete for sheer size!

To a large extent how one views any particular breed is in part determined by what other breeds are in the tribes, how they compare & interact & the role they assume. Many of my breeds are smart & flighty. This isn't to say that BRs are dumb & without character but they are much steadier than my Campines & their sheer weight means they are not fliers! It does mean I have to keep an eye on them during their moult as managing the higher roosts they like becomes quite difficult.

For me these girls are a *bread & butter* hen: plain, no~nonsence, sensible, smart & good leaders. They add a very necessary balance to the mad hatters of the company & much as I love the mad hatters they would be in a lot of trouble without Soda @ the helm supplying that steadying influence.​

I just love barred rocks and Soda is an example of them at their best!

 

[BY Bob]

Hubby and I are not very handy. We are having people install it next week. It is supposed to take from Wednesday to Friday then we get the electricals and water re-connected the following Monday.

We are kind of hermits in our family, so having trades people over is rather stressful. The offspring will be hiding in their rooms most of the time.

Only 9 days until the new kitchen!

Then I have to learn how to do tiling. Do I paint first and then tile over the gyprock?

@drstratton just redid her kitchen. I would trust her with these kinds of questions.

 

[BY Bob]

Happy Caturday

​

 

[drstratton]

@drstratton just redid her kitchen. I would trust her with these kinds of questions.

Good morning! I'm so excited for you @Aussie-Chookmum and can't wait to see your new kitchen! We always paint before we put the tile in!

 

[drstratton]

Happy Caturday
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Happy Caturday...she is so beautiful!