Sebastopols. A cash crop?

[redhen]

Mrs. Turbo :

we give it because it seems to help with the feathering on our show birds....same with the sunflower seeds and oats.
I will have to look into buying plain "fish meal", but they love the cat food...... We also sprinkle the feed with some dried kelp. Really helps the ducklings and goslings get off to a good start too.

Thanks!​

 

[CityChicker]

We buy fish meal in 50 lb bags from Countryside Naturals. We also get kelp, brewer's yeast, alfalfa meal, and a few other things from them. It is much cheaper in bulk if you have enough birds to justify it.

 

[ultasol]

I'm not griping. I ordered four over a year ago and got them. Had I known then what I know now my choices would have been different.

I do show, so yes, I understand that even SQ birds produce only a small proportion of SQ offspring.

 

[ultasol]

I can't find brewers yeast in bulk here. C'est la vie. Niacin works as well, though.

 

[Cottage Rose]

Quote:
What do you mean...you bought 4 day old goslings and they didn't turn out nice?
What would you do different now?
Also, with Sebbies, their feathering will improve by the time they're 2 years old (if its going to).
You really can't judge them as yearlings.

 

[Cottage Rose]

Golden Valley Farm seems to of disappeared but I wanted to show you
some of my 2009 goslings (photographed at 5 months old)
whose father is almost completely smooth.
Now how do you suppose that happened?

Do you have any curly, white Sebastopols whose feathers drag on the ground?

 

[Sweet Violet]

Cottage Rose,
I think your geese are exquisite! I love looking at your pictures and am guilty of going to your website "just to look".
Keep up the good work!
Naomi

 

[Hillside]

Quote:
What do you mean...you bought 4 day old goslings and they didn't turn out nice?
What would you do different now?
Also, with Sebbies, their feathering will improve by the time they're 2 years old (if its going to).
You really can't judge them as yearlings.

I have Sebastopols as one of my breeding interests. I do not feel that feather improves from yearling to two years of age though I will say that birds can raise out differently for different people. Also have to take into consideration different breeding lines and things like that. Still, a good Sebastopol will have plenty of feather in all the right places by the time it is 5 or 6 months old. Baby feather is different from adult feather but if there are changes in the overall quality of the feathering it's for the worse coming into their second fall. Seems that we HAVE to be able to evaluate them as yearlings or else we'd keep most of what was raised just to look at them their second season. This is something I asked about when I was getting started and what I was told is what has happened to me with my own birds.

 

[HatTrickSilkies]

Vicky,

Your website, information and pictures are the reasons I ventured into Sebastopols.

~ Nikki

 

[Hillside]

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