Spitzhaubens

[Faraday40]

Here's my older spitz chick. (just a little over 8 wks now)
I'm thinking pullet by the lack of wattles & red face.

 

[Alaskan]

Here's my older spitz chick. (just a little over 8 wks now)
I'm thinking pullet by the lack of wattles & red face.
View attachment 1534419 View attachment 1534420

So far looks female.

 

[Finnie]

Here's my older spitz chick. (just a little over 8 wks now)
I'm thinking pullet by the lack of wattles & red face.
View attachment 1534419 View attachment 1534420

Looking good. Nothing male jumps out at me either. Mine kept me guessing well beyond 14 weeks. But I am glad to finally report that both Hanni and Heidi get to keep their names!

Not the best photos, but here they are (along with Helmut, who has turned out better looking than I had expected.)

Hanni is the one with the lighter crest, and Heidi has the blacker one.

Oh- and I almost lost Hanni to a fox last week- broad daylight, around 11am! But all it got away with was a mouthful of feathers. She had an injured leg, but there was no visible blood. After a couple of days in the hospital ward, she seemed to be good as new.

 

[Faraday40]

Oh- and I almost lost Hanni to a fox last week- broad daylight, around 11am! But all it got away with was a mouthful of feathers. She had an injured leg, but there was no visible blood. After a couple of days in the hospital ward, she seemed to be good as new.

So glad she's OK. Both are very pretty girls. I like that you can tell them apart easily.

 

[Faraday40]

Both chicks are 8 weeks old. The silkie-serama mix doesn't want the spitz to know she's short.

Here's the other spitz (sister / brother?) It has a tighter, more pointed crest - which I prefer. Of course, that could also mean male, but so far neither one has wattles.

 

[Finnie]

So glad she's OK. Both are very pretty girls. I like that you can tell them apart easily.

Thanks. Yes, it's nice to just tell by the crest which one it is. Your two are kind of similar. One with a more black crest and one with extra white mixed in. My girls have opposite tails. The black crest one has very few markings on her tail, the light crest one has more black on the tail. Kind of like your light crest one. The tail doesn't show in that photo of your black crest one. Does it happen to have fewer black marks?

 

[Faraday40]

The one with the looser crest has a longer white tail.
You can see her in the 1st pic where they're sunbathing with mama orpington. She's by mama's wing. The 2nd orp is in back by its silkie sibling. (They look like "melting chickens!)

The 4th sibling is the big lav orp, who decided to pounce on all of them..........

..... causing them to run away. The short black tail belongs to the spitz with the tighter crest,

 

[SueT]

My Spitzhauben pullets are molting! No eggs for the past 2 weeks, white feathers everywhere. Only 2 of my hens are molting and not laying, but I'm conserving eggs because it will happen with the rest.

 

[Faraday40]

Yes. We've got molting here too. The spitz feathers are great for crafting, so there is a bright side. Just collect some feathers each day & store in a Ziplock baggie.

When you have a good collection & a craft idea....
- wash with Dawn & hot water.
- rinse with water + a little vinegar
- (optional) to dye, mix food coloring, boiling water & a little vinegar. Add cleaned feathers & they soak up the dye in minutes. Longer soak = more color. Rinse feathers & lay them out on paper towels to air dry.

Keeping them blk/white is nice but they look so exotic when dyed.



Here are some hairpieces we made


We keep a collection of misc. feathers on hand for making cards. Dominique, Penciled Rock & Spitzhaubens are my fav feathers.



Feathers are also great for misc. finishing touches. It gives a delicate, light 3D pop.


Kids love them too, so preschools are very appreciative when I donate my extra feathers. They're pretty expensive to buy. (I just make sure I clean them or instruct the teachers how to clean them.)

 

[SueT]

Yes. We've got molting here too. The spitz feathers are great for crafting, so there is a bright side. Just collect some feathers each day & store in a Ziplock baggie.

When you have a good collection & a craft idea....
- wash with Dawn & hot water.
- rinse with water + a little vinegar
- (optional) to dye, mix food coloring, boiling water & a little vinegar. Add cleaned feathers & they soak up the dye in minutes. Longer soak = more color. Rinse feathers & lay them out on paper towels to air dry.

Keeping them blk/white is nice but they look so exotic when dyed.
View attachment 1554813 View attachment 1554814 View attachment 1554815


Here are some hairpieces we made
View attachment 1554793 View attachment 1554800

We keep a collection of misc. feathers on hand for making cards. Dominique, Penciled Rock & Spitzhaubens are my fav feathers.
View attachment 1554812
View attachment 1554804View attachment 1554801 View attachment 1554802 View attachment 1554805 View attachment 1554806 View attachment 1554803

Feathers are also great for misc. finishing touches. It gives a delicate, light 3D pop.
View attachment 1554807

Kids love them too, so preschools are very appreciative when I donate my extra feathers. They're pretty expensive to buy. (I just make sure I clean them or instruct the teachers how to clean them.)

Wow! These are some great ideas! I never thought of dying them, but I think I will. I did collect a few Sptiz feathers yesterday to put on some felt dolls I just made for my granddaughter. She's 6, not sure what she'll think of the 'day of the dead' one, lol....