Texas

[TherryChicken]

He has a very regal head! 

Is he a Black Spanish crossbreed?

hee is blue andalusian

 

[TherryChicken]

What breed is this handsome guy?

blue andalusian

 

[TherryChicken]

My eldest ladies, the BRs RIRs, and SLW, turn 16 weeks tomorrow. They shouldbetray falling in love with him in a month or 2. A month after they mature my BOs mature, and 6 weeks after that the BAs mature. So all his dreams will come true very soon!

I do think Screwball is racist though. He is always after the BRs and SLW. And yesterday I caught him checking out the BA pullets. So he prefers his ladies to have some black feathers. Poor RIRs and BOs may not get his loving when they want it. :/

that is odd

 

[Starfire669]

blue andalusian

He is very handsome. Your lucky to have such a gorgeous Roo on the job!

 

[Starfire669]

that is odd

I thought so too. A rooster usually just cares about hen vs. rooster and breeds all hens. Screwball has a clear preference for the darker ladies. I'm sure that when the RIRs and BOs are ready he will change his mind. Or at least I hope so. Lol. I want as many fertile eggs as possible for hatching next spring.

What's a good Roo/hen ratio? Right now Screwball is my only confirmed Roo. I think I have 1 RIR Roo that is slow to mature. It's not crowing but looks to have the beginnings of saddle feathers. Right now I have 25 chickens. So I think I need a 2nd Roo to ensure fertility in my flock. What do you guys think?

 

[Starfire669]

Here is Ebony and the ducklings enjoying some outside time today. Ebony finally is putting her whole foot down when she walks. She is still limping badly, but she was tippy-toe limping on the injured foot. So the fact that she is putting her foot flat now is a good thing,or I choose to think it is.

 

[crazychickenhug]

I'm gonna try it I don't want to keep worming a hundred chickens individually with horse womer the snails have gotta go

. Thanks for the tip.

 

[srosales1996]

How old is your Cayuga? These are my first ducklings and everyone says they grow fast, but how fast is fast? lol. My geese grew really fast, I was amazed at how quickly they grew and feathered out. Are ducklings even faster growing than geese?

Star... I am so sorry I have not responded to this. I saw your message the day you sent it but I had a ROUGH week at work! Anyway... Since you have had your ducklings a week since asking this question you probably have figured out some of the answers. All water fowel grow super fast! All the ones I have had do anyway. I have Pekins Mallard and the one Cyauga. Pekins and Cyauga are comparable in growth rate. Mallards are slower. I do not have geese right now but have had them in the past and they grow so fast! Probably faster than Pekins. They reach adult stage a "round about" same rate. So naturally since geese grow so tall and are a fat bird they will grow faster. Same with Pekins... They grow really fast, tend to be clumsy and funny to watch. Personally my favorite duck is our Cayuga! The older it gets the more beautiful I think it is! I want to say it is a hen but I am not sure yet. We were given our smallest mallard the Cayuga and one of our large Pekins by someone who got into ducks not realizing how messy they are. When I got them they were about the same size as ours with the exception of the Mallard. So I believe they are all about 3 months now. Everyone has their adult feathers in maybe with the exception of some color changes?

 

[Starfire669]

Star... I am so sorry I have not responded to this. I saw your message the day you sent it but I had a ROUGH week at work! Anyway... Since you have had your ducklings a week since asking this question you probably have figured out some of the answers. All water fowel grow super fast! All the ones I have had do anyway. I have Pekins Mallard and the one Cyauga. Pekins and Cyauga are comparable in growth rate. Mallards are slower. I do not have geese right now but have had them in the past and they grow so fast! Probably faster than Pekins. They reach adult stage a "round about" same rate. So naturally since geese grow so tall and are a fat bird they will grow faster. Same with Pekins... They grow really fast, tend to be clumsy and funny to watch. Personally my favorite duck is our Cayuga! The older it gets the more beautiful I think it is! I want to say it is a hen but I am not sure yet. We were given our smallest mallard the Cayuga and one of our large Pekins by someone who got into ducks not realizing how messy they are. When I got them they were about the same size as ours with the exception of the Mallard. So I believe they are all about 3 months now. Everyone has their adult feathers in maybe with the exception of some color changes?

The ducklings are growing super fast. More than doubled in size so far. I think their growth is almost as extreme as the goslings. Lol I am very excite to see what these babies look like as adults. I have 3 females and 1 male if the hatchery sexed them right. Since I also have 3 crested females I think the drake will have enough targets for his affections. And he will be smaller than a Pekin so, hopefully he don't injure the ladies like Howard did. I think Ebony was injured so badly because she is a Mallard crested and Howard was a Pekin drake. Howard was just about double her size! Can you give me an idea of the size difference bewteen a Pekin and a Cayuga? All I know is the Cayuga are noticeably smaller, but not how much.

 

[srosales1996]

Mine are abou

The ducklings are growing super fast. More than doubled in size so far. I think their growth is almost as extreme as the goslings. Lol I am very excite to see what these babies look like as adults. I have 3 females and 1 male if the hatchery sexed them right. Since I also have 3 crested females I think the drake will have enough targets for his affections. And he will be smaller than a Pekin so, hopefully he don't injure the ladies like Howard did. I think Ebony was injured so badly because she is a Mallard crested and Howard was a Pekin drake. Howard was just about double her size! Can you give me an idea of the size difference bewteen a Pekin and a Cayuga? All I know is the Cayuga are noticeably smaller, but not how much.

mine are about the same actually. Here are some pictures I took this morning. I will try to take some more of the Cayuga next to the Pekins.

You can see the Pekins playing in the water in the background. When they stand together the Cayuga is more graceful and less clumsy but Similar in size. Now.... My Pekins may continue to grow past the Cayuga ?