The adventure begins

[NagemTX]

Working on more pens! It's hard with no help. Started looking for someone that can build coops or pens in my area. I'm just not that good at building.

Anyway I have alot of eggs in the incubator and more on the way. When the Ameraucana eggs and last batch of blue columbian get here I'll be done with outside eggs. At lest I think I will be.

The Spitzhauben and Phoenix are not going to kept pure. They are going to be used in the projects they where purchased for. The Spitzhauben for crested EE and the Phoenix for long tailed EE. I just don't have the room otherwise.

I will be keeping a pure line of Ameraucana and Rosecombs.

 

[NagemTX]

All the brassyback blue rosecomb eggs are in the 56ex. Had to move five of the dark brahma over to the new incubator. They where extras so they are going to be a test for the new incubator.

One of the Crevecoeur eggs has the air cell on the side but otherwise is doing OK. Those eggs have gone into lockdown down in the NR360 and should hatch this weekend.

 

[NagemTX]

Humidity is up today so all the incubators are running higher than normal even tho the vents are open fully.

Lockdown batch!

Second and third eBay batch.

The extra dark brahma eggs that came with the Blue columbian brahma eggs.

 

[NagemTX]

I've had a very bad week. The spring coon population seams to be booming so much that they have resorted to turning my yard into their personal KFC.

I have lost more birds in this last week to coons than I have in three years. I think it's eight total. Dispatched one coon yesterday but there are more. I spent from ten AM till 1 AM securing the pen they got into. The breaking in wasn't much they opened the door.

I feal so bad that I didn't have the door more secure than I did. It is now! It's also encased in hardware cloth. No loses last night.

I'm nor done tho. I'll be adding hot wire and something to monoter the pens.

Eventually I'm going to contract someone to build out better pens in place of what I have. Hopefully getting the yard built up and leveled better this year before I get the pens built.

Lost Dusty in the coon massacre along with 2 Chamois Spitzhauben hens, 1 gold spangled Spitzhauben hen, 1 silver Phoenix hen, the only silver Phoenix rooster I had, 1 silver Sebrite hen and one gold Sebrite hen.

I am hatching a bunch of chicks out right now. We have ten or so in Dusty's pen and I have all eggs I picked up from the pen in the incubator. I hope I can get his replacement from them. If not I've got a dozen blue golden duckwing OEGB eggs on the way. The Ameraucana eggs I ordered came in yesterday 5/11. Will be setting those this evening as the blue brassyback rosecombs go into lockdown.

I'm so frustrated and upset with myself for what happened because I could have prevented it. So stressed out I've given myself a migraine that I had to work through to the pen shored up. It will get better but it sets my project back and I lost a really go rooster. He was good not just because he was pretty but he was well behaved and we where staring to form a pretty good relationship where I could get him to follow me around and bring his flock with him.

 

[NanaK]

I am so very sorry for your losses.

 

[NagemTX]

Was able to give away about 30+ cockerels about the beginning of August. That freed up the pen for two Brahma cockerels one splash light columbian and one blue light columbian, six standard Silver Ameraucana cockerels, two gold/silver split Spitzhauben cockerels, and six bantam Silver Ameraucanas.

I have a total of eight standard Silver Ameraucanas. Two are still out with the other flock. Out of those I have three maybe four that don't have red/gold leakage on the back. (I'll post some pictures of them from my phone later.) I have two Blue Ameraucana cockerels in the pen and one out of it. Witch ever one is a good boy gets to stay for the longtail EE project. Of the Six bantam Ameraucana I think I have one that has wyr tail maybe, not sure yet. Have already made the choice to let the standards with bad color go, either for $5 to $10 or eventually free.

The splash Brahma has been sold and just because I'm trying to get down on chickens I let the two pullets I didn't want go with him. The man the bought them was very happy. He had a hard time finding true Brahmas in the area that where not BYMs. They where a splash buff and a partridge. The Brahma I have will have five girls and will be getting their own pen.

I may eventually let the Lavender Ameraucana go. I'm not sure yet on doing that. If I don't they will get incorporated in to one of the EE project pens for either longtailed EE or the crested EE that I'm doing. I have to pick one as I would like to have one project as blue and one as lavender.

I have a son out of Dusty the golden blue duckwing EE that I'll be bassing a project on, still working tword bantam EE golden blue and stilver blue duckwings but I have two columbian paterend featherfooted pullets out of the d'Uccles hen I have that will be with him. Also have two blue berchin hens with him as well. Will add pictures soon for those.

Heat has been an issue with the grow outs, and maybe overcroweding because I got more out the Easter hatches than I expected. They are all pretty skinny right now but are picking up. Moved all cockerels from the main flock now because they where harassing the hens and pullets. Almost all, the OEGB got to stay out and the Cvevecoeur cockerels are still out as well. I added shade cloth to the front of the cockerel pen and more feed pans. There are now three feed pans in the pen with two feed hoppers as well. I also added more feed pans to the other pens and outside the pens as well. Trying to feed more in thos vrs. the feed hoppers as more can get at the food at once.

Keeping one of the Crevecoeur cockerels to go with the one pullet I got from that hatch. They will be joing the crested EE pen.

Ill be making sepret posts for each pen with pichers of the birds going into the pen's. Soon as those pens are done. Its been rough getting them finished with the heat and my ten hr days at work. Need to finish the one thats half wired already and get the ground frams done for the four hoops I have planed. One hoop is going to be 20ft long by 8ft wide. The other three will be 8ft by 8ft.

 

[NagemTX]

Update post.

The Phoenix project is kinda about getting close to the Schijndelaar.

(not my photo, and shout out to GF, two of my Spitz are from them)

I love blue and green eggs and it's been hard to find breeds that have been started to fill what I want. My solution was and is to make my own. I don't expect to be breeding true on color for a long time.

**Main goal is getting birds that look like Phoenix, Schijndelaar or Sumatran that lay blue/green eggs.** I didn't go Sumatra because of temperament.

Project 1: Phoenix type blue/green layer.

Project 2: Crested blue/green layer. I like the Crevecoeur body type but the Spitzhauben crest so that's what I'm shooting for on that project.

Project 3: This is the classic Ameraucana type but Blue silver and Blue Golden duck-wing coloring.

Project 4: Bantam Phoenix type blue/green layer. (because I'm useing bantams to achieve some things in the other projects.)

Project 5: Bantam Crested blue/green layer. (because I'm useing bantams to achieve some things in the other projects.)

Color for the 1, 2, 4 and 5 projects is not really set. I would like to keep it close to duck-wing and birchen in pattern and what I could do with those colors. I like the Colombian color and laced but those would be harder to achieve. If I get birds I like with a color close to Colombian or laced Ill consider keeping them. I don't know if I want to go with Lavender in one project or just have them all blue. Really torn on that decision. I like both but don't want to get them mixed if I can help it.

Anything beyond those four or five projects are ADHD fantasies.

This next spring I'm going to add a few more Crevecoeur, maybe a few silver laced Polish, if not Polish it will be some other silver laced breed. Instead of Polish I might add Barbu De Watermael due to crest being less of a hindrance for the chickens. Might add a few more OEGBs if the colors are correct or Dutch bantams. Yokohama may be something I look at as well.

I really need to sell off the stock I have that is not inline with my projects. The Cochin ladies, the rose-combs that are not a color I would want. The silkies are staying .... I have unfortunately fallen in love with them.

Anyway sorry for the Hijacking of the thread again. I need to put this post on my Project thread. I need to buckle down and get some good pictures of whats going in what pen and get pens finished. I've been having issues of a personal kind that have interrupted my flow that I'm working on so my chickens can be prioritized in the future.

 

[NagemTX]

Well I've narrowed my scope quite a bit and I'm giving away all the unneeded chickens and alot of the crosses or mixes I have.

I have one unfinished coop/pen that is a 9ft by 18ft and just started a set of four 8ft by 8ft hoop coops. I also hope to get a 8ft by 16ft set up by the end of the year. If I get all of these done I'll have 10 total coops. The four 8ft by 8ft are going to be bantams and the large coops are for LF.

What I will be working on are Phoenix/longtail EE(blue, muffed, straight comb, blue eggs, birchin and duckwing), Crested EE(lavender and black solid for now), Silver Ameraucana, and Gold/Chamois Spangled Spitzhauben(silver spangled will be in pen as well) that's it on LF.

For bantams we have blue cream silkies, blue golden duckwing OEGB, Silver Ameraucana, EE, and maybe if I can get them again blue brassyback Rosecomb. If I cant get the rosecomb then Ill get some silver Sebrights and make EE with them.

Thats eight flocks / pens and two grow out pens. I hope to be selling eggs this spring for most of those pens.

 

[Bean1028]

This girl...she is going to be paired with my Blue Ameraucana roo next year. She is from my Black Ameraucana Roo x Cinnamon Queen hen. She is the only one with these colors, her other 4 flock mates are paints. I'm not sure what I'm expecting yet, but I am hopeful! Any advice or ideas are welcome I'm really looking to retain the lacing if at all possible...so I wouldn't be opposed to other pairing suggestions for her. TIA!

 

[NagemTX]

This girl...she is going to be paired with my Blue Ameraucana roo next year. She is from my Black Ameraucana Roo x Cinnamon Queen hen. She is the only one with these colors, her other 4 flock mates are paints. I'm not sure what I'm expecting yet, but I am hopeful! Any advice or ideas are welcome I'm really looking to retain the lacing if at all possible...so I wouldn't be opposed to other pairing suggestions for her. TIA!

You won't get the lacing back until the 2nd gen. At lest not like that. I think she is Partridge as a base. I believe she is what you would call silver penciled. So first generation would be black and you would take a black son and breed him back to mom for a catch of getting more penciled birds. Only the females look like that the males are the duckwing pattern.

You still might not get it again.