The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[1muttsfan]

Miss Maggie - she is a love, but she may be thinking about loving that chick up a little bit too good.

 

[speckledhen]

Miss Maggie - she is a love, but she may be thinking about loving that chick up a little bit too good.

Finn looks at the chicks with fascination, but Maretta has put the Fear of The Broody into him more than once. He now tiptoes a wide berth around her and the chicks, like he's saying, "Ma'am, I don't see no chicks, just moving through, don't mind me." LOL.

 

[speckledhen]

@crazyhen photos of the Dellie X chickster who is turning 4 weeks now. And the barred one who still makes me think pullet-cockerel-pullet-cockerel-ACK!

ETA: I picked up every barred chick I think is a pullet to check closely and I still see zero pink in comb or wattles on any of them. The barred cockerel and Delaware cockerel are both pink in comb and wattles. All are 4 weeks old now. So,it still appears that, between the two broodies, I have a total of one barred cockerel, three barred pullets, one black pullet (golly, she's such a teensy little adorable child!) and one Delaware X cockerel. Of course, Aimee has two Belgian D'Anver sons as well, but they are spoken for and not really part of this discussion.

By the time these mamas are ready to let go of the chicks in a couple of weeks, the sex of those three barreds in question will be definite.

 

[speckledhen]

Observation time: I'm fairly sure that the barred chick with Aimee is a pullet and a darn good one, too. Her barring is quite crisp. In fact, that one and the barred cockerel being raised by my EE hen would be the breeding pair I'd like to sell as breeders-I say that because everyone on that FB online yard sale site wants layers and they can get those at any old hatchery. If they don't see the value of this breeding pair, they need to just pass. Sorry if that offends, but I don't sell just laying hens, not out of these. The exception would be the black pullet, of course. The BRs I want to pass on to people who intend to breed from them and hence, want a male for that purpose.

I was watching the Dellie X cockerel closely today. He is smaller than the nice BR pullet with that group. The BR pullet's legs are larger, her overall size is larger, her head is larger. In fact, in the head and face, the Dellie very much resembles his sister, the black pullet, other than coloration. Gloria Jean, I'm thinking he may not be of an acceptable size for your project in the end. Of course, I could be completely wrong. You never know until they are all grown out, but at this point, he's just not a huge chick, not like the BRs are. That would be Deacon's influence, most definitely, not Sammie Jo's. Being a cross, it's hard to say how large he may end up. He's adorable and sweet, certainly, as is his black sister.


There's something about the head shape that seems, oh, I don't know, odd? Too round, too small? Something is just, well, look at the black pullet's head shape and her brother's head shape side by side here. Maybe it's just that they are smaller than the BRs and I'm imagining it.

 

[crazyhen]

Cyn.
His head does look small. More like an amerucana. He is pretty though. As of now I still want him and 2 br,s or one Br. with him. My next door enighbor has two of the Del hens like mine and a full blue buff type amer. Pure bred I gave her two yrs ago. She is saving me some eggs. If nothing else I will have a roo to get some layers if everthing goes to mess with this H?n? virus thats going around. Hopefully my orps( Jubilees ) will hatch a male too. They are thenot best or quickest layers though. Lets just hope.

 

[speckledhen]

Cyn.
His head does look small. More like an amerucana. He is pretty though. As of now I still want him and 2 br,s or one Br. with him. My next door enighbor has two of the Del hens like mine and a full blue buff type amer. Pure bred I gave her two yrs ago. She is saving me some eggs. If nothing else I will have a roo to get some layers if everthing goes to mess with this H?n? virus thats going around. Hopefully my orps( Jubilees ) will hatch a male too. They are thenot best or quickest layers though. Lets just hope.

That probably is a throwback to Tiny, Deacon's mother, who came from a BBS Ameraucana flock but has some obvious Sumatra in her lineage. Deacon is the sweetest rooster, Tiny is a royal PITA, but she is a great layer (of brown eggs, though she has a pea comb and came from a blue egg). If you don't remember, this is the Tiny Terrorist. She has good size spurs, though Deacon has only one himself. Will be interesting to see if Deacon's son has any at all, LOL.

 

[speckledhen]

I'm still not 100% sure about the barred chick with Aimee. The legs and dark color say pullet, but I see some pink in the wattles today. They are just over 4 weeks old now. If this is a single barred male, it's got super nice barring! So, here he/she is, plus the Dellie X chick. Gloria Jean, I have the two BR pullets that I am more sure of, no pink at all on them, slated for you to go with this little Dellie X, aka, Goober Jr (Daddy Deacon is a true Goober, trust me). Not naming him that, no, he needs a better name. I keep thinking of Goober Pyle in Mayberry, haha.





Just look at the extreme black wash down the leg fronts! No other pullet ever had more than this. But....I'm still up in the air on it.






This little goober almost got himself killed yesterday! I told Gloria Jean all about it in a PM, but here is the story for you guys, too:
The winds were howling like crazy. I was in the front storage area of the coop where the broody cage is that Aimee is staying in with him and the other three chicks and they were running around outside. I heard the door slam hard behind me (it had been secured and the tie literally shredded in the strong winds) and a chick screech. That Dellie was caught with his little wing in the door. He had followed behind me and got stuck in the door frame. I think it pinched his little foot, which had a teensy scrape and yesterday, was bruised looking in the toe webs, but he's walking and digging just fine. Wing seems okay, too. If that door had slammed on his body, he'd have been a goner, just an absolutely goner.

 

[Peanutsmomma]

Thank goodness Goober Jr. is okay. He has the most precious expression on his sweet little face.

 

[crazyhen]

Maybe his name should be Lucky. Poor little guy, just a bit curious and he got bitten by that mean door.

lets hope he is not accident proned.

 

[speckledhen]

Maybe his name should be Lucky. Poor little guy, just a bit curious and he got bitten by that mean door. lets hope he is not accident proned.

Ha, I hope not!! He's adorable. I don't want him in a teeny body cast.