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

[speckledhen]

I'm glad he's there to help! Best of luck with your eye surgery, GJ. Those winds have been horrendous, haven't they? My poor birds hate it, especially the bantams and the old ladies. Even the cat stayed up on the deck and slept in a chair all day long rather than go out in it.

 

[crazyhen]

My hens went in too. The cat was inside. Much to much noise with the saw and chipper going. Missey hates noise she hides in my closet. She would not even eat her supper/ !!!!! The chickens did lay 5 eggs today. Its about time. They stopped for a long hard molt and are just now starting to lay some. Take care.

 

[speckledhen]

You, too, friend.

Many of my hens are coming back into production right now after months of almost no eggs. Even my 7 and 8 yr olds are laying and now, Rachel decides to quit on me, bad girl. Poor Atlas looks a bit perplexed by her behavior.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Easter Eggers can vary so much, being of mixed genetics. Ameraucanas, on the other hand, I've found to be super sweet birds, at least the ones have out of the Cree Farms line. I've had blue, black and splash, still have one black and one splash, 7 years old, and golly, we'll miss those hens when they're gone. They're even laying now! Great hens.

My EE hen who is 1/2 true Ameraucana is friendlier than my hen who was a project for a new Ameraucana color, but they are both good girls. And the one I made by breeding my late BR rooster over one of the blue Ameraucanas is a doll (when she isn't in a molt-then, she's a crazed lunatic, flies into walls to keep from being touched)

Generally, food is the way to a bird's heart. Sit quietly with food in hand and let them come to you and don't try to grab at them. Eventually, most learn to trust and you'll be able to pick them up.

See, now I have the opposite experience with pure Ameraucana's. Except one, mine were flighty as all get out. I had a fully grown hen squeeze through a square opening in non climb fencing to avoid me. Now the one exception was my buddy, but I lost her to a bobcat.

Same way. But just know that some never warm up to being handled. Personality is different with different birds. My almost 7 year old EE hen, June, doesn't want to be held 99% of the time, but she will come to our rescue against one of the aggressive hens (you'd have to read about the Tiny Terrorist and her aggressive tendencies from her Sumatra lineage). June is a no nonsense gal, very sweet, just not a cuddle bug.

link to Tiny's story: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-attack-hen-will-she-become-a-suicide-flogger


off topic alert!

Made some Red and Green Winter "Stoup", a Rachel Ray recipe, with Homemade Gump Bread (BYC recipe, thanks again Stacey, easiest bread ever) for lunch today. Raining, with gusts of wind up to 60 mph.

Is that bread in the BYC cookbook? I'm always looking for good bread recipes. I have a few that I tend to stick with, but I enjoy trying others.

 

[speckledhen]

See, now I have the opposite experience with pure Ameraucana's. Except one, mine were flighty as all get out. I had a fully grown hen squeeze through a square opening in non climb fencing to avoid me. Now the one exception was my buddy, but I lost her to a bobcat.

Is that bread in the BYC cookbook? I'm always looking for good bread recipes. I have a few that I tend to stick with, but I enjoy trying others.

Probably different lines of Ameraucanas, Kelly. Mine were all very sweet. Mine blue and splash hens came from straight Cree lines. The original ones, Gypsy's parents, were Cree and Rivergait mixed.

The bread is in the first BYC cookbook, I think it's the first one, but yes, it's called White Bread, aka Gump Bread, from gumpsgirl. VERY easy to do.

 

[1muttsfan]

I had some really pretty Silver Ams from a show breeder, they were lovely to look at and layed beautiful eggs, but were wild as quail.

Last night I dewormed my birds, and my poor Arkansas Blue rooster wailed like a child when I caught him - the whole time except when he had to pause to swallow the dewormer

. And he was hand-raised! Poor little guy is so quiet most of the time you would not know he is there, crows like a bantam and rarely now that the other boys are all gone.

 

[speckledhen]

I had some really pretty Silver Ams from a show breeder, they were lovely to look at and layed beautiful eggs, but were wild as quail.

Last night I dewormed my birds, and my poor Arkansas Blue rooster wailed like a child when I caught him - the whole time except when he had to pause to swallow the dewormer

. And he was hand-raised! Poor little guy is so quiet most of the time you would not know he is there, crows like a bantam and rarely now that the other boys are all gone.

Love that "wailed like a child", LOL. I've had hens like that but never a rooster. Crazy things they are sometimes.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Oh, I've had welsummer roosters do that wail. It's pathetic.

 

[speckledhen]

My blue Orp hen, Smoky, may she rest in peace, was a screamer. You pick her up, she would do this wailing scream. And she'd do it as you were putting her down, too. I could see sweet old Suede just roll his eyes at her. Those blue Orp hens were always drama queens, nothing like the Buffs.

 

[1muttsfan]

!!EEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaa.a.a..a...a....a....a?