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

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have had some great Delawares from Sand Hill - but every breeding, no matter how great the parents, has the potential to produce a turkey.

We have about 4" right now, just switched over to Lake Effect so we may get a little more.

I see you are getting snow, but you always get snow because of the great lakes.

 

[kitkat5505]

Yuck, you all can keep your snow! It’s bright and sunny here and supposed to stay in the 40s for the next week or more. Just how I like my winter the only day I don’t mind snow is Christmas, if we aren’t planning to travel lol, which we aren’t this year.

 

[speckledhen]

Send that snow my way!!! I figure I better speak up, since it has been a while and I have a break in my work load. I've been following along, mostly before I get the boys up for school or when I am going to bed. So sorry to hear about those who are dealing with sick chickens or have losses

Cyn, you mentioned welsummers a while back--- I just love my two. They came from Ideal and are just wonderful layers and mothers. If I had to get rid of all my chickens, they would probably be the last to go! Such a wild card, though, when they come from hatcheries. I have a white leghorn from McMurray who is more like a lap cat than the flighty fool she is supposed to be. She spends more time underfoot or up at the house than any of the other chickens! The single Delaware I got from Sandhill a year ago in August is my least favorite chicken. From all I have read from you, she must be an imposter. She is tiny, as small as my white leghorn, and MEAN. She messes up my harmonious flock!

Hope you all are well and staying warm!

Michelle, I hated the McMurray Delawares I originally had-they were progeny of direct from hatchery Delawares. Nasty, flighty, mean, cannibalistic chicks. Sold every one at about 8 weeks old. It just depends. Delawares as a breed are definitely not supposed to be like that.

I have had some great Delawares from Sand Hill - but every breeding, no matter how great the parents, has the potential to produce a turkey.

We have about 4" right now, just switched over to Lake Effect so we may get a little more.

Yeah, even a BR every now and then can be a meanie. Tessa is not anywhere near as friendly as any of my other BR hens.

I'm so jealous, we need a good old fashion blizzard here. Definitely be careful. I have fallen down too many times because of snow, and still I want some.

Atlas was such young stud muffin in those pictures.

Isn't he? I just love him.


Took me awhile to get back to BYC because our power has been out for 3 hours! Geez. One little snow event and it all goes to pot.

 

[1muttsfan]

Yes snow here, on the upside we almost have enough to break out the snowmobiles.

Downside is the birds hate the snow and will not come out in it. Not that I blame them!

 

[speckledhen]

Yes snow here, on the upside we almost have enough to break out the snowmobiles.

Downside is the birds hate the snow and will not come out in it. Not that I blame them!

We let Bash out of his pen, he went thundering to the door and screeched to halt. They peered out into the White Death for a minute, then he made this turkey gobble sound and voiced his "I ain't goin' out there" decision, turned back into the barn aisle. It snowed more overnight and it still snowing. I just don't let my birds out in the snow at all. I'll need a bunch more shavings, though. And I take Snow and Amanda's water from them overnight so they can't get in it and get wet in the frigid temps so have to get out there in a minute to get them food/water.


Neat tool! They say that we've had a total of 8" over the last 72 hours here at my house. I agree, it piled up, started to melt a bit, and piled up some more. You can choose 24, 48 or 72 hour periods and zoom in on the map, too. Love this!
http://www.weather.gov/crh/snowfall

 

[getaclue]

Still no snow here, and none expected. YAY! Dd #1, and I got the heavier tarps up on the coop yesterday. Last night it rained, the wind blew hard, and it dropped down to 54. The tarps were for this weekend. It is supposed to drop down to 37 tonight, and 36 tomorrow night. Sometimes, in our area it gets a couple degrees colder than the predicted temp.

 

[speckledhen]

Okay, first of all, this is another reason I am positive that MaryJo is Atlas's daughter, her egg color. The smidge of Delaware in her blood is really shining through in this deep, peachy-tan color. Thea's color is what you expect from most BRs, certainly all the Jill Burk line and the Stukels are most like that lighter beige. I've always loved the color of my Delaware eggs and MaryJo has brought it back in spades:

And our snow pics for the day. The sun will take out the snow unless the temps drop too quickly today. Supposed to be 20* with windchills around -5*, according to one site.

 

[speckledhen]

Well, colder than they originally said. Darn. Windchills will be below zero. This is not normal mid-December weather but as bad as and maybe even worse than we usually get in the worst part of winter. We do get an occasional low single digit or even at zero night here, but those are pretty rare.

 

[1muttsfan]

Winter wonderland

My birds can be coaxed out in the winter, but I have to shovel for them and I did something to my back, much to my disgust, and shoveling is a little hard right now. We also throw some hay from the round bales into their pen when we put one out for the horses, they really like that.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Snowing here too. I'm just at the edge of lake effect so sometimes we get it full force and sometimes not depending on the wind.

Our yard looks like @speckledhen s yard and the possibility of 4-5 more lake effect. The original was system.

I love all the snow photos! So pretty!

And..
My birds do the same "brakes on" thing when they run to the door and see there's snow. I finally decided to forget about even trying to get them to go our unless I sweep or shovel enough for them to see ground. Since they have a large area in the barn I'm good with that. But I'd make more effort if they were stuck in a small shed or coop.