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

[speckledhen]

He is a very well-balanced little fellow

I think so. Of course, choosing this early, we may have a surprise or two later, but it had to be. Since this bounty of beautiful chicks all came pretty much at the same time, I had to pick my little group so there would be room for them to grow out. As you said, Mary, I think I could have chosen either one of the top three and had a fine young cockerel. This one was just the most pleasing to my eye, overall. I keep trying to second guess myself, but they are so very similar in shape, size and barring among those top three. I believe Hector has a 6 point comb, but it's a very nice, straight, evenly spaced and balanced one. There is a 5 pointer among the ones that Andrew is getting but the actual points are, for lack of a better word, small, and the chick himself is less broad, though not by much. I think both myself and Andrew will have a nice breeding group. If I didn't have all these elderly hens who just keep ticking like the Energizer bunny, I might have room to keep more.

Just today, I saw my old Brahma, Caroline, is having another bout of sinusitis by the bubbles in one eye so she's back to a round of Tylan. Truthfully, I'm not sure how she can even breathe with small cysts in both nares, leaving an opening that is easily closed up by food, dirt, whatever. I tried to get stuff out of them with a toothpick, as well as a small toothbrush wet with saline, but she stresses and it's really tricky. She has always been a sneezer, probably from a year old, and I think her nares/nasal passages were not formed properly anyway. She is subject to recurring sinusitis (consulted the former GA state vet when she was 5 1/2 yrs old and had her first bout of it so I know what's going on). But, she somehow manages to keep getting oxygen. No other bird here has ever had that issue, only Queen Caroline. But the old gal will turn 10 years old if she makes it to January.

My Blue Rock, Neela, has a large cyst in her left nare, and it completely closes off that side, as far as I can tell. I wonder what causes those. She is 6 years old but has never had sinusitis or any other issues that I recall.

 

[MistyMountain]

Hello Hector!!

I like him.

 

[speckledhen]

Hello Hector!!

I like him.

Thanks! I love his look. Here he is this morning with his girls. Guess I'll have to name them, too, since I name all my birds. The only exception was a group of three dark beautiful heritage line RIR hens I had years ago. I did name the three, one was named Cherry, but I never could tell them apart so I called them all Cherry.

 

[uphilljill]

Hello, Hector! Good name.

 

[MistyMountain]

Doesn't he look like a proud one! I can just imagine him with all those glossy saddle and hackle feathers, head tall and proud, watching over his girls. When non-chicken people come over and see our chickens, they usually ask which one is the rooster. Often times they guess the leghorn hen or Chicka the NH with their big floppy combs. I just tell them to look around for the one with it's head held high and proud looking.

Not knowing the difference is my biggest fear in settling on one or two breeds. I count heads each night and like to know exactly who is missing so that I know where to look for them. We had a skunk get in the coop a while back. We got home late and chickens were everywhere. Once we got the skunk out (eating eggs only, thankfully), we had to round up the girls. A couple were missing, my white leghorn Curly Sue and the wild and crazy Penny. I knew Sue was up at the house, she's about 3/4 cat and quite attached to me. It's good for me to know their temperaments and tendencies. How do you do it? Are there enough subtle differences in your BRs?

Forgot to mention, I found a home for my hen with the rooster problem. A nice local lady just starting out with chickens with no intentions of getting a rooster. Her son built a fantastic coop for her at school. I ended up sending three with her with the open invitation to call any time she has questions. She did not want babies, but I did tell her that once my littles grow to almost laying age, I would let her know. I gave her my rundown on bio-security and how unclean swaps can be, and sent them on their way… knowing they would be far happier than here and would not end up traded or handed off to someone else down the line.

 

[speckledhen]

Hello, Hector! Good name.

Glad you approve!

Doesn't he look like a proud one! I can just imagine him with all those glossy saddle and hackle feathers, head tall and proud, watching over his girls. When non-chicken people come over and see our chickens, they usually ask which one is the rooster. Often times they guess the leghorn hen or Chicka the NH with their big floppy combs. I just tell them to look around for the one with it's head held high and proud looking.

Not knowing the difference is my biggest fear in settling on one or two breeds. I count heads each night and like to know exactly who is missing so that I know where to look for them. We had a skunk get in the coop a while back. We got home late and chickens were everywhere. Once we got the skunk out (eating eggs only, thankfully), we had to round up the girls. A couple were missing, my white leghorn Curly Sue and the wild and crazy Penny. I knew Sue was up at the house, she's about 3/4 cat and quite attached to me. It's good for me to know their temperaments and tendencies. How do you do it? Are there enough subtle differences in your BRs?

Forgot to mention, I found a home for my hen with the rooster problem. A nice local lady just starting out with chickens with no intentions of getting a rooster. Her son built a fantastic coop for her at school. I ended up sending three with her with the open invitation to call any time she has questions. She did not want babies, but I did tell her that once my littles grow to almost laying age, I would let her know. I gave her my rundown on bio-security and how unclean swaps can be, and sent them on their way… knowing they would be far happier than here and would not end up traded or handed off to someone else down the line.

My friend Ellie in CA said the same thing. She always called her BR hens "the Sweeties". I can tell by eyes, comb differences, body shape, the way they carry themselves, so I've never had any issues with the BRs at all. Sometimes, at a distance, I can't tell a couple of the original Stukels apart, not until I get closer, they are very different in the face. Lizzie has a wonky comb, Tessa is the smallest but right now, she's almost completely bald from Atlas's attentions so she's easy. Zara and Athena are very similar but Athena is a good bit larger and Zara has a point on her comb that is sort of crammed in there too tightly so I can tell by their combs, even if she were to catch up to Athena in size. Ida has a stern expression and growls all the time, LOL.

Glad you told her about swaps and such. Seems like that's the beginning of so many sad tales in the Disease section here. "I got these at a swap Saturday and put them in with my birds, and now....."

 

[MistyMountain]

How awesome. I had two hatchery BO's that had a huge size difference as chicks and youngsters. Once they hit a year old, they were identical. I could only tell the difference if one was up in a tree with the cockerels at roosting time. That was Maude, always going down the wrong path and hanging out with the delinquent boys. I had to make sure I locked them in the coop before dusk so that she would not be tempted. I've had an unbalanced couple of hatches recently, 2 pullets, 6 cockerels last summer and Anna's hatch is looking like 4 boys, one maybe and one pullet.

Will the girls all have names from Greek mythology as well?

 

[speckledhen]

How awesome. I had two hatchery BO's that had a huge size difference as chicks and youngsters. Once they hit a year old, they were identical. I could only tell the difference if one was up in a tree with the cockerels at roosting time. That was Maude, always going down the wrong path and hanging out with the delinquent boys. I had to make sure I locked them in the coop before dusk so that she would not be tempted. I've had an unbalanced couple of hatches recently, 2 pullets, 6 cockerels last summer and Anna's hatch is looking like 4 boys, one maybe and one pullet.

Will the girls all have names from Greek mythology as well?

I really don't know, maybe. Both Atlas and Hector were named for sons of Suede who were both named by Ladyhawk. She tends to use names from mythology. I was using old fashioned names for Atlas's girls until Athena, who is named for a daughter of Suede's who was Ladyhawk's head hen for years. And Apollo just went with Athena and Atlas. Zara is because of a hen she used to have who died not long ago. I was going to name her Sarah, but I had a Sarah already and this was pretty close to that. Seems to go with Athena's name better. I can't see how not to name my birds. It's just easier to call them that way since they do learn their names.

 

[speckledhen]

Since this is a thread about Atlas, who is now 2 years and (I think) 3 mos old, thought I'd post a picture of that big, sweet guy. I'm telling on him for his extreme free range personality. He goes far and wide, from the far back corner of the perimeter fence at the beginning of the pasture on our extra lot to down the driveway on the other side of our house. I caught him heading toward the driveway gate today, but when he saw me on the deck-I swear, I was quiet as a mouse and behind the climbing rose- he still caught me trying to catch a pic of him in the act and started back toward the house.
He is just like the Delaware side of the family. Grandpa Isaac took his hens far and wide. I know if the perimeter fence was not there, Atlas would be way out in the open pasture with whoever would follow him there.













Finally, the area where we took down the building is beginning to look a tad less chaotic since we've toted about 20 wheelbarrows of wet, piled up leaves to the former chicken pens and out of the yard area and removed lots of trash and leftover stuff from the demolished building. Still a TON to do but my ribs still hurt and DH's back is not great. He's good for one job, then lots of rest.




Atlas is noticing Athena and Zara now. Athena and Apollo got into a standoff when he apparently grabbed her and she was miffed and turned on him. They were face to face, all flared up when Daddy came moseying along to break it up. Apollo ran when he saw Atlas walking toward them. Atlas flirted with Athena, who skittered away. Then, he began to show Zara stuff on the ground. She fell for it and Atlas danced for her, even made a half-hearted grab for her. The size difference in 16 week old Zara and Atlas is pretty great. Athena is so much broader, but even then, big old Atlas seems just so huge compared to these teen pullets.

Atlas did not even glance at Apollo. I wonder what will happen when Apollo begins crowing and really grabbing the hens, though. He should be fertile now, I'd think, at 16 weeks old. His saddle feathers are just now really visible and beginning to hang down.

I am pleased that Apollo has better wing carriage than Atlas, who tends toward the original Rex. That was really Rex's only flaw, the droopy wings. Atlas's is better than that, but still not quite "there". Apollo's is almost too high, but it depends on how he's standing at the moment. His barring is better than Dad's, gorgeous head on him. I wonder how he'll bulk up as he matures. I guess I'll find out since no one decided to buy him, other than that nasty creature with the vicious dogs I refused to allow to take them.

 

[speckledhen]

Adding to that too-long post above, pictures of Hector and his girls yesterday. I have named the smallest, lighter pullet "Thea", which is out of mythology and also, the name of Oliver Queen's sister on the Arrow that my DH used to watch. The larger pullets are so much alike, their combs will have to get larger so I can see more differences in them to be able to really tell them apart reliably. I have some ideas about them, too.