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

[speckledhen]

Well I kind of think of this thread as a place for us to get together as much as being about Atlas and his motley crew. I much appreciate your personal touches, and the news from the Georgia Mountains.

And another thing that you find with time is that Good Enough is usually good enough - perfection is for perfectionists. And not for me.

Well, good enough will have to be good enough for folks like us. I just have to turn a blind eye to the not-so-pleasing half-finished projects around here for awhile.

Interesting. However, I don't know if I would call this guy's gene a "moose" gene. It's more like a walking-stick gene. lol This cockerel was so lanky to the point of being unhealthy. He had trouble walking and his legs would sometimes bend in the wrong direction right at the base of the tibia. He's a fighter though, and he kept on eating and drinking. Fortunately for him, the rest of his body seems to be catching up now, and he's walking much better. However, he is still super tall and thin for a FBCM.

That is odd, not sure I've ever seen one with super long legs like that. Lanky, to a degree, yes, but not like you describe. Might require some research to see if there is some gene associated with his dino legs.

 

[brucifer]

Well I kind of think of this thread as a place for us to get together as much as being about Atlas and his motley crew. I much appreciate your personal touches, and the news from the Georgia Mountains.

And another thing that you find with time is that Good Enough is usually good enough - perfection is for perfectionists. And not for me.

Perfectionism has always been a problem for me. I expect it in myself and others, and of course I'm often disappointed.

I see you're from the UP. I have a friend who lives at Iron Mountain, close to the Pine Mountain ski jump. She made a point of telling me years ago that it is the "largest wooden ski jump in the world." lol

That is odd, not sure I've ever seen one with super long legs like that. Lanky, to a degree, yes, but not like you describe. Might require some research to see if there is some gene associated with his dino legs.

I'll have to research it then. If I can remember, I'll try to snap a photo of him next to one of his brothers and post it.

 

[h2oratt]

I lost this thread. Glad. Found it.

 

[speckledhen]

I lost this thread. Glad. Found it.

There you are! Glad you found us on the backroads!

Bruce, I wonder if there is any Langshan in those birds. The Modern Langshan is very long legged and also has feathered legs like the Marans.

 

[1muttsfan]

That's absolutely true about the ski jump. My chances of ever seeing it up close are pretty small though, I'm kind of leery of heights. Plus Iron Mountain is around 3 1/2 hours away, although I do get over in that area occasionally fishing.
I would love to see a picture of your tall boy if you have one

 

[brucifer]

Bruce, I wonder if there is any Langshan in those birds. The Modern Langshan is very long legged and also has feathered legs like the Marans.

You're correct; Langshans look a lot like Marans. Although I mostly raise FBCM and various Orpingtons, I also have three Langshans. Actually, they're Lisa's Langshans. A breeder friend of hers gave her a bunch of eggs from various breeds when Lisa got some Crele Orp hatching eggs from her. We ended up with Bredas, Langshans, CCL, and some Jubilee Orps as well. (LOVE the Jubilees!). Anyway, the lanky FBCM looked like nothing I had ever seen before. The growth was freaky. The breeder from whom I acquired the FBCM chicks raises show-quality birds, and he knows what he's doing. I already had birds from three of his older lines, but this is a new line he was carrying. We're friends, so maybe I should ask him if he has had any unusual hatchlings from that line. Also, I checked the poultry genetic-mutations webpage and also did a search and came up with nothing regarding a height gene. Now I'm VERY curious.

That's absolutely true about the ski jump. My chances of ever seeing it up close are pretty small though, I'm kind of leery of heights. Plus Iron Mountain is around 3 1/2 hours away, although I do get over in that area occasionally fishing.

My friend told that fishing and hunting were very popular there. She talked about the apple knockers that would descend on the area during hunting season each year. I had never heard of that term before. lol

I would love to see a picture of your tall boy if you have one

I will try to provide a photo tomorrow.

 

[h2oratt]

How is George Clooney?

 

[getaclue]

Bruce, that was a kind, and generous offer.

 

[speckledhen]

I have a good story for you guys today! This a.m., going to the barn, had the key in the lock, had turned the key and just casually glanced over toward the pasture lot, as I do every morning, in case there are dogs or deer in it. It's 8 a.m. on the dot. I see this big black animal standing just outside the chain link gate that leads into the pasture lot looking back at me. And for some reason, my brain did not register what I was seeing. My first thought, knowing it wasn't a deer, being black and thick, was "is that a big dog??". Immediately, I realized, no, it has rounded ears, and I think it looks like a big black sheep, but then, as my brain scrolls through my choices, internally, I yell, "BEAR!"
I freeze and we eye each other for a few seconds. Because my husband turns off the baby monitor receiver for the one in the barn when the roosters begin crowing between 4 and 5 a.m. and doesn't often remember to turn it back on, I can't just slip into the barn and yell into the transmitter that there's a bear in our pasture, so I hoof it back to the house to tell him and I see the bear turn to go back toward safer territory in the bottom lot, which is filled with blackberry brambles and other brush. By the time we get back, of course, it's gone. I checked my game camera, which naturally, is turned just slightly too far to the right to catch the bear, DARN IT!
Though we've seen bears in person a couple of counties over, several once running across the road in front of us and others have seen bears in our neighborhood, once one was poached here, this is the first time in the 15 years we've been here that I've actually seen a bear on my property.
My spot impression was that it was a younger adult, wasn't humongous.
O. M. G. a BEAR!

 

[holm25]

Yikes Cyn! Be careful out there! Do you feed the wild birds? I am sure he would do a number on bird feeders if he got the chance!