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

[speckledhen]

And to get back to chickens, our beautiful MaryJo today. She is 21 weeks old and most definitely an Atlas daughter. So, though there is an outside chance that she may carry a dwarf gene, I guess she needs to go with Hector. I have no one else for him that is not related to Atlas, at least in the BR category. I have pretty little Maretta, who would probably like to be with a rooster. She was always flirting with Apollo. And her eggs, when she lays, are turquoise blue. But, she is 6 1/2 yrs old so not a young lady anymore. My friend Robin in SC (wekiva bird) would love to have something out of those two. She loves her barred EEs.

What do you think of MaryJo, Mary (@1muttsfan)? I wish our other Mary had lived. That was a bad loss. Thea and Jill are back with Hector and Rowena but they are so thin from being broody and molting, not sure how long it will take for them to get back to normal. And I can't hatch from Thea with her wry tail, plus not sure Ro will ever lay again after her bloating spells. Trying to incorporate MaryJo now.

 

[kitkat5505]

MaryJo is very pretty hope Hector's group accepts her without too much fuss.

 

[getaclue]

Loved the video.

 

[1muttsfan]

She has a lovely shape, and nice barring too.

 

[speckledhen]

Thanks for the assessment of Miss MaryJo. DH calls her MJ. I told him that we already have a BJ but he was not deterred in the least.

I just spent awhile going round and round with an overly emotional woman on a FB homesteading page about her dog being shot by a neighbor. I mustered all my tact, told her how sorry I was, but the simple facts are that, first, her dog was not on her property but had repeatedly gone to the neighbor's house, and secondly, she really had no idea what her dog did when it was not at home (the usual "my dog never hurts anything"). The neighbor, if you can believe her, does sound a little jerky. She said he just wanted to kill her dog, that the dog repeatedly had gone over there and he did not talk to her about it so he had no right to shoot her dog. I said she was obviously emotionally charged, which was understandable, and I'm very sorry she lost her dog.

Of course, I was called names and said she would never want to be my neighbor, etc, etc. Well, GOOD! I sure would not want to be hers! She lets her dog roam. Geez. And when I cannot use italics, I use caps. FB does not have italics so when I want to emphasize a word, I cap it. So, she said I was screaming at her, which I explained, not screaming at all, just emphasizing. Trust me, I was so calm I was like the bloodhound on the Beverly Hillbillies. I told her that I'd heard her story over and over and over again, the EXACT story, just different characters so I understood it completely, but that people will swear their dog would not hurt a flea with the dog standing right there beside him, covered in chicken feathers and blood. You just cannot win with some folks. And then, I had to tell about Ladyhawk's saga of the neighbor's Rottweiler.

I swear, some people just want to be victims.

But, this statement was made by someone and I don't get it:

I wish many did not get such a rise out of owning their own property and exercising their right to protect it.

Say what? We each have the right to enjoyment of our property. "getting a rise" out of it? I'm glad I own my land, sure. Do I hope a dog comes by so I can shoot it? Heck no. That would be insane.

 

[speckledhen]

Poor MaryJo! Zara, that hussy daughter of Atlas's, had her down behind the waterer, wedged tightly behind the concrete blocks, pounding her in the head, even managed to peck off her comb blade! We happened to be at the barn and heard her screaming. I can't put Zara with Hector now that Jill and Thea are there because she bullies them. Can't put her with Atlas because she gets bullied (though I did let her suffer in there a little while after she hurt MaryJo). MaryJo was so stressed, I put her in the hospital cage to rest overnight, but she can never be in a pen with nasty Zara, who with us, is a very sweet hen and does fine with Georgie's group, but is a relentless bully to MaryJo, even jumping up at her when MJ is on her separate bar.

And Atlas and Bash switched pens yesterday. Tonight, Atlas was trying to mate Wynette on the roost and about to kill them both! WTHeck? He's never tried that in the other pen. Crazy thing.

 

[Pyxis]

Birds I hope MaryJo feels better quickly.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sounds like crazy chickens, is it a full moon yet?

 

[speckledhen]

Birds I hope MaryJo feels better quickly.

Sounds like crazy chickens, is it a full moon yet?

Me, too, poor sweet MJ. I'll have to check on that full moon thing. What is bad is that Zara is a sweet hen, a good layer, big girl, but she probably has the dwarf gene as witnessed by me getting two dwarfs when hatching from her and her sister, Athena, and she is a big bully every time she gets a chance. Her sister, Athena, is in a hard molt and feels too crappy to hassle anyone.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@speckledhen
Good video.

Bad chicken. I hate it when the sweet ones get attacked.