The Old Folks Home

[ColoradoCarol]

Look into Blue or Black marans it is a french breed so the s is single or plural
The egg color is great dark copper from most cukoo is another type but eggs seem lighter brown from them

Thanks Penny. I love how dark their eggs are.

 

[ColoradoCarol]

I have Barred Rocks and Black Australorps and would get them again. Also like my White Rocks though Angel is broody AGAIN! Got some Austra Whites (White Leghorn x Black Australorps) last June and they are SERIOUS layers of L and sometimes XL eggs. Quite an accomplishment for a bird that is more the size and shape of the leghorn than the BA. They aren't particularly flighty. I love my EEs, they have all laid well and none have ever gone broody (in opposition to Meyer's description!). 1/4 of my flock are EEs, the oldest is 8 and still laying L and XL eggs. I have 2 Columbian Wyandottes (1 year old) they are EXCELLENT foragers and lay well but contrary to Meyer's description of M to L eggs, they are S to LOW end M.


Not TOO many. But we often have our "D"ears
DW(ife)
DH(usband)
DS(on)
DD(aughter)

Thank you for all of the info! I see I have lots of reading and research to do! I am getting so much good info here. I really appreciate it!

 

[getaclue]

That is good to hear.

Maybe that means you do get a little bit of immunity, even if it isn't enough immunity to keep you from having it a second time.

Based on our experience, I'd have to say there is a good bit of residual immunity/ protection, even 5 months later. The first time, it was awful. This last time, it was not bad at all.

 

[ColoradoCarol]

I was never good at video games but liked to watch my son play them.

Me either. My husband used to play them often, and I had a blast just watching. I guess I just don't have the coordination needed

 

[ColoradoCarol]

This is three of my silkie love the aliens

Adorable!

 

[getaclue]

While we were at the mall yesterday, a lot of the stores were advertising 50 - 75% off on their clothes. We picked up quite a few nice things for the girls, at Walmart (or lower) prices. I was going to get a few things for my grandson, but he's pretty well set in clothes, and shoes at this time.

 

[getaclue]

Me either. My husband used to play them often, and I had a blast just watching. I guess I just don't have the coordination needed

Carol, males seem to take to them more easily initially, BUT my daughters, and I found out it's all about practice. Keep practicing, and you get really good at it.

 

[ColoradoCarol]

I am also a gamer. I also bought my grands super nintendo's with many games to play.
I love the no blood and gore factor also. I stopped playing when the playstation came out.
I could not control the controllers to play. When I would buy the kids games I made sure I could tun off the blood in the games. Or they did not get them. I did not want them growing up not being phased by violence. I played the 64 games ok. But the super nintendo were my favs. Now I play a few online games till I get bored with them. lol
I do not like playing any on FB since they crashed my old computer.

When I was young, I thought I was in Heaven when my parents bought a PONG game system for us kids for Christmas. That was a huge gift for us! We didn't get much else, but boy, was it worth it. Hooked it up to the old B&W TV in the basement (you know... the kind with the rabbit ears) and hit the little bouncing ball back and forth for hours. I can still hear the "blips" and "bloops" the game made. Wow. Times have sure changed. Is my age showing?

 

[Perris]

if y'all ever get to Berlin, there's a very good little private computer games museum there, which has working golden oldies like Pong, and space invaders, and lemmings, and mario bros etc. etc. It is a real trip down memory lane, and even our kids, who grew up after those games were obsolete, enjoyed them, despite the graphics and clunkiness by modern standards

 

[ColoradoCarol]

How cold is cold?

I would think if you hit 100s F, then large combs are good choices.

The fat bodied girls with tiny combs have a harder time with the heat.

Often excellent egg laying = flighty, and calm and sweet = less eggs.

As to production breeds having health issues, yes, I have found that to be true. My production white Leghorns had a bunch of issues between 1 and 1.5 years of age.

I switched to heritage type Leghorns and think they are great. They don't lay quite as much, and their eggs are not quite as large...but zero health issues! Also, they are nice long lived birds.

As to quiet.... my Spitz are very quiet, and my Spitz roo doesn't crow all that much. Also, they are steady layers, non-broody.

I would say the average low temps here in winter would be around 20 degrees, but we do dip down below zero at times. We also get the occasional blizzard. Colorado, for the most part, has winters where it will be cold and snowy as heck one day, and sunny and mild the next. Thanks for all of the good info on the breeds!