Hi Kim, Robin, and the rest of y'all,
Thanks for the email. My apologies to the rest of you for my absence. I have just not been able to make the time to spend on BYC or anywhere else for that matter. I almost said "find the time" but we all have 24/7/365 so it ain't really a matter of "finding" but more like "making".
I never made a penny in my job last year and, while this year is shaping up a little, it isn't looking real great for the long run. So I've been trying to devote as much time to the business as I possibly can without having to work weekends. I think we're all working twice as hard for half as much these days.
Some of you know that my wife left me 18 months ago and with the economy being what it is and everything else I have to do, I'm just doing all I can to stay afloat. Of course with the wife being gone I not only have to work at the job and do everything outside but I also have to do everything else myself as well. My typical day goes something like this: Get up at 0930 or so and shower, get dressed, go take care of all the birds and collect the eggs. That takes about an hour or so. Then back inside, put the eggs on the counter, make coffee, and have a half hour or so of Quiet Time reading a bit of the Bible if nothing took me longer outside than I expected. By now its Noon or later. Go upstairs, check and answer emails, and start to work. About 1500-1600 take a short break to grab a bite to eat. Finish up with work about 1930-2000. Check and answer emails one last time. Then go do the chores outside again. Back inside about 2130-2200 and start fixing supper. Wash the eggs while supper is cooking. Somewhere around 2300-2330 finally sit down for the night and eat supper. Veg out in front of the TV usually reading something at the same time until 0100-0200 and then go to bed. Start it all over the next day. On the weekends I have to get everything done outside that I cant do during the week. Thats the way its been for the past 18 months or more. Mind you, Im not complaining. Rather just wanted you to know where the absenteeism comes from.
And if all that ain't enough this has been the worst year of weather I can ever remember in WA. It was 55 degrees on the 4th of July and 85 three days later. Then it dropped back down into the mid-50's, then back into the 70's or so. A week ago it must've it 90-95 for almost the whole week and this weeks it's been in the 50-70's. My birds don't know whether to lay and egg or hibernate. I've had problems with runny noses, some sneezing, and Coccidiosis all year. Since I don't medicate my birds (except for the chicks which get Medicated Starter) I've lost a ton of birds this year. There was a couple of weeks last month that I was tossing 2-4 chicks/juveniles a day. But, the good news hopefully is that I should have some really strong, full of vigor, birds left.
I'm also really pleased with the results I'm seeing in my Ameraucanas. I've made some real progress in adding a lot of color to their tails. The bad news is that I've run into productivity problems with my older birds. The good news is that I sold them all to a lady who didn't care if a chicken laid an egg or not. She's got 71 acres she just wanted some eye candy to run around on. I mention that for the rest of y'all in case you ever want to find homes for your birds that aren't producing all that well anymore. You never know what you might find a buyer for.
The other good news is that I should be able to focus on Welsummers more next year. The bad news is I haven't found a replacement for Elvis yet. Some of you may recall that Elvis took "Best Continental" at the Evergreen State Fair last year and then my Barnies ran him into the ground after bringing them all home and Elvis had a stroke. Had to put him down after a few months of babying him and realizing he just ain't ever gonna mount another hen. My backup rooster just hasn't been passing on much in the way of yellow legs. Ah well, there's always next year.
Next year I am going to focus on trying to get more size to my Wellies. I think they're a bit on the small side. Kim, I might be talking with ya about your behomoths. I'm concerned that the size of the Wellies I'm seeing are leaning too much to the small side. I think I've got great egg color but would like to see a bigger egg so I'll be watching that too. Other than that I'll be working on the tail formation and the angle of the tail along with the aforementioned leg color. Oh, and while I've got most of the yellow out of the hens hackle, I still have to watch that.
I've also made a lot of headway with my Barnevelders. The lacing now goes all the way to the tail and there is no smuttiness or mossy-backed birds. The lacing color is pretty good and there is no yellow or goldish tint to it and, perhaps most notably, I've got a really nice green sheen on the birds now. I need to work on the leg color, egg color, and egg size for the Barnies.
Other than that, I've added some Buckeyes that were sired by the Brother of last years National Champion. I also had a line from the Daddy of last years Champ and recently lost the last chick from that line but have been promised another bunch of eggs from him.
Well, I think that brings me up to speed for the year. Oh, before I go, to the person before who asked about the oversized comb on the females and Robin pointed out that it has white earlobes - my guess is you have some leghorn in your birds. That would explain both the white earlobes and the oversized comb. Even before Robin pointed out the white earlobes I was thinking the combs had a Leghorn look to them. If you find those birds to be a lot more flighty than other Wellies that you have - I'd take it to the bank that you've got Leghorn in them. My advice is to cull 'em and go with pure Wellies.
Now that all the birds are out of the breeding pens and I have my last few eggs in the incubator cooking now, I should see the time for my chores cut down a bit. Hopefully that will afford me a little more time to come to BYC. Having said that, should anyone not see me on here and need to contact me for any reason - just to ask a question or whatever - please don't hesitate to send me an email. I spend a good portion of my day either answering emails or talking to folks on the phone answering questions about my breeds, a sick bird, or what-have-you. So don't hesitate to email me if you need to.
God Bless,