Thistlewick Smallholding - Chickens & Sheep (for now)

[thistlewick]

How old is Oscar? 17 weeks?
How many Marans total? He looks nice at this age, let him fill out more, he's still young. Both their copper looks lovely.

Need more pics of him please. All over. You got some really nice over the back pics but need each side, front and rear, and close up of face and comb each side. And need to see his leg stance also. (How far apart are they when he's standing)

The darker mahogany on the wing shoulders is nice and he's got a real nice low tail also.

I start looking at my boys around 19-20 weeks for first selections mostly because that seems to be prime butcher age in my area. Give him more time....

Yes! He is one day away from being 18 weeks old

I will get more pics today. He is a friendly and amiable little Cockerel, despite being very horny lolol. He knows his name -- or at the very least knows when I'm talking to him, I got coos back from him when I was taking those pics yesterday evening, I was trying to get him to look at me.

There was scratch on the ground so that was fat chance lol

It will probably have to be evening again -- almost the entire flock is now together and they wander off around the property when I let them out immediately. It's a crap shoot who I see during the day, most of them are hedge dwellers all day hahah

Thank you so much for looking, I appreciate it!!!

 

[wrathsfarm]

Yes! He is one day away from being 18 weeks old

I will get more pics today. He is a friendly and amiable little Cockerel, despite being very horny lolol. He knows his name -- or at the very least knows when I'm talking to him, I got coos back from him when I was taking those pics yesterday evening, I was trying to get him to look at me.

There was scratch on the ground so that was fat chance lol

It will probably have to be evening again -- almost the entire flock is now together and they wander off around the property when I let them out immediately. It's a crap shoot who I see during the day, most of them are hedge dwellers all day hahah

Thank you so much for looking, I appreciate it!!!

No worries... You have plenty of time to get good pics. I'm normally scrambling to get pics around this age but I have a lot more boys and need the ones I'm not keeping to go at this age. He does look like he's a little narrow going towards the back, I'm struggling with this Kong but don't read into this just yet. Oscar is really too young yet and hasn't filled out. Just something to watch. We want wide all the way back.
If your thinking about keeping him to breed and you only have the one BCM pullet, I would consider getting a couple few others to help with pairings to fix any issues.

@BlueTheBrahma what's your thoughts on Oscar so far?

 

[thistlewick]

He was VERY obliging this morning!!

I got some more @wrathsfarm and a video

https://imgur.com/a/FpPoI7S

I have 2 pullets and 2 hens to breed him with -- but one hen has black eyes, so she'd be a DQ for anything related to showing.

 

[wrathsfarm]

He was VERY obliging this morning!!

I got some more @wrathsfarm and a video

View attachment 4161120View attachment 4161121View attachment 4161122View attachment 4161123View attachment 4161124View attachment 4161125View attachment 4161126

https://imgur.com/a/FpPoI7S

Ok, so first and foremost I'm no expert but I'll give what I see and hopefully @BlueTheBrahma will pop by and get more indepth but remember he can change a lot. What we see now could change as he grows out to his final molt at around 18 months.
Firstly... His narrowness going towards the rear I don't see now. That's nice. I'm not real good seeing 'Type...or body structure' but I think he looks good here also.
He's got a slight twist in the front of his comb.. easy fix mating to a good comb female.
His eyes are perfect.
His copper is very nice but he's a little over colored in the chest. Pairing him to females with little to no copper in the hackles will produce correct full hackles in his progeny. I've got this issue with Kong also but I was fortunate my hens had little to no copper.

Overall I think he's pretty nice and you could work with him depending on your goals. If his type is as good as I see that's a huge plus and everything else is fixable. Its all balancing your pairings up if your working towards SOP.

I have 2 pullets and 2 hens to breed him with -- but one hen has black eyes, so she'd be a DQ for anything related to showing.

Are these BCMs? I'm only seeing the one pullet in your pics.

 

[wrathsfarm]

I'm adding... if this is a BCM that has the black eyes, yes that a DQ. Brown eyes are not. They're not desirable but accepted. I haven't kept any brown eyes personally but there were other issues combined with the eye color that helped make that decision.

 

[thistlewick]

Ok, so first and foremost I'm no expert but I'll give what I see and hopefully @BlueTheBrahma will pop by and get more indepth but remember he can change a lot. What we see now could change as he grows out to his final molt at around 18 months.
Firstly... His narrowness going towards the rear I don't see now. That's nice. I'm not real good seeing 'Type...or body structure' but I think he looks good here also.
He's got a slight twist in the front of his comb.. easy fix mating to a good comb female.
His eyes are perfect.
His copper is very nice but he's a little over colored in the chest. Pairing him to females with little to no copper in the hackles will produce correct full hackles in his progeny. I've got this issue with Kong also but I was fortunate my hens had little to no copper.

Overall I think he's pretty nice and you could work with him depending on your goals. If his type is as good as I see that's a huge plus and everything else is fixable. Its all balancing your pairings up if your working towards SOP.


Are these BCMs? I'm only seeing the one pullet in your pics.

Yes I have 4 BCM pullets they are just among dozens of other chickens wandering around haha

Tilly has had lots of photos lately since she's the new mama

I think her comb is not great

 

[wrathsfarm]

Yes I have 4 BCM pullets they are just among dozens of other chickens wandering around haha

Tilly has had lots of photos lately since she's the new mama

View attachment 4161397


I think her comb is not great

She's gorgeous.... I have comb issues also in my flock, but it's a real easy fix.

What are the 3 under her? Looks like you gotta thorn in between 2 roses ...

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

Hi there, I’d be delighted to give a breakdown of your boy. I’m a tad busy at the moment but I will get to it tomorrow.

 

[NorthernHomestead]

Off Topic, but:

"
The things we see as "feminine qualities" are just the things men want us to do.
**Beware the romantic love ideal pushed upon women; it's a con that men use to extract our domestic, emotional, and mental labor for free. We are just options to them, and there is no such thing as 'his dream girl', just his dream wife appliance. Wake up.**"

Love this, but the qualities of women were just marketing ploys to sell garbage to women. Example: Razors used to solely be for men before the companies selling razors marketed them as "What the French ladies use" when most women would have no way to verify it. The razor companies double their profits. I watched a whole documentary about it, but that example was the one that stuck out.