What are your five favorite breeds and why

[Fueron]

@Arbutus Peregrine

Dubbing isn’t as bad as it sounds. It doesn’t hurt the bird very much if you do it right, and the pain doesn’t last long. I’ve found that dubbed Modern Games act healthier and happier than the undubbed ones.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I got an alert on this thread. It's funny how things that one thinks in the past just don't turn out the way one expects. Since I wrote that, the city liberalised its rules on laying hens. We can have five, there are no limits on the number of households can have hens and the minimum property size was reduced allowing us in denser suburbs to have them.

In March, by bird-loving beagle passed away. He was 15 and was in slow decline. In June, I built a coop and not being patient to get the breeds of birds that I wanted, I got two types of sex-links. My new beagle is chicken fearing so a chicken buddy is not in the cards for him. I love the new beagle, miss the old one and love the birds that I have. It's not what I planned for a year ago, but it's good.

There may be a time that my coop is populated by heritage breed birds, but that might not be for a while.

Aww sorry about losing your beagle. Glad you g another one. I recently lost one of my dogs, and have a new pup too. I'm also glad you got to get yourself some chickens.

 

[Arbutus Peregrine]

Look at those sweet girls!! That picture really shows how very calm and perfectly willing they are to walk right over to see what you're doing! Love it! Even though I'm across the country from that farm, I'd be tempted by those hatching eggs if I hadn't just spent part of the evening working on winterizing for my flock. Too late in the year for babies, even darling Dorking babies! I'll have to bookmark that website for later.

The Dorkings are docile toward everyone in my flock. I've only seen them get feisty when I've had one of them out of the flock for a bit and she feels the need to reestablish her place in the pecking order upon reintroduction. I think the worst any of my Dorks has done to any of the bantams in particular was accidentally kicking one of them in the rush to go free-range. Everyone was fine, there was just a squawk and they all moved on to free-range. Those Dorks are large, lumbering birds with very full chests and sometimes they just don't look where they're walking when they get a sudden burst of excitement. If you're looking at getting chicks to add to your (by then) adult bantam flock, you should be golden. Those older bantams should be dominant due to age and experience, and the Dorkings, in my experience, tend not to try to dominate. Of course, each bird is an individual so nothing is guaranteed, but I think Dorkings would be just as good of a fit for your flock as Euskal Oiloas would be.

That’s really great advice I hadn’t thought of— to have the bantams be older and more dominant to Dorking chicks. Well, it’s all so fun to just dream about at this point. I wish I could see some bantam dorkings!! At the end of the day I feel like it’s just not fair to keep big standard chickens who love to roam in small yards. At least the bantams can fly around and exercise themselves that way! And I am talking about my small yard— not anyone else’s!! My next phase is to put bird netting up so the yard is totally secure. That is realistically a summer 2020 project. I’ve quickly fallen in love with those Dorkings and appreciate your advice! You give great advice! Thanks for helping me along!

 

[Arbutus Peregrine]

@Arbutus Peregrine

Dubbing isn’t as bad as it sounds. It doesn’t hurt the bird very much if you do it right, and the pain doesn’t last long. I’ve found that dubbed Modern Games act healthier and happier than the undubbed ones.

I appreciate your perspective but it is a very hard thing to understand for me and although I’m relatively new to Bantam chickens, I have experience with all sorts of animals and their condoned inhumane practices. I just can’t agree. So we have developed a breed then—Modern Game— who are better off with dubbing? That’s a sad reality to me— much like factory farmed poultry who can’t reproduce on their own.... not to mention all the other countless cruel things we have done to animals in their development. At some point we need to ask if it’s worth it?

 

[Fueron]

I appreciate your perspective but it is a very hard thing to understand for me and although I’m relatively new to Bantam chickens, I have experience with all sorts of animals and their condoned inhumane practices. I just can’t agree. So we have developed a breed then—Modern Game— who are better off with dubbing? That’s a sad reality to me— much like factory farmed poultry who can’t reproduce on their own.... not to mention all the other countless cruel things we have done to animals in their development. At some point we need to ask if it’s worth it?

Modern game bantams were developed for the sole purpose exhibition, and males were always intended to be dubbed. They don’t have the right look unless they’re dubbed. If you don’t want to dub your Moderns, you can always get a female line and only show females. They tend to win anyway.

 

[Arbutus Peregrine]

Modern game bantams were developed for the sole purpose exhibition, and males were always intended to be dubbed. They don’t have the right look unless they’re dubbed. If you don’t want to dub your Moderns, you can always get a female line and only show females. They tend to win anyway.

seems like wisdom is often on the female side!