What did you do with your flock today?

[kurby22]

View attachment 3376929View attachment 3376924expecting to see the blonde and EE ☝ in a box any minute now
And then there is this...
View attachment 3376925from these guys...View attachment 3376927
View attachment 3376923
Going to split Roo pen and set up 1/2 for cockerel. View attachment 3376934He is early to mature and Spider & Beetle don't seem to be disciplining him much IMO. Don't want the girls mated by him plus POL pullets arnt happy.
He is a looker and good boy though. Wish I had some interest in him...

He is a beautiful boy!! I would want to keep him!

 

[kurby22]

Ah!!! Yall I'm so excited!!!
We were cleaning out from in under our deck that is about to be replaced in a few weeks with a covered back porch!
Ok that's not the most exciting news!!!
My DH saw first hand how much leftover hardware cloth, already painted LP Smartside Siding and a lot of scrap wood from all gardening, coop and run projects!!!
He said absolutely NO you cannot built an addition "for getting giggy with it".
I said but that way I can tell which boy and which girl and which eggs and sell em and have so much fun! He said NO!
So today....yall!!! In a vulnerable state he said I could just so long as I don't ask for his help!!!
Agh!!! I'm super excited!!! I can't imagine all the babies we gonna get to see now!!!
Between Joey, Bluey and all my laying girlees! Then that's not even considering the new Buff babies!!! Which let me just say are too adorable!
Ok...sorry I had to share some excitement....and of course I'm gonna need yalls assistance in designing this suite of a coop for lots of babies!!!

Oh YAY!! That’s super exciting!! I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

 

[Shetland lover]

Latest batch of dwarfs are starting to hatch. I keep hatching them just to see how true they breed since they're a landrace, they were my friends project birds, and I wonder where the blue genes came from since that seems to be unusual for the breed. So far they're very predictable both as chicks and adults but I've had a couple born looking a little different. One was that almost all white boy, one that grew up mostly white and gold with a few black tail feathers, and one that hatched last night that's only black and white. Usually the ones marked like that chick have brown spots as well. Kinda calico looking. View attachment 3377053Betting it'll grow up all black and white instead of the usual tri-color. I've seen the black/white only birds in gene bank dwarf pics but it's the first I've had hatch and I'm excited to watch it feather and grow . There's no black/white only in my original birds. Still not sure why I've gone nuts with these little guys but I'm enjoying them immensely .

They're actually my best layers and the egg size is impressive considering the birds size. I'm used to my oegb banties that lay poorly, though nice sized eggs for such tiny birds. I love the feed/egg production ratio these birds have. I still think my friend should have given them to an actual breeder, but I'm loving them.

Well, that's my chicken craziness contribution for the day!

Unbelievably cute! And it's so exciting watching them feather out and change over time.
I'm really interested in landrace breeds starting to breed consistently true. My Shetland, Gladys, is a landrace. Shetlands are split into two different strains which I suspect have very different ancestry, having been developed on different islands. Gladys is the mainland type. They typically have a crest (called a 'tappit')and are pretty showy, shades of grey, chestnut brown and/or black often with lacing. They almost always lay a blue/green egg. They are believed to have Araucana ancestry (via shipwrecked Spanish galleons in the 15th century) crossed with local birds. The other type is small, long legged, usually black, no crest and lays a small white egg. Both types are very rare. At one time only 70 mainland type were left and a handful of the others. Numbers are still not strong and I really wish I could breed them as you do with yours, ChicksnMore. They are definitely a landrace worth saving in my opinion and already very consistent in appearance and behaviour.

I noticed what I thought was blood on Stan's feathers yesterday but it turned out to be rusty red streaks on some of his blue feathers. His grandad (Sylv) and dad (Ferdy) had/have gold leakage which manifested as creamy buff on their feathers. So that's three generations the gold leakage has carried over. Interestingly, Penelope (Ferdy's full sister) has no gold leakage visible so I wonder if it only manifests in the males and is only carried by the females? Guess I'll have to breed more to find out (If only!

Got my treadle feeders yesterday, DH assembled them, and I got to put them out this sunny afternoon. Just in time, as they had run out of food sometime this morning, and their crops looked about half full. Should have less waste from them flicking it out. There was a huge amount under their old Pvc feeder after I switched back to the mixed flock crumbles. It'll be a couple weeks of training before I can have it closed and keep the rats from feasting. I must have some dumb rats, as they go in the run, and then dig out of it? And also dig a tunnel from one side of the inside ramp to the other, a short distance. Went and collapsed all those tunnels, filled in, and put a bunch of rocks to block the holes after filling them. Still nothing trapped, either rats, mice, or moles. Got a baker's dozen eggs over two days. Does anyone else's eggs seems to start up smaller after a molt? My older girls seem to be laying smaller eggs right now, when they're normally an extra large size plus during regular season. This was their second molt. Welsummers, Black sex link, and ISAbrown. After getting XL- ultra jumbo eggs for awhile , it's cute to find medium sized eggs.

All my girls lay smaller just after a moult and then gradually increase to normal size or bigger over a couple of weeks. It's normal.

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

If your birds are like mine, they will eat only what they want if dry, and leave the rest. Probably better as mash. My chooks gobble that up! I would add all that as I felt like it. Have a bunch of dried oregano from last season. Is garlic ok for them? I thought onions and garlic are a no no, or maybe that's just dogs.

I've heard garlic is very good for chickens...onion I dont believe so but unsure.

 

[FBMcrazy8]

I bet there's online plans for them somewhere. When i have more time, I'll see if I can find anything.

Ok! Thank you! I will see if I can find some too. He is stepping on it better the last 2 days. He isnt hoping so much. Before the last 2 days he was barely using it at all to move, barely putting it down. Now he puts it down and moves…very slowly but moves.

 

[kurby22]

Ok! Thank you! I will see if I can find some too. He is stepping on it better the last 2 days. He isnt hoping so much. Before the last 2 days he was barely using it at all to move, barely putting it down. Now he puts it down and moves…very slowly but moves.

Poor sweet boy! I’m so sorry you have to deal with this as fall out from the snow and cold Hopefully it’s not damaged beyond repair. You are doing an amazing job with him Thinking lots of good thoughts for him!

 

[kurby22]

Did I tell you guys about poor Bruno, my OD rooster, hurting himself? I was out doing chicken chores and as I neared the gate to the run I found him hanging upside down from the bird netting by one leg I untangled his foot and set him down and re wouldn’t put weight on it and was hiding in the corner…so I brought him inside so he could rest without harassment. I’m hoping he just sprained it and with some time will be back to normal. He’s back outside and roosting and such, but heavily favoring the hurt leg. Poor Little Dude. I swear, being a chicken is hard.

 

[ChicksnMore]

Oh such a cutie!!! Can u remind me what the full grown ones look like? So how many have hatched this go around?

Such a sweet kitty!!!

This round my incubator has different age eggs so only 4. Next eggs will hatch around the 25th. The dwarfs are little birds...just a bit bigger then the oegb's and a lot fluffier. Most of them are mottled over black breasted red colors or Millie fluer colors.

Unbelievably cute! And it's so exciting watching them feather out and change over time.
I'm really interested in landrace breeds starting to breed consistently true. My Shetland, Gladys, is a landrace. Shetlands are split into two different strains which I suspect have very different ancestry, having been developed on different islands. Gladys is the mainland type. They typically have a crest (called a 'tappit')and are pretty showy, shades of grey, chestnut brown and/or black often with lacing. They almost always lay a blue/green egg. They are believed to have Araucana ancestry (via shipwrecked Spanish galleons in the 15th century) crossed with local birds. The other type is small, long legged, usually black, no crest and lays a small white egg. Both types are very rare. At one time only 70 mainland type were left and a handful of the others. Numbers are still not strong and I really wish I could breed them as you do with yours, ChicksnMore. They are definitely a landrace worth saving in my opinion and already very consistent in appearance and behaviour.

I noticed what I thought was blood on Stan's feathers yesterday but it turned out to be rusty red streaks on some of his blue feathers. His grandad (Sylv) and dad (Ferdy) had/have gold leakage which manifested as creamy buff on their feathers. So that's three generations the gold leakage has carried over. Interestingly, Penelope (Ferdy's full sister) has no gold leakage visible so I wonder if it only manifests in the males and is only carried by the females? Guess I'll have to breed more to find out (If only!


All my girls lay smaller just after a moult and then gradually increase to normal size or bigger over a couple of weeks. It's normal.

I sure hope the Shetlands make it long term. They sound delightful. My friend wanted these guys true breeding and to become a recognized breed. I'm not so sure...I think part of what I love is the diversity. Mainly I worry they'd be bred for looks over all else and end up poor layers. My oegb's lay less than half the number of eggs these guys do and they're not quite as healthy as a breed. If it happens, I hope the breeders remember to breed for the whole chicken package even in the bantam sized.

Gladys sounds like a stunner So does Stan and his relatives . When you describe Stan and families colors ..I wonder if they're lavender rather then blue. Both dilute black to shades of grey. Blue leaves the brown colors alone and doesn't breed true, and lavender dilutes the browns to cream/straw colors and breeds true. The roos show more black then the hens ...take black breasted red...the roos have a black breast and the girls a chocolate, reddish brown colored breast.

 

[ChicksnMore]

Ok! Thank you! I will see if I can find some too. He is stepping on it better the last 2 days. He isnt hoping so much. Before the last 2 days he was barely using it at all to move, barely putting it down. Now he puts it down and moves…very slowly but moves.

Poor baby. I'm glad he's starting to use it even if gingerly. Should mean he's making progress on healing

 

[ChicksnMore]

Did I tell you guys about poor Bruno, my OD rooster, hurting himself? I was out doing chicken chores and as I neared the gate to the run I found him hanging upside down from the bird netting by one leg I untangled his foot and set him down and re wouldn’t put weight on it and was hiding in the corner…so I brought him inside so he could rest without harassment. I’m hoping he just sprained it and with some time will be back to normal. He’s back outside and roosting and such, but heavily favoring the hurt leg. Poor Little Dude. I swear, being a chicken is hard.

What a lucky save! Poor Bruno! Hope his leg feels better fast