What did you do with your flock today?

[kurby22]

The chaos gets your blood pumping doesn't it So many pretty darlings there! What color is that first bird pictured?

Yes! It definitely did that! Hahaha. It also made me feel a lot better about my own chaotic household!

That is Willa (Willie + Zilla) - the modern game bantam/bobtail cochin mix we accidentally hatched! So my best guess is that she is mauve? She's not really dark enough to be chocolate, so I'm guessing that underneath the bobtail coloring on Willie, he carried chocolate? And the hens we have are lemon blues, so predominantly blue which can create mauve! She's definitely a more mocha like color, whereas chocolate is always a richer, deeper brown. It's amazing to me too, that sooo many people told me she was blue as a baby and that I was NUTS to think she was chocolate or mauve. I was feeling soo confused because I knew what my eyes were seeing and everyone kept saying that I was wrong. So it has made me feel less crazy now that she has feathered out more! Just more proof that we still don't know all the things we think we know about chicken genetics! Bobtails are sure a conundrum of a variety!

Next hardest thing is going to be deciding who all to keep and what chicks to sell!! I can make a justification for keeping all but like 20 of them hahaha. I don't know how people do it selling chicks all the time! I want to keep them all!

 

[fuzzi]

This evening...

Grapes have been consumed, now it's time to scratch and find spilled crumbles. The chicks are checking out some weeds I pulled and offered. And Martha's keeping the other hens on their toes.

 

[fuzzi]

They're beautiful babies! Is Samuel your only rooster?

Nevermind...I just read he was! Are you going to keep him, just separated or re-home him?

Samuel attacked the chicks twice in my presence, and was most likely the one that attacked a day old chick, two days in a row, leaving it unconscious on the floor of the run, with an open puncture wound behind the eye.

I removed him, permanently. And cried.

 

[ValerieJ]

Samuel attacked the chicks twice in my presence, and was most likely the one that attacked a day old chick, two days in a row, leaving it unconscious on the floor of the run, with an open puncture wound behind the eye.

I removed him, permanently. And cried.

It's life on the chicken farm. You have to do what is best for the flock. I've been there more than once with a rooster.

 

[Shetland lover]

Biscotti Her eyes have the barest hint of yellow in them now though. She's growing up!View attachment 3808127View attachment 3808128

She's absolutely gorgeous

 

[Shetland lover]

Today I did a full inventory of all my chicks I’ve hatched this year. Took forever haha. I didn’t take pics of every single chick but got a couple of the ones growing out really nice. Also got a group picture of all my watermaals I’ve recently hatched and the bobtail that hatched today

Also had a poultry project meeting that went fine until we wrapped things up. The youngest kid at the house we were at didn’t shut the door fast enough and let out their young, maniacal German short hair puppy. That dog moved SO fast!! She found an opening thru a kids legs into the main yard…and proceeded to take off after the free ranging chickens! Everyone went after the puppy and left the other gate open and her three dwarf goats went thru the open gate onto the deck where we were practicing and beelined straight for the landscaping The one goat was properly admonished for its naughtiness but the other goat was quite uninterested in listening and pulled a “cat on a leash” and just flopped down and refused to move So while people were running all over trying to catch the puppy, the chickens were squawking and freaking out, kids were yelling, and the goats were bleating It wasn’t funny at the time, but afterwards I couldn’t stop giggling at the chaos

We are all exhausted and tired from the weekend and wishing we had another day before Monday.

Oh my! I needed a laugh today and sure got one!
Gorgeous beebies

 

[Shetland lover]

Samuel attacked the chicks twice in my presence, and was most likely the one that attacked a day old chick, two days in a row, leaving it unconscious on the floor of the run, with an open puncture wound behind the eye.

I removed him, permanently. And cried.

I'm terribly sorry
Such a hard decision to have to make.

 

[ChicksnMore]

I think you just gave my hubby a new hobby.

I wanna know if he makes something with it or just has fun melting it

 

[ChicksnMore]

Samuel attacked the chicks twice in my presence, and was most likely the one that attacked a day old chick, two days in a row, leaving it unconscious on the floor of the run, with an open puncture wound behind the eye.

I removed him, permanently. And cried.

I'm so sorry. I'll keep my fingers crossed that one of the chicks grows into a gorgeous gentle boy for you

 

[ChicksnMore]

Yes! It definitely did that! Hahaha. It also made me feel a lot better about my own chaotic household!

That is Willa (Willie + Zilla) - the modern game bantam/bobtail cochin mix we accidentally hatched! So my best guess is that she is mauve? She's not really dark enough to be chocolate, so I'm guessing that underneath the bobtail coloring on Willie, he carried chocolate? And the hens we have are lemon blues, so predominantly blue which can create mauve! She's definitely a more mocha like color, whereas chocolate is always a richer, deeper brown. It's amazing to me too, that sooo many people told me she was blue as a baby and that I was NUTS to think she was chocolate or mauve. I was feeling soo confused because I knew what my eyes were seeing and everyone kept saying that I was wrong. So it has made me feel less crazy now that she has feathered out more! Just more proof that we still don't know all the things we think we know about chicken genetics! Bobtails are sure a conundrum of a variety!

Next hardest thing is going to be deciding who all to keep and what chicks to sell!! I can make a justification for keeping all but like 20 of them hahaha. I don't know how people do it selling chicks all the time! I want to keep them all!

I have the same problem with that! Giving them away is a little easier...I think because I know the homes they're going to. I'm getting more comfortable selling though...I have to if I want to keep hatching. I'm enjoying trying to learn the genetics of my own birds and deliberately crossing breeds with a goal. Hopefully I'll be able to find homes for all the babies I hatch this year that I don't want to keep. I'm not sure there's much interest out there in mixes but we'll see.

Well Willa's color is beautiful and unusual! I thought maybe dun but I don't have experience with the colors your working with so I smoosh it into the colors I've seen first hand . Definitely not blue! I wonder how you could breed her to get babies just like her. With white spots added though because I'm me...