What's wrong with their feathers?

[kathyinmo]

I took a few pictures, but most of them didn't turn out. Here are a couple. About 18 weeks old...

Tomorrow they will be moving into their new coop, with a couple Ameraucanas. They are getting close to breeding age, I do believe.

 

[evonne]

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so you're sending me eggs as son as you fill your bator with them right?? lol...
grats on all the pretty birds guys.... keep hatching them....

 

[Happy Chooks]

Alice and Kathy......they are gorgeous. Kathy, good luck with the integration. You crossing them to black Ameraucana's?

 

[calicokat]

They are growing up so nice!

Velvetdragon - WTG on reading it all! I go lucky and found the thread when there were *only* 70 pages or so to read

I find that the "story" is going so much slower now that it's in real time

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

If you start selling those eggs you can just name your price, people would buy them!!!

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Kathy - The bird in the first picture - I just love, love, love. Not sure why - if it is the look the bird is giving the camera or if it is just love at first sight. Awesome!

 

[Jubaby]

I have a few updates to report on:

Yesterday I finally had two eggs layed, so I know that I now have a second hen laying. As soon as production is back up to speed, I will start shipping some eggs again. I have a few on the list, so it will still take me a little while to get them sent to all. Once I get the people that I owe eggs to (that have been waiting a while), I'm just going to start auctioning eggs on the BSA forum. That will be easier for me than keeping a waiting list.

I was also able to obtain 4 black ameraucana pullets and 1 blue with the help of kathyinmo. A couple have started laying the most beautiful blue little pullet eggs, and I am so excited that I will be able to start the first generation very soon. I will be introducing Ozzie to the pen this weekend.

I wasn't having much luck with the silkie crosses, the eggs haven't been fertile. I believe the silkied ameraucana roosters are too large for the little silkies. They are about three times bigger than the silkies. I now have a couple of eggs that look promising, so I'm keeping my finger crossed that they will hatch. I know we are all anxious to see how they feather out. I will keep working on that.

alicefelldown, your cockrel looks very nice - so glad it turned out a roo. Happy Breeding to you!

It seems like a long time since all this started, but we are finally making some progress in the right direction.

 

[Jubaby]

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Thanks for your interest, VelvetDragon. I'll try to answer a few of your questions.

My chickens are a little skittish, but I don't handle my chickens every day like some people do. They are fairly easy to catch and will mostly stand still for me to pick them up. But they don't like it! And my hens have definitely gotten stressed from the move, from being chased by the dog, etc. This is the second time they have stopped laying for me.

My original rooster (Ozzie) was aggressive only to Harriet, the original hen. He is fine with the other chickens, he was even nice to the silkies, except they wouldn't let him breed. I can pick him up and pet him, and I think he is really sweet. The other rooster (Junior) is the same, calm and gentle, nice to the girls.

The feathers have not be examined any further. I am certainly no expert in that area, and I don't have access to anyone who is. I would certainly be willing to send some feathers to anyone if they think they could tell.

In my opinion the ropey looking birds, have more barbicels than the fluffy ones. Their feathers have sections that appear normal and then pieces that are fluffy. While the fluffier birds don't have the sections that look normal, they are just fluffy all the way to the end of the feather. Does anyone else agree?

I don't think it's just the ropey birds that are small and weak. I just notice that some of the chickens in general are smaller than the others. I have one pullet born in January that is only about half the size of the others, but she is fluffy.

Maybe some of the others will add their comments, too.

 

[VelvetDragon]

Thanks so much for your replies, Jubaby! I'll be following this project intently.

 

[alicefelldown]

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Mine is a Scaredy-Cat! Hates to be touched, practically hates being looked at, and def. hates being photographed. When he sees the camera he runs to the pile of other chickens and tries to 'dive in'. Something he does quite often though is grab a piece of spinach/lettuce (they have access to their own salad garden when they are out of the coop/run) and run around making the 'I got something! I've got something green!! Hey everyone, don't follow me cause this is mine!' type of noise but the other birds really don't care. It's kind of sad actually.

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I have feathers from Jubaby which are wing/tail feathers and they are just as ropey as the ones on my cockerel. I have body feathers from a silkie that look nothing like the ones on my bird. I haven't been able to locate a microscope that's cheap enough to purchase or find one to borrow. I'd be happy to send some of my boy's feathers to anyone else who is interested.

The silkie feathers I have (from a kind BYC member) are very fluffy / down-like and 'catch the air' when you hold them up, like a spider's web in the breeze almost. My boy's body feathers are much more string like, but they are soft, like silk or satin fabric. They aren't 'fluffy' in the same way if that makes sense. More like straightened hair.

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Yes, mine still has feather sheaths on most of its body feathers. I'm not as certain about the wing/tail sections.

I'm wondering if the ropey feather birds just take longer to get softer. It seems like mine has. It's also increased in size dramatically as it's gotten softer, but is still lagging behind most of the other roosters who hatched at the same time.