Will all my chicks have crests

[Nigel27]

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[Shezadandy]

My hen just hatched her first chick right after a few days of -20! I’m so glad it warmed up!

Wow that's super cold! I'm glad she's made it through and her eggs are starting to hatch!

 

[Shezadandy]

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p.s. the picture didn't come through. Try either attaching it (control+P), or copying it from its source and pasting into the text.

 

[Winter Creek Coop]

Hi All,

I have 2 mixed breed hens who are wheaten with some black barring, no crests. The cockerel is a crested sulmtaler, with a pretty big fluffy crest.

15/16 of their chick's have hatched today. 1 still under one of the hens. They have hatched with the chipmunk striped pattern on the body, that these hens usually produce, but much much lighter overall colouration..ie platinum blonde heads.. some have the chipmunk v on their heads and some have spots. Some look like they have extra fluff on their heads already..some look uncrested so far.

What do you think I can expect? Will they have Mum or Dads colouring or a mix? Will they all have crests like Dad or only some of them? Could they be sex linked? Please chime in with your thoughts and expertise. Thanks so much.

These below chicks were the first 2 to hatch.. they both have spots on their head, others have the stripey V markings

Aren't they adorable?

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Great thread!!! Thanks for sharing your pics and story. How is the chicken scene in Zimbabwe? What are the common breeds?

 

[Shell from Zim]

Great thread!!! Thanks for sharing your pics and story. How is the chicken scene in Zimbabwe? What are the common breeds?

Thank you Most people keep chickens here in Zim. Many keeping indigenous breeds like Koekoek, Kuroiler, African naked necks. There are black australorps, white Sussex, Sasso, turken and others. Most people keep standards and most like a duel purpose breed. In the suburbs of the cities people either keep a few dual purpose birds, or a flock of bantams for eggs. I've seen silkies, cochin, oegb, sebrights and a variety of mixed breed birds at the few pet shops around town. There are a few breeders of fancy birds about... but not many. We used to have a lot of fancy breeds at the agricultural shows every year..but that has since collapsed since the farmers were kicked off their farms back in 2001.. now its a case of hunting around for them like hunting for sunken treasure

 

[Winter Creek Coop]

Thank you Most people keep chickens here in Zim. Many keeping indigenous breeds like Koekoek, Kuroiler, African naked necks. There are black australorps, white Sussex, Sasso, turken and others. Most people keep standards and most like a duel purpose breed. In the suburbs of the cities people either keep a few dual purpose birds, or a flock of bantams for eggs. I've seen silkies, cochin, oegb, sebrights and a variety of mixed breed birds at the few pet shops around town. There are a few breeders of fancy birds about... but not many. We used to have a lot of fancy breeds at the agricultural shows every year..but that has since collapsed since the farmers were kicked off their farms back in 2001.. now its a case of hunting around for them like hunting for sunken treasure

Wow! Thanks for the glimpse of Zim. Any place where most people keep chickens must be pretty good.

 

[Shell from Zim]

Sounds like you're in a much more precarious situation! But with lots of little peeps to keep things lively and entertained!!! Still too early around here for chicks but I'm really looking forward to that first broody of the year and her babies. I am very grateful to have the generator, for sure.

Luckily we have the best weather in the world here in Harare, so we don't have to battle freezing temps and huge extremes. We have become a resilient people. We learned a long time ago that the govt is not our buddy and becoming self sufficient is key to survival.

Chickens for both meat and eggs is one of the most popular steps.. although cattle is king. If you own a few cattle, you are considered richer than those without ... and hilariously if your wife is fat, she's considered more beautiful.. and it means you are likely even richer.. for how else would you have fattened her up so well hehehe

If you live in a city you probably have a generator.. you can hear the neighbourhood humming with them during load shedding. Load shedding is the term used for govt appointed and timed power cuts in communities, to lessen the load on the ailing power system. The more affluent have fully installed solar systems and many have inverters with battery back ups to save up the power from the grid when its on.

You will struggle to sell a property here in the city, if you haven't got your own borehole, pumps and water tank system installed as water to homes from the city water system is very erratic and often poorly treated. I have a prolific borehole on this property, and I consider myself very fortunate. The water is pure and untreated from an aquifer a good 60m underground

In the more rural areas many have wells. In poorer rural communities there's buckets on heads and a long treck on foot to the nearest well, borehole or river.. but they will have chickens They will have music and TV and will have a few solar panels on their roofs.. and life is tough but also idyllic, rich in many things consumerism couldn't possibly comprehend.. and the scenery and wildlife, wild, unpredictable and beautiful

Life in Zim is certainly interesting and one never really knows what each day will bring, but one thing is a given.. the sun will be shining and the people will be smiling

 

[Shell from Zim]

Wow! Thanks for the glimpse of Zim. Any place where most people keep chickens must be pretty good.

Yes.. its pretty good Zim is a crazy place.. but we do like our chooks

 

[Shell from Zim]

My hen just hatched her first chick right after a few days of -20! I’m so glad it warmed up!

Woohoo let's see the wee floof ball

 

[Shell from Zim]

Great thread!!! Thanks for sharing your pics and story. How is the chicken scene in Zimbabwe? What are the common breeds?

Oh & here's a link to the full list of the most common breeds kept here in Zim. As you can see they are all utility birds that can be free ranged

https://thepoultryshop.co.zw/roadrunner-free-range-indigenous-chicken-breeds/