Sherry: I know what you mean - a year ago I thought all I had to do was get a male & female of the same variety from a reputable breeder and I\'d be in business. Then I learned a little more, started seeing my birds\' faults and got so discouraged. Reading here I\'ve realized all birds have faults and all varieties need work, formed a plan and set some goals, so I\'ve kind of come full circle.
Mike: I LOVED your post (even if I did choke on my coffee, lol)! I totally agree - reading some other forums I seem to be in the minority because I don\'t \"love\" my chickens. I love the breed, but, with the exception of my first hen (little game hen named Penny, because she wasn\'t worth a nickel), I don\'t get attached to individual birds. Wish I could be as detached with the mammals around here. Baby goats have a way of casting a spell over me...
Royce: I\'m glad you posted about the black tails, because I was wondering about that, too.
I have 2 wheaten hens I\'d pulled from the pen, because they had sparse beards & muffs. But I didn\'t get rid of them, because one of them has the most black in her tail of any of my wheatens. The more I read, I\'m thinking I should put her back in. If I understand correctly, sparse muffs mean the bird received one copy of the gene instead of 2, so, in theory, if I breed her to a cock with full beard & muffs, 50% of the offspring should receive 2 copies and have full beards & muffs, and hopefully more black in their tails. It seems like, compared with getting a blacker tail, the beards & muffs wouldn\'t be that hard to correct. At least that\'s how it seems to a newbie - what do you guys think?