Messages

31

Breeding / Re: A tinsel blue?

« on: August 30, 2014, 10:16:07 AM »

I think that is silver leakage.

I think it's silver leakage too...maybe enhanced and/or diluted by the sun? Because I've seen the same kind of effect on a splash cock, only his feathers were outlined in rusty gold. I'm going to try and find a pic...

32

Breeding / Re: Wheaten Cockerel at 6 months

« on: August 26, 2014, 10:20:40 AM »

Hi Linda, I hope you don’t mind if I add my thoughts...
 
I really like your cockerel’s shape… and his feather width and sheen! Wow. Do you mind if I ask what you feed your birds?  He has a nice shaped head as well from what I can see. Comb is a bit bulky…does it have an S curve? I have a few hens like that, and their sons always seem to inherit the S. His tail set could be slightly lower to my eye too, but not much. (could also be the angle of the pic)
And please feel free to tell me I’m out to lunch. 

33

Breeding / Re: Splash rooster

« on: August 26, 2014, 09:49:58 AM »

Yes it will mess up both lavender and blue .

Hi Jerry, I've read somewhere before that lavender will mess up blue, but would you mind explaining why?
I think I have an idea, being it would be hard (if not impossible) to tell the difference between self-blue and Andalusian blue later on down the line...but if one kept careful records, toe punched chicks, etc....why not? No plans here, I am just curious. 

34

Breeding / Re: Another chick down question

« on: August 26, 2014, 09:21:07 AM »

Thank you kind sirs, that is exactly the info I was looking for. 

It's pretty neat how some of the parents genotype can be deciphered from their offspring's chick down.  And how much can change (or is masked) by adult plumage. So cool. I shall grow him up and post the results later on. 

35

Breeding / Re: Another chick down question

« on: August 24, 2014, 09:37:13 PM »

Ack!!!

  Sorry bout the massive photos folks....not sure why photobucket insists on blowing up any pics I crop or resize to epic, bandwidth busting proportions...other than it really, really hates me.  Sigh....

36

Breeding / Another chick down question

« on: August 24, 2014, 09:33:08 PM »

So my last hatch of the season produced an oddity I wasn't expecting; a chick with wildtype down from pair mating a silver cock over a black hen. He's the only one out of the six that hatched with different chick down. The rest of the chicks from the same mating had more normal extended black down, but darker, with no yellow marbling. They've all feathered in fast and black, where as the oddball looks like this at 4 weeks.

At least I think it's a cockerel, although the chest is feathering in white instead of black? 
Pretty fiesty little fella too...for a runt, lol




Does this mean the black hen I used is split for wildtype? Or am I seeing something else here? Any input is much appreciated! Thank you 

37

Breeding / Re: Blue Silver LF

« on: August 24, 2014, 08:30:22 PM »

Ok despite my wife's frustration I have gone and done it  . My first generation of Silver Blues are on the ground  . I have 4 Blue's from a Black cock over Silver hen's and am expecting another hatch in 4 days. The next hatch is mainly from a Silver cock over Blue hen's. I should keep all Blue pullets from this cross and put a Silver cock over them. My real question is this.........should I take the F2 pullets and put a Silver cock over them or breed F2 to F2 to try and keep pattern genes and all the other benefits the blues should bring to this cross? In my case size (Blue cock weighs just over 8lbs), egg color and lacing? Which I have been working on in my Blues. I realize breeding back to Silver will get me there quicker but just wondering if the benefits will be worth it? All feed back is welcome good and bad 

Russ, I would try the cross both ways if space allows. It’s always interesting and informative to see how the genes mesh and recombine, and you can never be 100% percent certain what you'll get. I’d love to see your results sometime. 

38

Breeding / Re: Blue Silver LF

« on: August 24, 2014, 08:24:36 PM »

Predation plain old sucks. Sorry for your losses, Chris. And the worst of it is, the scoundrels always have impeccable taste and go for the best birds…or maybe they read the SOP now too. heh 

Anyway, I’m glad to hear you are keeping on with the project, (and everyone else too) because I think the blue silvers are stunning to behold!
In fact, I’m excited because I may have inadvertently made some (or the means to make some) when I bred a silver cock over two splash hens. One of my original objectives was to make blue S/- based pullets, from which the best would be chosen to bring sex linked silver over to my blue/splash families, as well as improve overall feather quality in the line. The pure silver birds I have all have superior feathers to my other stock, and I’m pleased to see the F1 generation are already showing much better feather width/strength than their parents. One of the splash hens I used has somewhat brittle feathers, (she often looks ratty around the edges) but man, does she ever throw pullets with nice shape. If only they'd all gotten her tail too...Ah well. Rome wasn't built in a day. 

The blue silver splits in the picture below are the splash hen's daughters. They range in age from 9 weeks up to 12 weeks.  They still have a lot of growing to do, but a couple are looking promising.

I love the silvery sheen to their feathers



I didn’t plan on getting hooked on silvers, but somehow they’ve become one of my favorite varieties over the last year. Add blue... beautiful, elusive blue; a colour so lovely when clean and even, yet so hard to achieve and maintain. Well, it just doesn’t get much better than that. 
I’m in. 

39

Housing, Health & Hatching / Re: My Coops *pic heavy*

« on: August 22, 2014, 12:06:03 PM »

Thanks everyone. 

And sorry for the delay in my response. Living deep in the country has its perks, but fast and reliable internet service is definitely not one of them!

Yes, the reno’s were a lot of work and took us an entire summer to complete, but well worth it in the end. The peace of mind alone is priceless, because it seems like everything under the sun around here likes chicken dinner...including us.  hehe

DeWayne, your skid coop looks great. You sure did a nice job.

Don, most youngsters catch on pretty fast and are racing up and down the tunnel in no time flat. It usually just takes one brave soul to lead the way. lol The more cautious ones like to sit inside and take in their surroundings for awhile before joining the rest outdoors. So, I’d say most birds have the tunnel mastered within a day or two. And the ones who don’t or have troubles, well, let’s just say it’s a good way to figure out who’s playing with a full deck and who isn’t. 

40

Housing, Health & Hatching / Re: My Coops *pic heavy*

« on: August 18, 2014, 10:21:03 AM »

Thanks Linda. That's kind of you to say.  I know how much I enjoy checking out other folks facilities and poultry related inventions, and it's nice to share mine as well.  Actually, I believe I read about the food colouring in the vent idea on this forum, only a few years or so ago. It's real simple and works wonderfully to pin point individual hens' eggs.



This is my summer coop, which used to be a grain bin too. It's currently growing out cockerels and a few culls until I can get to processing them. Being round made it extremely difficult to work with and we ended up not insulating, much to my regret. On this coop we used a lot of materials we already had on hand – like the window/door trim. It’s made from an old, wooden swather head the previous owner of the farm left hanging on the shop wall. And the run is made from 16' 2x6's that used to belong to an old deck on the back of the house. I love to be able to reuse and recondition items.  Especially into chicken related items. 
 


this is what it looked like before, minus the windows - "old grain silo full of old moldy grain, dust and mouse turds” pretty much sums it up, lol. I was going to attempt a gazebo type run with the other bin, but it was in such poor shape we just ended up ripping it down and burning the works.


Inside...is set up so the entire building can be divided in half with a removable wall if necessary.  There is an enclosed pen on the north side, (very handy for integrating new birds, or for time outs if someone is being an ass) and dual roosting locations on the south side.







Outside in the run...we designed it so strategic roof panels could be added at a later date, but I've since discovered a tarp works fine and is a lot more affordable. 





and the connector tunnel



Thanks for letting me share. 

41

Housing, Health & Hatching / My Coops *pic heavy*

« on: August 17, 2014, 11:34:47 AM »

I promised some pictures of my buildings, sorry it has taken so long! (so much for dusting first, heh)

My winter house, which is currently growing out this seasons pullets. It used to be a wooden grain bin, (like most of my coops), but after a summer of blood, sweat and tears (literally, as hubby and I reno'ed together  ) it was transformed into a workable coop. It is definitely my favorite poultry building on the farm because it's insulated, well ventilated, and has power to keep water from freezing when below zero.


Inside...my favorite features are the natural light, the wrap around roost and easy to scrape droppings board...the 'cages' underneath not so much. Not sure what I was thinking there, but it sure wasn't cleaning them. haha





and this is how pullets dismount, lol


Outside in the run



the ramp

and the 'chunnel' lol



I'm out of online time this morning, but will post more later.   

42

Housing, Health & Hatching / Pullet Pile

« on: August 17, 2014, 10:21:02 AM »

Finally got some of my pullets and cockerels separated into different coops the other day. But now the pullets refuse to use the roost, preferring to pile in the corner.  Where they like to sing! It is the neatest sound, almost a crooning lullaby sung every evening at dusk....one begins and the rest join in. I'm not sure if this is a trait solely of the silvers, but it sure is neat.  I hope they don't outgrow it...

silvers and blue/silver splits

43

Exhibiting & Promoting / Re: Re: Proposed changes to club DUES

« on: August 17, 2014, 09:52:31 AM »

^ same here 

John, how about more club merchandise, such as travel coffee cups, shirts, etc...?
Shakti

Also think this is a great idea, as well as a good way to help promote the breed.

I know I'd order a coffee cup and a ABC hoodie if we had 'em!

44

Breeding / Re: Splash chick down color

« on: August 12, 2014, 10:11:27 AM »

Here are a couple more splash hens...there is a lot of variation in the colour.  I prefer the look of a heavily splashed bird. 

45

Exhibiting & Promoting / Re: Nominations for ABC officers

« on: August 12, 2014, 09:46:43 AM »

Thank you Jean. It's good to know what to expect.

The last club I belonged too involved wearing purple and ponytails 3x a week, and there was only one rule: NO boys allowed.