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The rains have started so I moved my food flock of coturnix inside. My roommate and I are moving into a house at the moment so the birds are getting a massive upgrade to a large yard, bigger runs, and thick grass. Once the quail are settled, we are getting chickens! I have read that cold hardy breeds are best for my area and have narrowed my choices down to hens of these varieties: Silver laced Polish Houdan Golden Campine Cream Braebanter Silkies Russian Orloff Penedesenca Am I missing some obvious choices? Which of these are the easiest keepers? Would a mixed flock get along or would any of these breeds be bullied more by other hens?
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Oct 13, 2012 19:03
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| # ? May 29, 2024 18:07 |
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From what I've heard, Silkies and Polish need to be kept under shelter, away from mud and rain. I say get Buff Orpingtons  They're the most relaxed, laid back chickens ever and they're built like tanks!
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Oct 13, 2012 19:08
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Yeah, I'd say avoid Polish & Silkies for cold areas and go with heavy breeds such as Orps, Cochins, Brinkotters, New Hampshire, Wyandottes...all the big fluffybutt girls (who are also pretty calm and docile).  Production birds such as Red Stars, Golden Comets and sex links are also very hardy and great layers, but a bit more aggressive.When you say 'cold', do you mean cold with rain or cold with months of ice & snow? Crested birds can suffer in wet weather (see my previous posts) since when their crests get wet, they shake their heads and can get brain damage from that wet mass pulling on their heads & bruising their brains. In frosty areas, opt for birds with rose or pea combs since tall, upright combs can be more susceptible to frostbite. Unless someone with more experience than me can chime in on keeping the tall, slender breeds such as Polish, Campines & Houdans in cold climes...I'd say those breeds were better suited to hot zones tho. I've personally found that the more docile breeds can be bullied by the really aggressive ones...for instance I'd never run Polish or Silkies with Rhode Island Reds. Other than extremes, my mixed flock gets along great most of the time as long as they have a nice big yard to run in during the day, with bushes and places for birds to go if they feel threatened. Check your list of breed choices at feathersite.com for more info about the breeds. VVVVVV Also, this is wise advice. Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 21:51 on Oct 13, 2012 |
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Oct 13, 2012 19:55
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You have to get brahmas. If you don't get a brahma all your quails will turn into divas and demand you dress them up in BRATZ outfits. Believe me, it's for your own good, get a brahma princess and your quails will be ok.
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Oct 13, 2012 20:04
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I took a few birds to a show today,took grainy video of several different breeds for people. A modern took show champion I think, or an old english, I think they're both horrible boring breeds but a lot of judges breed them so theres usually 50 old english for every 1 of a different breed. I probably mislabeled some when I posted them from my phone,auto correct and I couldnt tell what was what from footage. Sebrights http://youtu.be/8tAB71BivhU Rose Combs and Moderns http://youtu.be/kbJELwkufKE Polish and D'somethings http://youtu.be/snhj06YZCjs Cornish and dutch http://youtu.be/e9WwnvXDd4U Wyandottes http://youtu.be/aM37qp5srsM Japanese http://youtu.be/kNgBukyQST8 Silkies http://youtu.be/UdSRnYonsng Cochins,there were only 7 Cochins entered today which isnt a lot considering 3 were mine, the other 4 were from 2 different people and none were in good shape. Vito the Brown Red, Boo the blue and Habanero the angry white cockerel. The one guys Mille Fleur colored one tore her tag down and was eating it in the first video. http://youtu.be/vCheBTdvwJQ http://youtu.be/8j7STk9NojQ Took a couple more as we were getting ready to go,by this time Habanero had reached critical angry and was prepared to explode and Vito was tired from me letting everyone cuddle him. http://youtu.be/7xqJo8-Ra1s Video of the Champion Feather leg and reserve champion, both Silkies belonging to a friend, the black pullet really should have won show champion as well but boring old english triumphs. http://youtu.be/RCaTZRoi6rU And one last video of one of the white silkie hens we carried, she was walking around fine before the show but within an hour she decided she wanted to sit on imaginary eggs, so I of course had to play the poke the angry fuzzball game. http://youtu.be/Ic3yGcd1RSA I also took a ton of pictures but too tired and sunburnt to mess with them right now,sorry if links are messed up and about grainy video, I was trying to get a little something for everyone. There were over 800 birds total at this show so I just got a sample. EDIT: This was a bantam only show show no big birds.
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Oct 13, 2012 23:28
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God I fucking love Diablo 3 gold, it even paid for this shitty title
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http://www.mypetchicken.com/chicken-breeds/which-breed-is-right-for-me.aspx You can use this breed selector tool, or of course you can watch Tim's videos and see what is the prettiest. (In my opinion the Sebrights)
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Oct 13, 2012 23:33
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No judgements based off my horrible videos! I went through and watched and you can tell the quality gets worse and worse as the lens apparently gets covered in pocket lint. Im also a horrible chicken racist and just jumped from bird to bird without getting any really good video,except of the two dutch roosters playing mirror buddy. Whatever you do dont get Seramas, terrible awful birds.
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Oct 14, 2012 00:42
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Thanks for the videos! I have a serious love for Vito, if he was mine I'd just carry him around petting him all day.  The Dutch rooboys doing the Marx Brothers mirror routine is great. And yeah, those are D'Anvers. What don't you like about Seramas--their psycho personality? I've never owned any...Japanese roos always look like somebody folded them in half. 'So sorry, your chicken got damaged in shipping.' What is it about Silkie hens suddenly getting their 'broody' switched flipped at poultry shows?! VVVVV Eeep, no don't do this. The poultry owners would have fits over some stranger feeding their birds something they hadn't approved. It's a nice thought and your heart is in the right place, but don't.
Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 08:30 on Oct 14, 2012 |
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Oct 14, 2012 01:22
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Today I went to the Utah Poultry Fancy Show. I was so disappointed. 90 percent of the birds were bantam class. Most of those were Bantam White Wyandotte, Sebright, Modern Game Fowl (little itty bitty birds with LONG legs) and bantam White Leghorn. I did get to see a standard size Australorp and Salmon Faverolle (aka Peaches the famous youtube screecher). Standard/Heritage size Rhode Island Red, Barred Rock. Not a single Cochin! The Silkies that were there were not even half as beautiful as yours Tim. At least I got a chance to see the size of a standard/heritage breed chicken so I can start to figure out how much space I am going to need to start my little flock up. There were a couple of Bantam Buff Brahma but I rather like the larger ones I think. I have not seen one in person so ... Thanks for your great videos Tim! Note to self: Next time I go to a show, bring some special treats to feed the chickens! piscesbobbie fucked around with this message at 02:09 on Oct 14, 2012 |
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Oct 14, 2012 02:00
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piscesbobbie posted:At least I got a chance to see the size of a standard/heritage breed chicken so I can start to figure out how much space I am going to need to start my little flock up. There were a couple of Bantam Buff Brahma but I rather like the larger ones I think. I have not seen one in person so ... I'm 220lbs, 5'4" tall, and here I am holding Roo. That can give you an idea of how massive he is.  These pictures are from earlier in the year/last year, so he was pretty much as tall as he'd get, but not as fat yet.    I don't know how big brahma hens are, but he roosters are pretty big and fluffy 
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Oct 14, 2012 02:54
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My Easter Eggers and Wyandotte get along really well. It hasn't gotten super cold yet but we've had freezing temps overnight quite a bit already and they don't seem phased. They were rather indignant this morning that it rained for the first time in months though. The Easter Eggers are a little slower than the Wyandotte. They take longer to try new stuff and aren't nearly as daring. With that said, none of my little geniuses has figured out they could easily get over our 3' fence and it's been months of them wandering the backyard. I didn't put a lot of effort into hand raising them and they were a bit skittish until when they started laying but now they follow me around the backyard and come running as soon as they hear my voice. I'd definitely recommend either breed. I especially like that all the Easter Eggers wound up being different colors so they were easy to tell apart once they got past the chick stage.
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Oct 14, 2012 03:05
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Yep, that's what I'm talking about Chido! A chicken I can hold onto without being afraid of breaking it's little bones. Roostroyer is just gorgeous. The Modern Game Fowl were eerie looking, long skinny bodies and even longer skinny legs. YIKES! It's was kind of funny, seeing big burly men walking around holding their little itty bitty Game Fowl chickens, petting them but sweet that they love their pets!
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Oct 14, 2012 03:35
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Today was a lazy day and I decided to wear my pjs all day and spend time with the chickens... although I think my chickens are not actual chickens but some sort of alien invaders. You can see them using telepathy to communicate, and if you turn up the volume, you can hear Rusty making a purring sound to contact their mothership   Or, you know, his is what happens when chickens see a hawk.
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Oct 14, 2012 06:08
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Chido posted:Today was a lazy day and I decided to wear my pjs all day and spend time with the chickens... although I think my chickens are not actual chickens but some sort of alien invaders. You can see them using telepathy to communicate, and if you turn up the volume, you can hear Rusty making a purring sound to contact their mothership Hahaha! I love them all frozen and watching/listening. Was there really a hawk overhead in the sky? This reminds me of that video clip I shot of the Chickam 2012 chicks where a loud noise scared Linc and she jumped up and was sitting on the cam (essentially "hovering" in the air) and she freaked out the other chicks who froze for about a minute until VS came in to see what was causing the problem. Go to 3:03 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkJqt1dHDeo
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Oct 14, 2012 06:36
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Bawww Oh no a thing oh no everything is scary and bad- oh The Voice is back everything is great peep peep peep.
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Oct 14, 2012 06:41
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Chido your hen hoes were just hoping that if they remained still that hawk would eventually come down and they could kick it's rear end. And then eat it. 'Please.....just a little lower...please...' Edit: Just saw the molting pics.  She had the typical 'one tail feather left' thing going.
Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 20:58 on Oct 14, 2012 |
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Oct 14, 2012 08:39
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CHIDO! Thank you for the pictures and the videos! That would have scared me, weird sounds and chickens all at a stand still. It's good to know that is a 'warning hawk' behavior. The molt pictures were so sad looking. Again, thank you for sharing!
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Oct 14, 2012 15:11
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Heres some slightly less terrible photos to go with the videos I posted earlier,I took a lot less than I thought originally, next show ill take more of various breeds. Sebright pictures to start off.     A couple of Silkies.      I took a single picture of the Cornish despite there being tons of them there, looking at them freaks me out since i keep thinking they're gonna hulk out of their cages and beat me up.  Polish     
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Oct 15, 2012 21:58
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Tim the Enchanter posted:Heres some slightly less terrible photos to go with the videos I posted earlier,I took a lot less than I thought originally, next show ill take more of various breeds. Intellectually I know that this is a picture of a real chicken, but every time I see a picture of a sebright, something breaks in my mind. My brain cannot fathom how this is not a statue of a chicken. It is just so... perfect. Thanks for the pics, Tim!
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Oct 15, 2012 22:44
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Tim the Enchanter posted:Heres some slightly less terrible photos to go with the videos I posted earlier,I took a lot less than I thought originally, next show ill take more of various breeds. Thanks for posting your videos and photos, Tim. I'm amazed at how many chicken fanciers there are out in the world. And how many cool breeds of chickens. I really like Sebrights. I love their unusual black-outlined feathers; their large eyes; and their pretty body shape with the big tail that looks like the sail on a boat. Sebrights make me smile. Is the Cornish chicken breed the same as what is often referred to as a "Cornish Game" hen that is popular to cook whole? And I love the shots of the crested Polish chickens. Their head poufs are so wonderful.
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Oct 16, 2012 00:19
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Inveigle posted:Is the Cornish chicken breed the same as what is often referred to as a "Cornish Game" hen that is popular to cook whole? Yup,dunno why they call it cornish game hen though since it can be either male or female. Cornish are heavy as heck for their size, just stocky,delicious little meat birds that scare me.
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Oct 16, 2012 00:34
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Tim the Enchanter posted:Yup,dunno why they call it cornish game hen though since it can be either male or female. Cornish are heavy as heck for their size, just stocky,delicious little meat birds that scare me. Yes, I've eaten many a Cornish "game hen" and they are truly delicious! Since Cornish are meat birds, do they have the same health problems as the other types of meat chickens whose legs can't support the weight of their adult bodies?
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Oct 16, 2012 01:00
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The legs are thick and squat,pretty much perfect for supporting the bird. The problem is the hips in cornish,they dont really hold the legs well any more so the longer a cornish lives the more its legs develop messed up spacing.
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Oct 16, 2012 01:45
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We had two Dark India Cornish hens (we named the 'The Tank Girls'), they were awesome little hens. Heavy, VERY solid and round, with tight feathering in a beautiful bronze color. When they'd run they had a waddle-y sailor's roll that was SO CUTE. Their voices were more of a gravely croaky burble, like a shovel being drug blade-down on concrete. They laid tiny round eggs and had several daughters--one of which we still have--with Scott, our smooth coat Frizzle/d'Uccle roo. I think that the white Cornish Cross have more immediate and serious leg problems than the Dark Indians do, ours had no leg issues since they had tons of yard to run in, sadly one was killed by a predator but the other lived for years. The first day we brought them home:  And the surviving hen, named Gwen, about 2-3 years later:  They were very serious little birds and not flighty or skittish, but calm and sweet. They are on my favorite breeds list. So fun to hold and pet; like a large, meaty softball.
Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 05:02 on Oct 16, 2012 |
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Oct 16, 2012 04:56
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I took some video of the fat Cochin pullet named Onion that managed to dump bluing on herself. This is the picture I posted previously of her pre-bath and pre-bluing herself. She was nice and white afterwords just tinged with blue,now shes got the blue but shes back to dirty from playing in the dirt and grass all day. http://youtu.be/gR2vJfm1RPE
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Oct 16, 2012 11:49
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Tim the Enchanter posted:I took some video of the fat Cochin pullet named Onion that managed to dump bluing on herself. This is the picture I posted previously of her pre-bath and pre-bluing herself. Onion is such a gorgeous chicken! It's like she's made out of fluffy white clouds with a chicken head stuck on top! She looks so soft!
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Oct 16, 2012 13:40
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Roo hasn't finished molting, he's so pokey around his neck and face still. He looks so bald on the face but you can see tiny feathers finally coming out on top of his eyes 
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Oct 16, 2012 14:57
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Are these "sebright"s difficult to find? What a beautiful bird. Where can I get one?
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Oct 16, 2012 15:07
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Hey kids, time for a pop chicken quiz!  Here is one of my fav prints in my living room, taken from a vintage children's book. Ignoring the fact that it's hanging damned crooked and my half-painted wall behind it... What is wrong with this picture? 
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Oct 16, 2012 18:06
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Hey, don't judge their special relationship. 
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Oct 16, 2012 18:42
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No hen? Artist error?
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Oct 16, 2012 19:11
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That rooster should be fleeing in terror.
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Oct 16, 2012 19:46
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The rooster is not sitting on the hen.
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Oct 17, 2012 01:53
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One of the roosters is the baby daddy. Hen is off camera waiting for the paternity results.
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Oct 17, 2012 03:07
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Chido posted:One of the roosters is the baby daddy. Hen is off camera waiting for the paternity results. Those baby chicks sure look like they're Roostroyer's! 
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Oct 17, 2012 04:00
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Chido posted:One of the roosters is the baby daddy. Hen is off camera waiting for the paternity results. Correct. Going by the Brahma feet on the chicks, it's Roostroyer. Poor confused artist...
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Oct 17, 2012 08:49
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So, as stallions are glamorous in equine art the same goes for roosters in avian art? Misogyny!
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Oct 17, 2012 17:35
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Velvet Sparrow and Chido posted:A bunch of sage advice! I feel like this is pretty much the same advice you gave me back when my roo was a little tiny baby!  I must've forgotten it all because "pfft, he's such a darling (now)!"Since your most recent advice, we've been careful to cuddle him a lot (at least once a day) and he's already showing signs of improvement. However, catching him is a nightmare and we've had to set up elaborate traps for him. He's both smart, AND incredibly fast/agile. Is it just going to be this way forever, or will he eventually calm down once he gets used to what we want from him? I've been considering making a leg hook to make catching easier, but I worry that the unceremonious tripping might be more traumatic than chasing him around. Whenever we show him up, he always acts completely emasculated and goes around the enclosure frantically pecking at everything while doing the "GIRLS. There's food here! Come over here!" cluck. For twenty or so minutes. Are we overdoing the cuddling (is there such a thing?) or is he just a sensitive boy? He's also starting to show signs of enjoying the cuddles; doing the blinky nodding off thing, or smacking his beak, or doing the slight head wiggle that psittacines tend to do right before tucking back their head. He hasn't yet gotten to the pupil dilation though. And he's no longer indignant right after we put him back down! I also do my best to break open pinfeathers on his luxurious mane anytime I've got him, he seems to enjoy it.
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Oct 17, 2012 20:01
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Velvet Sparrow posted:What is wrong with this picture? What's with the disembodied leg?
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Oct 17, 2012 20:07
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| # ? May 29, 2024 18:07 |
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^^^^^ That's just the stance on the Brahma roo, they are feathered on the outside of their legs so you're seeing the inside of his off leg there. Muffy, PLEASE don't make or use a leg hook.  It would only confirm his suspicions that 'humans suck'. and be a huge setback in your efforts to tame him. It will also traumatize the hens if they watch.Keeping going with the cuddles, but balance cuddling him in front of the girls (emasculating and embarassing) and NOT picking him up but instead giving him fleeting pets to his chest (roos accept chest pets more readily and will stand still while giving you the uneasy eye, over the dominance-inferring petting to their back, which they'd try and slide from under, complaining all the while) with bowing to his chicken-y superiority in front of the girls. Also just go out and sit in a chair with a book, spending time with your flock so that you become more accepted as a flock member and part of the landscape, not grabbing anyone but instead talking to them occasionally and maybe leaning down and petting just a little whoever eventually comes near. What works for us is to greet our roos by name when we go out to the flock, making eye contact and telling them what pretty boys they are, and giving them a bit of a wing flap with our arms. The wing flap sends a signal that you acknowledge him as Top Gun. Also, when passing out goodies, give HIM special bits for him to then pass out to his girls or gobble down, as he sees fit. Roos are smart and soon he'll be coming up to you, expecting his 'tithe' when it's goodie time. Make it so he never knows if he's going to be picked up and cuddled, given goodies, just talked to and given fleeting pets when you go out. Mix it up. We used to do the same thing with our horses--they never knew if they were getting pets and a goodie or a 6 hour trail ride. We tried to make it 'goodies and pets' enough times so that they'd take the chance and come over to us without our having to chase them all over Hell and gone. It'll take time--months--for him to fully trust you, so don't expect miracles overnight.
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Oct 17, 2012 20:28
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