This message was edited Apr 24, 2008 4:20 PM
New Updated CHIX PIX
This is Calamity Jane lounging..she seems calm
Sorry for the dup. This is Rio..
Seems these two are close buds..always together..
They don't have their adult crests yet
The cock birds will have thinner pointed or kinda squared off feathers
and the hens have rounded wider
In a perfect bird the crests will all come up and sweep away from the face
The hens crest will be golf ball shaped
The cocks crest will be long and flowing
But while they're young they look alike
I'm looking at their wattles
Marilyn has a hen wattle the other 2 have wattles that are much larger
Its not to say they're not hens with big wattles
Its just unusual
also the picture with Tina and Betty...the one on the right ....looks like
the pin feathers from a cockerel
I don't know if you plan on showing them but Marilyn would be disqualified in a
sanctioned show
She has front crest feathers that go forward and are twisted
Of course,of you were showing then you could just pull them
Just be careful breeding her
Thank you Crested. I will pay closer attention to
their wattles. Since I originally ordered 8 pullets
and one roo, and lost 2 to AE, I was thinking I still
had more pullets than roo's, and hoping the hatchery
at least came close to what I ordered. Do you have a link
that explains the Standard for polish?
I am seeing a lot more new feather shafts coming in on
all of them- and I am starting to see what you explained
about the shaft coming in then breaking away to expose
more poof.
love that description crested chik, thanks. i took pics of ours, will try to post this weekend. i think we have a roo [splash] and a hen [white]. look on my thread, i'll try to post their first pics tonight.
gotta love Calamity Jane! is she a troulbe maker or what?
When I would sit in the little chair I keep out by
the pen to visit with and watch the chicks, Calamity
was the one who would jump on top of anyone
sitting on my leg and push them off so she could
sit. Squack and feathers everywhere! She caused a
'calamity'.
I have searched and googled
I can't beleive the standard is not available online
I think they want you to buy the book
"American Standard of Perfection"
Its got everything......every breed
I hear they are coming out with a new one this year 2008
You may find used (1998 and up) books on ebay
I'm on vacation for a few weeks
maybe I'll get some time to type it out
(Dumb truck drivers like me don't type well,
if I did I wouldn't have become a dumb truck driver...LOL)
i got one from Abe Books for 20 bucks including shipping! from an antique book store, 1904 edition! still makes good reading, just not complete or up to date. i got it because that was the first year Buckeyes were accepted, so it gives the original standards for that breed. and because i couldn't afford a new one!
CC, enjoy your trip! you are hardly dumb in my book! U R my expert, and you dont' come to DG often enough! how did your April Fool's joke go?
truest, i had a feeling Jane had earned her name!
♥tf
Here are some of my new chicks. They will be 3 weeks this sunday! I have S.S and anconas. McM gave me a rare chick but I dont know what breed he/she is
Here is this chick that I dont know what breed it is. It is very friendly,out going and quiet. It also has blue feet. If anyone can help me determine the breed that would be awsome!
Oh I;m not going anywhere
My Great Dane is due to whelp any time
She's already lost her mucus plug this am
so we are on puppy watch......next 24 - 48 hours
Besides
Who would I hire to babysit all the creatures?
I have chicks hatching.....
puppies hatching......
seeds hatching....
well, so you get a break from work? sounds like home life is more fun anyhow... i won't even admit how many we take care of, i have a system and so far it works LOL
are you posting in the pet forum or here when she delivers?
here....its my home...lol
I don't go to the pet forum much
Lobee- You're chicks look great! I bet you are thrilled
with them, they are sooo fun. And, I see chicks colors
I haven't seen before. Hope someone can ID your
free chick for you.
I have the most bizarre thing to share. I walked outside
to check on chicks after i had let them out yesterday
morning, and walked around a corner of the house. The
first one I saw, and that saw me, was Big Red, the roo.
I said 'Helloooo', and he said 'Hulloooo!" right back!
I thought it was just a flukey noise, but the same thing
happened again later in the day! Totally blew me away.
If he continues with making this sound, which sounds
just like a parrot imitating noise, I will try to get it on video.
Ohh I love danes, Crested. I owned a dobey/dane cross,
Toe-B (Beethovan), who passed away at age 11 1/2.
I have owned a couple awesome dogs in my life, but he
was by far the cream of the crop. I prayed he would be
my son's companion for his entire boyhood, and he was
until my son was 19. He was truly a blessing, and I miss
him very much. I have friends that used to raise danes, as
well. They are great dogs. Even being a cross, Toe-B
was a 140 pounder and so smart.
I hope your girl has an easy 'hatch.' If you know anyone that
may create or have an inadvertant cross with a dobey, I
would consider a new puppy :o)
Your chick looks like some Ameraucana chicks that we got from McM several years ago. Even though it has blue feet I still think it is an Ameraucana. We got some with blue feet, green feet, yellow and black feet. My best guess would be that it is a male Ameraucana. let us know what it turns out to be.
Well thanks for the responses, I hope its an Ameraucana. Those are a good laying breed and thats what im looking for...well if its not a Roo lol. Its my daughters fav chicken :) O yeah Choppertai, why do you think it is a male, feathers?
Truest thats a funny story. Do you have any pics of your dogs? I would love to see pics of them! I rescue dogs out of my pocket when I have the $$$$.
I haven't heard Big Red say 'hulloooo' since Sat,
but he has been trying to crow for the last few days.
It's pathetic and funny!
All of my ToeB pictures are on my other computer,
which got a virus and I can't turn it on. I have a ton
of pictures on there! But, it's not been a priority with
our wedding, updating the house, 2 grandchildren
being born, loss of my husbands Dad, son in the
hospital, just so much over the last few years. All I
know is, my pictures are still in there waiting for me.
Well yeah I can see where you dont have the time, sounds like a lot going on! Well have a good day and enjoy the sun because its cold here.
Thanks, Lobee. So far it's a glorious day. Hope
you get some spring soon!
Hi, Joni, it IS spring here. Freezing temps and all. That's Michigan for you, especially where we are.
It got so cold this morning, my asparagus froze. I went out to check it and most of the heads were wilted. I thought it was maybe lack of water until I looked closer...they had frozen. So, I cut some and cooked it and it came out very good.
GG
Hi, Granny! How are you? cold, I know, but at
least you did get some asparagus! I did not get
mine in the ground before they grew out of and
frizzled in their starter pots. poo.
Wonder of wonders- I have found a bird that looks
almost exactly like Davey the roo. A black copper
marans. He may be a cross with something
else, but since he and Blanca the leghorn threw a
cuckoo(pullet?), and a black copper (pullet?) at least
I know he has a lot of marans in him. geez, this has
bothered me for months! His breast is more red than
the 'true' BCM, but he is so darn close. Won't I be the
lucky one if those 2 chicks lay chocolate eggs? I'm
certain 'Spot' and the 3 white chicks will lay big white
eggs, as Blanca was a jumbo egg machine.
Here's the mystery guy--
I am having a hard time catching up to the BCM
looking chick...she's? black with- well- a coppery
neck.
Good for you, Joni. I hope they do lay chocolate eggs. Mine are starting to go back to darker brown now. They are able to free range again (no snow on the ground), so they may be getting more protein with the bugs they eat. Will have to remember to feed them some meat for the protein in the winter.
Granny what kind of meat do you feed your chickens?
truest that is one handsome guy!
MollyD
Molly, haven't done it yet, but had problems with the eggshells turning white. Tamara suggested it could have been lack of protein, so will be giving them a little cooked ground meat of any kind, venison, beef, pork, etc. Maybe once or twice a month.
I do know that protein is essential for good health, so it might just work. You could also give them cooked eggs for protein if you have too many eggs. Of course we don't have too many eggs now that we have regular customers that want eggs every week or two. So, meat it is.
GG
♠^_^♠
How about feeding them worms? Probably cheaper than meat!
MollyD
You might want to try kitty kibble. My vet said when
you need to increase their protein-especially in winter-
that kitty kibble is better versus puppy or dog. When my
chicks were sick, he recommended wet kitty thinned with
water. And a few friends that have chickens use the kitty
kibble in winter. Lots cheaper. I don't know how it may
compare to people meats, though. That's very interesting
about the eggs going lighter, I didn't know that.
I didn't either until TamaraFaye alerted me to it.
Since I have quite a bit of ground meat in the freezer from different sources, it wouldn't cost me anything to use a little of it to feed the chicks. And it would be a good way to clean out the freezer of meat we would be eating. And of course, if we have other meat in there, we could just cook it up and feed it to them too. (meat that is too old for us to eat)
GG
That would make good economic sense, then GG.
After all, chickens are such good disposers! I am
amazed at how 2 full plates of scraps disappear in the
blink of an eye!
um, since we are on that subject..... granny i suppose i would be for giving the extra meat to the pullets and hens, don't know about the chicks... esp hamburger i would cook thoroughly.
we are total cheapskates here. pretty much only buy meat when it is marked down or majorly on sale. i know just when to get to the store to grab chicken livers or gizzards for next to nothing. we cook those up on occasion for a treat for the cats, and the chickens come running too!
if it were meat we raised ourselves, cooking wouldn't be as important. be careful with cat food, it is addictive to chickens, and there is a chemical in it that is supposed to help with cats urinary tract problems that is really bad for chickens. so we get the sheapest cat food possible and try to feed the cats beofre the chickens come out and after they go in. they still head straight for the cat food dish everymorning to see if there is any left...
since i changed the chcikens feed, our one aussie that laid light colored eggs and the one Buckeye whose eggs were very "blonde" have darkened back up. i cut out most of the milo temporarily [gonna get back on it] and subbed a little cracked corn scratch with equal amounts crijmped oats and black oil sunflower seeds, and half that amount in barley. worked very well. now the grass is greeneing up and bugs are coming out, so i will not buy any more corn, just milo, and i will cut the sunflowers to half...
gotta run, running late.
tf
TF, we also only buy meat when it is on sale, but we also get some meat for free. We have people who we deliver government commodities to, and they sometimes have ground beef in their boxes and if they don't want it, we take it. If we don't eat it, I will probably give it to the chicks. I would never give anything like that to the biddies, only to grown chickens. I call the grown ones chicks, too.
We don't usually buy beef at all. Since we normally get at least one deer a year, we have plenty of venison to eat. We do buy pork and some poultry from the store as we wouldn't have enough of our own to see to our needs. We also have been given fish which is a treat for the chickens too. In fact, it is getting close to cleaning out the freezer time, and I will be putting all the old meat (from at least two years ago) in one space so we can see where it is to give it to them. Of course all of it has to be cooked prior to feeding them.
We were given some fish last week, (suckers), but it had too many bones in it for us. (we never turn anything down). I was going to cook it up for the chickens, but then a friend said she wanted it to make fish patties, so I froze it and gave it to her.
Since there are only the two of us and we are retired (retarded?) we don't eat that much any more. And we do go out quite often as meals around here are quite cheap. Plus, we have any number of "take a dish to pass" functions around too.
As for the cats, they are fed entirely inside. The chickens don't come into the yard where the cats are, and the cats don't go out where the chicks. The cats don't know there is no top on the fence. So, they think they can't get out of the yard.
GG
This message was edited Apr 30, 2008 2:34 PM