here r some of my newest babies to spoil i just got.
enjoy,
silkie
white jap roo
This message was edited Mar 5, 2009 7:41 PM
more new babies
grey jap roo
white silkie roo
white showgirl pullet
showgirl roo
2 of the new white silkie girls
2 more jap roos
and a group shot of japs so u can see part of em at least some of the girls were looking,lol. there is more silkies and showgirls but the lighting was too bright or they moved. there is a pair of black tailed white japs also.
The showgirls are absolutely hilarious!! Took a good bit of looking to see the gender diff at first. Lovely birds but golly -got distracted by the fluff....lol
Silkie!!! You know how you said you enjoyed spending time at the breeders house, well I am coming to your house to spend a day. LOL I would really love to see your display of birds live. Love the pic's and those show girls are just a rip. My dear wife just rolled at seeing them. Thanks so much for sharing. WOW. Hay
What a thrill.. LOL I hatched a darling naked neck today.. made me think of you Silkiechick!
I love those lil Japs.. so cute!
I hope those showgirls are from your line.. right?
Chicken shopping? Wow how fun is that! I love the pics.
yep they r harder to tell sexes on than silkies r but those streamers and crowing are a definate u know what they r i had to look close too cause some never made a noise yet. they r a hoot i could sit there for hours just watching them they got a personality all their own.
awe, thank u that means alot to me mabe someday we'll meet up and talk chookies that would be kool. some wouldn't hold still for pics,lol. i can't wait till it is nicer out so i can take better pics of em. this isn't the best pic she is moulting but this is my black silkie hen.
zz, love to see pics of ur new babiez, congrats!!! ya know after seeing those japs i think i got a new love,lol. i'm actually thinking about selling off my seramas and just keeping the japs. there is 5 gray japs, 2 whites and 2 black tailed whites plus i got eggs in the bator to hatch too.
yes those showgirls and silkies r from my lines they r the breeders my origional showgirls came from or siblings and one of the lines some of my silkies came from so i'm thrilled to have them so i can get back to working hard on my breeding projects to help get back all that i had lost from the preditor attacks. it will never be the same i love my birds and was heartbroken at such a loss but i don't give up. it just made me a stronger person and i'll work twice as hard this year and be more dedicated than i was before working harder to rebuild. we got a great start this year so far and lots of eggs in the bator to hatch too so i'm looking forward to a excellet season this year.
Love them all! I can't decided which is my favorite, they are all beautiful. You should be proud of your breeding program. I'm sorry about your losses from preditors; it's just heart-breaking.
Oh Silkie, your Japs are beautiful. I have a pair and inc.ed a few eggs.. 2 hatched and I ended up with a male & female.. oddly enough the female is so little and has way too much color on her wings they are cute.. but I don't know what to do with them.. lol
He= Piper
She= Zippy
and their parents;
forgive my terrible skills, John was one of the few that did get frostbit this winter.. His comb was so tall.... oops..
Daddy Roo: John
Why I don't have a good body shot of Sara I am not sure.. I was taking a pic of her comb.. I am thinking it looks so pale.. in color.. she appears to be healthy and lays an egg everyday.
Mamma: Sara
I hatched one lil Jap for Catscan.. Now THAT lil thing looks like a yellow tribble! You can't see it's legs in the shavings.. So tiny and the size of a ping pong ball.. Very friendly too! I was so tickled with it! So we gotta see what it is and get another one. Lil Poppin fuzzy ping pong ball.
I have some of Catscan's Dutch Bantams too.. Completely sold me on them.. I prefer them to Seramas only cause they are so easy to hatch, they have a back.. and they are just as colorful... I do have Dot.. (Serama) which is a "one hander" she/he is so tiny.. but only got one to hatch out of a huge batch of eggs. The Dutch bantams hatch much better..
I gotta get pics.. I have PLENTY of chicks to play "photo studios" with.. Just no time!
fran, ur birds r gorgous love the pics!! yeah a couple of my guys have the frostbite too but not to bad can't help that though with as bad a winter as we've all had this year. ur babies r such cuties!!! i'm curous to see what color ur one baby on the right will grow up to be it has beautiful coloring. i got my first black tailed white eggs in the bator i had them shipped in and can't wait to hatch my first jap eggs. never seen a jap baby in person so i'm looking forward to seeing them and watching them grow.
oh zz, i bet it is a little darling, i can't believe they r that tiny!! i bet they r adorable to see. we have been talking about getting into dutch too but is something u never see here. would love to see pics of ur dutch to!! post photos away i love looking at all ur guys pics and beautiful birds too!!!
I agree with ZZ, mine are so little, they are still in the living room in the "bird fish tank"
The only real difference I see in them vs a regular chicken.. as my dh says.. these little guys are what kids really want when they start yelling for an easter chick. They stay small for a really long time.. mine are 10 weeks old and just now loosing thier head fuzz and getting the rest of their real feathers and they still chirp like little chicks... and they chirp a LOT!
But they are fun to watch.. they extend that 2 week baby time..
The thing I like the most about the Dutch is no lethal gene! I have one chick I named Poppie.. Just cause it pops all over like a baby goat! LOL Toooo funny! Especially when it gets surprised.. pop pop pop and a tiny squeeeeek.. I scare them when I laugh so loud..
I will be off work tomorrow and get the camera out.. I am just jumping in here every now and then and don't have enough time to get pics.. I promise I will.. I love pics! :)
Very nice Silkie! Beautiful birds.
I got some "surprise" eggs on ebay.. Looking for a frizzle..
I got a showgirl.. LOL The girl has been wanting one for so long and I got it.. She said she was so jealous.. It's darling..
Meet Jackpot
And this super loud colored Silkie
Here is my pair of Spitz
Here is a group shot of the Dutch bantams, Barnevelders, a Jap, and a rumpless Aracauna, and two EEs.
Okay.. gotta go finish the coop.. This is what has consumed my weekends recently..
And it holds 5,000 chicks? Approximately? Will you be done hatching soon?
LOL No, but it held 20 real nice.. LOL *just kidding!* I put the Dutch Bantam in it.. They love it already!
I can hardly believe it's done.. it's out in the garden area and I did some major rearranging..
Actually, I'm not sure when I will be done.. I'm hatching for someone else now..
I got my first baby quail today.. talk about tiny!
love, love, love the babiez, they r darling zz!!! the coop is awesome, great job on it!! love to see ya alls gardens this year that would be to kool!! i been hatching like crazy here just hatched out silkies, welsummers and showgirls today. got eggs in the other bator and more eggs comeing. i love the sound of spring peeps!!!
ZZ, Jackpot is adorable!!! I just love him. Your coop looks great. You really have talent and skills!!! Now I am jealous! hehehe Have a great day.
Can someone tell me about the lethal gene? I read on a website that crested ducks can have a lethal gene and I was wondering what that meant.
I have heard of lethal genes in other breeds as well. I am not sure exactly what it is but I believe it means that they may die in egg???? Someone with gene wisdom should truely answer this though.
Thanks, sewin.
I bet Silkiechick could explain it...
Here is my non-scientific take on it.. Certain breeds have been bred for a particular trait to the extent that it causes a lethal gene. Example is.. Japanese bantams.. have been bred for shorter legs which has caused the lethal gene.. Seramas have it.. as do Rumpless Aracauna. Why? I don't know. I haven't done research on that..
What it means to us is.. it's harder to get a good hatch. A percentage will die in the egg.. a percentage will not survive after hatching.. So you could get 12 eggs and end up with one baby.. when you could get 12 eggs from a chicken without the lethal gene and get a much higher number.
Shipping eggs with a lethal gene stacks the odds against you even higher.. especially small eggs..
u know as much as i do on that one. i know for seramas i hatch in cartons and hatch on day 19 not 21 and it seams to up the hatching odds better with higher hatch rates. we also do something different with temp or humidity to the seramas but i can't remember what's different i'd have to ask mike,lol. i got my first jap eggs in now and never hatched aracauna but yes i have heard that about both those breeds also. got a jap and a white showgirl egg today!!!
Great explanations. Makes total sense.
Congrats on the eggs Silkie.
Well cool.. Thank you Sewin!
Thank you too Silkie.. I am thrilled your getting eggs already! Home grown hatch so so so much better than shipped.. it's so fun.. I'm guessing it's temp on the Seramas.. I think it's a tad higher.. but I'm old and never trust my memory.. LOL (well.. that's what I tell my kids anyway)
I need to work on breeding pens.. I wish I had like 20 of those lil coops.. but that one was heavy and expensive.. Never again.. LOL The first one was cheaper, lighter and better.
I think it's a little bit like those recessive diseases children sometimes get. If both parents pass that recessive to the offspring--whammo! Since the araucanas and the japs are tight gene pools and a funky recessive gene is part of the mix in ?every? bird it's very easy to get that double whammy -I think 25% certain to die in the egg.
Claire and Cats should get in here though...
That is interesting Grow... Makes sense.. but what about Serama?
That's why you never breed a tufted to a tufted.. you would breed a tufted to a clean faced Aracauna..