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SynthOrange posted:Skillet didnt keep the tuxedo pattern, did she? Yes! She is also getting some brown-edged neck & cape feathers, barely visibile in these shots.    Bruce is similar, but doesn't have as much white on her face & bib. She was being an uncooperative butt the day I took these pics so no good ones of her.
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Oct 18, 2013 04:40
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 22:53 |
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Skillet is the prettiest chicken! What type or hybrid is she?
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Oct 18, 2013 05:38
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Lenswork posted:Skillet is the prettiest chicken! What type or hybrid is she? Skillet has the magnificent Bloop (Millefleur D'Uccle) as her daddy and the lovely Fries (Black Mottled D'Uccle) as her momma! I can hardly wait to see how Skillet's adult feathers turn out!
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Oct 18, 2013 06:56
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Fries, a black mottled Belgian d'Uccle hen, is mama: Bloop, a MilleFleur Belgian d'Uccle rooster, is daddy. Here is the little poo poo getting ready to flog me:  Skillet and Bruce's white spangles will come in more during the next two years, and every year they will get more and more of them. I also expect to see more of the brown coming in, probably as edging on black feathers.
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Oct 18, 2013 08:29
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Fries and bloop are also gorgeous. The black spangled pattern is lovely, I hadn't seen it before. I've got some millefleur belgian d'uccle hens that aren't laying fertile eggs despite the current roo boy's best efforts. Now I know what kind of roo I want to get for them
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Oct 18, 2013 16:13
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Lenswork, have you tried trimming their fluffy butts? This seems to be an issue for fertility sometimes. In other news, the little Chicken Man (possibly Gladstone, no name has stuck yet) is doing well. Unfortunately, the ladies kick him out of the coop when it gets dark, so he's still spending his nights in a crate in the house.
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Oct 18, 2013 17:12
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Good idea! I thought it was a size issue since the americana is so much bigger than the little hens. I've tried hatching a dozen of the banty eggs and just two were fertile eggs. I feel for your cute little man lynza. My oldest pullets are ready to join the big flock and Blue is head hen in the house, but bottom of the ranks outside. The polish girls aren't doing so badly, if only because they can't see well enough to be scared of the aggressive hens.
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Oct 18, 2013 19:03
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 Bloop!Tabasco's horny teenage stage is getting annoying in the mornings. I get up at dawn to open the coop and let them out, and every time I do Tabasco comes charging, all fluffed up, wings down, head in torpedo position. I use the coop's pet door cover as shield for a few seconds while more chickens come out and he switches target. this morning, though, he got more aggressive. He tried to peck me really bad, so I had to grab him (he tried to get my hands, something he normally doesn't do) and I held him like a football, with his head tucked under my arm. Oh boy was he unhappy. After a few minutes he calmed down, so I put him on the floor and put my hand on his back as he walked away. He didn't try to peck me, and he even went down like the hens do when I pet them. He looked confused and defeated, I could almost hear him say awwww, or rather baawwwwwwwwk  . I forgot how annoying horny roosters are in the mornings, Roostroyer was like that, with the only exception that he never redirected his hormonal urge to sit to me like that  . Other than that, Tabasco behaves pretty well during the day  .
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Oct 18, 2013 19:52
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Lynza posted:Lenswork, have you tried trimming their fluffy butts? This seems to be an issue for fertility sometimes. My d'Uccle girls are just too tiny for anything but a banty roo...Weedcat tried to mate them at first but just swamped them in feathers and they emerged looking annoyed.  He has since given up on the tiny banty girls and lets Bloop have them.Lynza, I'd be cautious about putting your roo in with the girls and removing him at night...it just makes him fresh meat every day. I'd just go out after dark and make sure everyone is in the coop and roosted together, after about a week they should give up on it and start accepting him as a member of the flock. He is gonna have to go through the pecking order sooner or later, and drawing it out only confuses them and prolongs the squabbling in my experience. Can't wait to see him as he grows up, he's going to be beautiful!
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Oct 18, 2013 20:01
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Anybody need a gate sign?
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Oct 19, 2013 03:44
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I must have one of those. My god.
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Oct 19, 2013 17:43
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Some more brief video of the girls. It's Halloween season, so we got a couple of little pie pumpkins for the girls. They LOVE the seeds. I think they also like eviscerating the pumpkins. https://vine.co/v/hdbOqIgXi90 They also really like yogurt. https://vine.co/v/hdbJ2b9MXPz
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Oct 20, 2013 00:11
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 Someone please do this to your chickens.
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Oct 21, 2013 20:24
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/10391114/Best-dressed-chicken-in-town-hens-go-hi-vis.html I heard about these on the news this morning and had to share. Way too cute
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Oct 21, 2013 23:45
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c355n4 posted:
heee heee heeeeeeee!!
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Oct 22, 2013 01:21
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c355n4 posted:
EVERYONE do this to your chickens. We need Wattle Wars.
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Oct 22, 2013 04:58
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New chicken pictures, because I had my camera on me while I was out feeding them this afternoon. The one surviving chick, almost 2 months old. I think it's a hen, but hard to tell still.  Size comparison with mama.  Three new production reds. From left to right, Skywarp, Thundercracker and Starscream. Starscream makes these short high-pitched sneezing sort of sounds that I've never heard from a chicken before.  Dumpling tried to get him some, but the new hens weren't having any of it.  (Note: this was the usual sort of flock integration posturing/pecking order establishment. Didn't go on for more than a few seconds. I'm not the sort who makes chickens fight, and if it had gone on longer, I'd have broken it up.)
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Oct 23, 2013 22:25
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^^^^ Yup, typical 'new guy' pecking order establishment, no biggie.  Great action shot!I'd check Starscream (I LOVE THAT NAME) for any weird growths of fungus in her mouth & throat just to be safe, tho. Found a couple of more pics I thought I'd share.... Why, hello not-quite-empty bucket, what is that peeking out of the top? What could possibly be lurking within?  Oh...a Very Large Chicken!  To be fair, we hadn't had Gloria very long and she hadn't quite gotten the hang of using real nests yet. Also, Crack (the oldest chick from Hatch #2 of this year) was making VERY roosterly noises and posturing at me the other day, which goaded me to pick her up and dig through her fanny feathers in search of tail hackles. Results were inconclusive, but she DID glare at me like I had gone comepletely fuckin' nuts for rummaging through her nether regions. Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 06:44 on Oct 24, 2013 |
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Oct 23, 2013 23:05
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Those Home Depot buckets are what we use for our nesting "boxes." As I got home tonight, my husband was excited to tell me about what I just missed. Our cat, Filbert (aka Murder Machine) had caught a shrew. My husband was going to take it away from him (sometimes they bring them into the house and let them go, wound them and leave them, etc.). Filbert dropped the shrew, and Dahlia (the head hen) and Lily (one of the Harsh Bitches) saw it, and fought over it. Lily won, and gulped it down whole. Awwww yeah. Dinosauruses.
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Oct 24, 2013 01:45
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^^^ I've given up on trying to wrest mice away from my chickens, they just gobble them right down.  Why did the chicken cross the road? To give you a ticket! http://lakeelsinore-wildomar.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/chicken-decoy-helps-police-nail-31-drivers-in-lake-elsinore
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Oct 26, 2013 08:52
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Velvet Sparrow posted:Why did the chicken cross the road? To give you a ticket! That is amazing. But also proves the futility of those fantastic little hi-vis chicken vests on a busy road  If they cant see one mutant adorable chicken, will they ever yeild to our city chooks?
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Oct 26, 2013 15:20
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Lenswork posted:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/10391114/Best-dressed-chicken-in-town-hens-go-hi-vis.html
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Oct 26, 2013 17:49
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Something got Pancake a bit before I got home. Neither the girls or my sister hear anything, but whatever it was just killed her and left the body pretty intact, except for the head. I didn't let the girls see the body, but I'm trying so hard not to cry. She was one of my favorites and the only survivor from MPC. I knew it was going to happen sooner or later, but man, why did it have to be Pancake?
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Oct 28, 2013 02:46
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Nooo, poor chook. I'm sorry for your loss.
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Oct 28, 2013 03:26
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Oh no! I'm so sorry, Chido. Why is it always your chickens? 
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Oct 28, 2013 04:19
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Chido posted:Something got Pancake a bit before I got home. Neither the girls or my sister hear anything, but whatever it was just killed her and left the body pretty intact, except for the head. I didn't let the girls see the body, but I'm trying so hard not to cry. She was one of my favorites and the only survivor from MPC. OH NO, Chido! I'm so sorry for your loss, jeez. Hugs to you and the girls. Awwww Pancake 
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Oct 28, 2013 04:27
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Aw hell Chido. Those goddamn hawks!
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Oct 28, 2013 04:30
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Chido posted:Something got Pancake a bit before I got home. Neither the girls or my sister hear anything, but whatever it was just killed her and left the body pretty intact, except for the head. I didn't let the girls see the body, but I'm trying so hard not to cry. She was one of my favorites and the only survivor from MPC. Well poo poo, I'm so sorry! Was it during the day or at night?
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Oct 28, 2013 04:48
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It was almost 6pm when I got home, the chickens usually get into the coop at around 6:15 or so lately. When I went out to lock the coop, the chickens were inside but I didn't notice Pancake until I did a headcount and notice she was missing. That's when I found her. She must've been killed sometime after 5 pm.
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Oct 28, 2013 04:55
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Very sorry to hear that Chido. Since just the head was gone, it could have been a cat, possum or raccoon. Since it was daylight, it was probably a cat. You might need to borrow/rent a trap and see if you can catch the predator when it returns.
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Oct 28, 2013 05:55
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Oh Chido I'm sorry. Poor hen hoe. I'm glad the rest of the flock is safe though.
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Oct 28, 2013 06:16
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I'm gonna make the chicken run smaller so the chickens stay under the orange and avocado trees. That leaves less open area above. I'm wondering if it was really a hawk that killed her, because my brother-in-law told my niece on the phone (he's at work atm) that hawks tend to come in the morning. It might've been a cat, or maybe an opossum, but I don't know. It starts getting dark before 6 now, but the chickens don't go to the coop until after 6, so I have no idea. I don't think I'm gonna get more chickens anymore. They are fun to have, but losing 3 in a year is rather rough. I'll just keep my flock as it is, and hopefully I won't have more casualties due to predators in a while. I can't quite make the run as safe as I want because this is my sister's house, so I'll have to wait until I can finally have a place of my own to get another flock. Meanwhile I'll just try to keep these chickens as healthy and safe as possible. Chido fucked around with this message at 06:26 on Oct 28, 2013 |
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Oct 28, 2013 06:23
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I'm wondering if it was a weasel--like someone's ferret they got tired of and turned loose or something. Since she wasn't eaten, just killed by a head wound, it could have been. Weasels tend to kill at the head/back of neck. Chico, don't get discouraged. One year I lost 7 birds in 2 1/2 months. It sucks, but it happens with chickens...
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Oct 28, 2013 07:59
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Thank you. We have a live trap that I'll ask my BiL to get down and set it. Whatever it was will come back, and I don't want to lose any more chickens .
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Oct 28, 2013 08:32
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Chido posted:I'm wondering if it was really a hawk that killed her, because my brother-in-law told my niece on the phone (he's at work atm) that hawks tend to come in the morning. It might've been a cat, or maybe an opossum, but I don't know. It starts getting dark before 6 now, but the chickens don't go to the coop until after 6, so I have no idea. Since it happened at dusk, the predator could have been any number of things: cat, possum, raccoon, ferret, weasel, or even an owl (owls will begin to hunt as soon as it starts getting dark). But I'm really leaning towards a cat or possum (raccoons tend to come out later, but I've seen possums moving around in the daytime). Definitely get out the trap!  Is there anyone who can get the chooks in their coop by 5:00?
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Oct 28, 2013 09:19
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Oh, poor chook. Sorry for your loss, Chido.
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Oct 28, 2013 09:26
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Aw Chido, I'm really sorry.
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Oct 28, 2013 15:24
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How big is the trap? Trap-shy predators are pretty awful, but there's such a range of things it could be, you'd almost need two different sized ones. I'm leaning toward raccoon or opossum, personally. Either way, put the trap sort of inside something. I've seen lots of people just leave the trap in the open with bait, and they always go  when the critter just reaches through the bars and pulls the bait out instead of walking in.
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Oct 28, 2013 15:42
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The trick to using the live traps is to wire the bait down so that they can't just sneak it off the trigger. We use a cooked chicken leg and just wire it to the trigger so that they have to pull on it and spring the thing. It's never failed. Another way is to rub some canned cat food into a paper towel so that it's nice and smelly without getting wet and falling apart, twist it up and wire THAT down. Either one works. Also, we got our first snow last night, time for chicken confusion! http://jackshenhouse.blogspot.com/2013/10/first-snow.html
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Oct 28, 2013 16:27
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The chickens wouldn't come out of the coop this morning. I'm at work right now, so I can't watch them. Hopefully they'll calm down, but just in case I asked my brother in law not to let them out of the run unsupervised.
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Oct 28, 2013 16:55
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