Quite Simply, Chook Chat

[Glutton4...]

Going to get oh to fence the wildlife pond off today. Silly young white silkie jumped in this morning- we have rescued her with a warm bath and blow drying. She is now called stinky.
What the heck does pmsl mean?

See Hilary's post!

P*** My Self Laughing

[petal]

Oh right! how uncomfortable- pelvic floor exercises.....?

[frias]

I hope it's true that chooks know what's safe to eat when free ranging. My lot have had free run of the garden all day as my OH has been gardening and I noticed their poo was blue/black. I can only think they've overdosed on grapes as the lowest branches of the vines have been stripped bare.

[jessmorris]

Hello all, happy Sunday!
Unfortunately I've lost quite a bit of stock this year (Barbu d'uccles) and am wondering wat I can replace them with. A game bird type seems a hardy choice and I want to ask whether anyone has kept Russian Orloff bantams? They look very bonny and seem quiet. Also, do Auraucana come as bantams or just big girls and boys?
Any comments welcome...
JM

[petal]

How about sablepoots- they are really cute.

[RichmondHens]

Hello all, happy Sunday!
Unfortunately I've lost quite a bit of stock this year (Barbu d'uccles) and am wondering wat I can replace them with. A game bird type seems a hardy choice and I want to ask whether anyone has kept Russian Orloff bantams? They look very bonny and seem quiet. Also, do Auraucana come as bantams or just big girls and boys?
Any comments welcome...
JM

Do you particularly want bantam breeds or are you looking at LF too? Rosecomb bantams are very smart, as are little Dutch bantams. And most of the Araucanas I see for sale are bantams, it is quite difficult (at least round here) to get LF versions.

Or you could create your own crossbreed .............. I've bred some super ones this year that have just started laying. Will have to get some pics on here as they are truly beautiful - black and shiny with large dark eyes and long legs. Don't ask me how as their mother is a stumpy little thing! I also crossed cream legbar hens with a white araucana cross bantam cock and got little crested BLACK birds!

[jessmorris]

Hello both,
I'm looking for bantams as I don't have much room at the moment, and the return food : eggs seems better with bantams, albeit not purebreeds.......I had sablepoots, my first hatch, but they, and the d'uccles don't seem very hardy. I may have had bad batches but they seem to fade and die (ascites, 'generalised bacterial infection'). I has a Dutch gold partridge and she was lovely, but ran away/got taken by a cat. So, as my game birds are so strong (despite being TINY) I wondered if a gamey breed might be a good idea? My pekin x silkie is also very handsome and a good mother too! I've also got what I think is a welsummer silkie who's a very good mother.
If I had the room RH I would deffo go your route of Indian game (I love them!) hybrids for meat. And Twenthe fowl or old english pheasant fowl for eggs as they look great.
Rosecombs eh? I shall look them up. My wyandotte banties are v pretty but a bit too big for here (as I suspect the Orloffs would be).....

[petal]

Old english game perhaps?

[jessmorris]

Hmm, yes I have one of these, another very good (if old) mother and they come in pretty colours too. A client was given 5 spangled old english game which are lovely but she doesn't want to part with them even though they 'are noisy and hardly lay any eggs'!

[RichmondHens]

........ even though they 'are noisy and hardly lay any eggs'!

Ha ha - I sold some young crossbreed hens last year to the sister of a friend. This year she told me she had given them to someone else as they laid too many eggs!!!

[Glutton4...]

... she had given them to someone else as they laid too many eggs!!!

WTF!

[RichmondHens]

WTF!

Yeah, totally bonkers!

[jessmorris]

Mmm, omelettes, quiches, meringues (is that how you spell it?), pickled eggs, scrambled, bolied and when you start to look like an egg yourself, sell the surplus at work, or give away to friends! (and your dogs will enjoy them too!)

[Nicos]

JM-If you want some fertile Bantam eggs I can bring you some over just before Xmas- or later on in the Spring.
They are Cayenne x Heinz 57 ( can't find Cayenne on Google!)
Good layers and fun,gentle characters.

[bearded bloke]

Reading up I was a bit then I saw it was a 28 page thread just call me plonker,I though it was the mischief thread One day I will get some chooks,just need more hours in the day to get things set up