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  1. NatJ

    Show me your bielefelder crosses.

    The barring gene makes white lines across the feathers. Certain other genes or combinations of genes can cause lines of black and brown with no white, like what I see in your picture. I don't see anything that would prove her to be from one rooster or from the other rooster.
  2. NatJ

    I made a HORRIBLE mistake ordering from a hatchery! (Graphic Photos)

    Grogel is a green gooey stuff that some hatcheries put in the box with the chicks for them to eat. Some hatcheries also sell packets to make the stuff at home, for people that want to give it to chicks after they arrive. Here are two hatchery pages talking about it...
  3. NatJ

    I could use some breed suggestions or a reality check.

    For breeding the "right" color of Rhode Island Reds, it is mostly a matter of choosing ones with the right color to use as breeding stock. Hatcheries are more likely to breed the best layers, no matter what shade of red they are. Someone who cares about color will breed the ones with the...
  4. NatJ

    Show me your bielefelder crosses.

    When I look at pictures of chickens that have multi colors and barring, the barring seems to be pretty obvious on black tail feathers (examples include Bielefelders and the Crele variety of any breed.) So I don't know if barring would always show on dark tail feathers, or if just happens most...
  5. NatJ

    5 tips for getting birds to a new coop in the forest?

    Depending on the size and arrangement of your run, they may get almost as much exercise inside it as they would outside. Dustbathing should use the same amount of energy anywhere. Scratching should be about the same whether they are inside or out, as long as there is plenty of stuff to make it...
  6. NatJ

    Ship date was today, Monday, and was notified by USPS of an arrival date by Saturday 9 pm

    A recent experience I had: Monday evening, notice of shipment from Metzer Post Office estimated arrival on Saturday by 9pm Package actually arrived on Tuesday Wednesday morning, LONG before Saturday. Shipping was from Tennessee to Michigan (Goslings not baby chickens, but that should have no...
  7. NatJ

    I could use some breed suggestions or a reality check.

    Is there a reason you want just one breed? You could get a few hens each of several breeds, and see how they do. If you don't like any of them, try some other breeds the next year. If you do like them, either buy more from the same source, or start breeding your own barnyard mix from your...
  8. NatJ

    Spontaneous Mutations? Split-Comb, Tassle, All-White?

    Very good point!
  9. NatJ

    Harvesting my Chicken Run Compost - Black Gold!

    A list of flowers that are edible for people would probably be safe for chickens too. In addition to the flowers other people mentioned, I know pansies are edible, and they tend to be easy to find anywhere that sells started plants. They tend to be short plants (so they don't fall over, but...
  10. NatJ

    Spontaneous Mutations? Split-Comb, Tassle, All-White?

    Hmm, definitely a puzzle there! Assuming you are correct about the parentage, here are some thoughts that may or may not help: I could almost believe I see a bit of a crest on the Bielefelder (little puffs of feathers on the sides of the comb), but I don't see it in either of his sons, so I...
  11. NatJ

    I made a HORRIBLE mistake ordering from a hatchery! (Graphic Photos)

    Please do update when your chicks arrive and what condition they are in. Post Office estimates of arrival date are often very wrong on chicks, so it is common for the chicks to arrive in good shape, before the date that was predicted. So it might not be as bad as you fear. (Then again, it might...
  12. NatJ

    Spontaneous Mutations? Split-Comb, Tassle, All-White?

    Just to check: no chance of any other hen being the mother? For example, a Buff Laced Polish could mate with one of those mixed roosters to produce a chick like your white one.
  13. NatJ

    Spontaneous Mutations? Split-Comb, Tassle, All-White?

    This is definitely puzzling! Can you post pictures of the parents? Is the Bielefelder the father of the half-Bielefelder?
  14. NatJ

    enrichment/enclosure for indoor setup (plants,toys, etc)

    Chickens usually seem to do better in a group. There are occasional exceptions. For example, sometimes a chicken will have health issues that cause it trouble in a flock setting, or one gets bullied by other chickens so badly that it really is better for that particular chicken to live apart...
  15. NatJ

    5 tips for getting birds to a new coop in the forest?

    Personally, I would let them go to bed in the old temporary coop one night, then grab them and carry them down to the new coop. Put them in, and do not let them out for at least a week. (That means NO free ranging during that week.) Or if you don't want to carry them in the dark, shut them in...
  16. NatJ

    Buttercup comb genetics

    ...A quote: "Here we show that the two Duplex-comb alleles, V-shaped (D*V) and Buttercup (D*C), are both associated with a 20 Kb tandem duplication..." (Someone was looking at the actual details of the DNA involved in V and Buttercup combs.)...
  17. NatJ

    Show me your bielefelder crosses.

    I read back through the thread and looked at the photos, and I'm not sure about Solo being barred. Those tail feathers look pretty un-barred to me. If Solo is not barred, then his parents could be the hen you think, and the silver mixed breed rooster. That's a pretty thorough rundown of...
  18. NatJ

    Show me your bielefelder crosses.

    Barring vs. not-barred is obvious on black chicks, because the ones with barring have a light spot on their head and the ones with no barring do not have that spot. Unfortunately, on chicks that are mostly brown, the barring gene does not seem to always make a light head spot. (Obvious example...
  19. NatJ

    Chicken Genetics | Questions?? | Any Dangerous Combos or No-Nos?

    There is one particular gene, called the creeper gene, that causes short legs in certain breeds. Japanese Bantams are one of the examples I most commonly see. (I thought Dorkings had it too, but today I'm not finding anything to back that up, so maybe I mis-remembered about them.) Wikipedia...
  20. NatJ

    Comb questions

    Oh, no! I'm glad you were able to set some new eggs!
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