***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[sdsknifeworks]

Macgyver, I'll look up the Dominique's. Thanks.

Mjgigax, thank you for the offer. When I get ready for birds I will see what is available and may call on you. It's great to know that there are some folks so close by that are also on here.

I have noticed more and more small chicken runs around town. I'm not sure if there are actually more people keeping chickens or if I'm just noticing them more. Likely a combination of the two.

SDS

 

[nnbreeder]

Joe,
I will agree with you on a few points on that bird, wing carriage is still a bit low, tail carriage is a touch high, and the tail needs to finish developing (he is only 16 weeks old). as far as breast placement a proper OE bantam's breast should line up with tip of beak when a straight line is drwan like a plumb bob to the ground. Pidgeon breasted birds exihibit a breast far past this point and is more common in very hard female line birds. It has taken 10 generations of work to get the birds to this point still far from perfect but getting closer with more solid body and harder tighter feather less fluff, and better width. I expect another 4-5 generations to get closer to the standard for type but at present they will more than compete with what is out there in many other varieties as well.
This particular group seems to develop much better as cocks than cockrells but had very good results last year at nationals with his father and expect this year to be a bit better.

I know that's it hard to improve a line of birds just through selective breeding but I think that it's more fun that way. The reason that I try to stay away from complex color patterns is that it makes my OCD kick in really bad and that messes with a lot of other aspects in life. LOL

You mentioned comparison judging instead of solely the points system earlier and I think that you are totally right about that. If a judge were to place no birds in a class based on them not being close to standard with comparison judging he would not really have a case but with points he could say that the top bird only score x amount of points and therefore couldn't place it might wake up the competetors to get closer to standard.

But to get to where the points system could be used again there would need to be more judges at a show so that more time could be taken with each bird. The judges do a wonderful job but they are stretched pretty thin.

Weight is another point that is overlooked. For years I heard the general rule to breed large fowl as big as you can get them and bantams as small as you can get them. The OEGB breeders are all pretty well on track with weights it seems, there isn't much variance with the sizes from coop to coop but with other breeds they are all over the map. I imagine too that some of the smaller birds are closer to standard on weight but for whatever reason they rarely place.

Here's an idea, take the top bird of the class and score it on the points system, if it doesn't score say 90% of the possible points then no birds of the class goes to champions row. Wow wouldn't that cause some stir in the hobby!

It would be neat if the shows would get back to what they were way back when the show at Madison Square Garden drew up to 25,000 birds and was a week long deal.

 

[nnbreeder]

Macgyver, I'll look up the Dominique's. Thanks.

Mjgigax, thank you for the offer. When I get ready for birds I will see what is available and may call on you. It's great to know that there are some folks so close by that are also on here.

I have noticed more and more small chicken runs around town. I'm not sure if there are actually more people keeping chickens or if I'm just noticing them more. Likely a combination of the two.

SDS

Through the years I have noticed that if you want to handle the birds and have calm birds then one thing you should do is to wear nearly the same color of clothing when you go out to take care of them. Remamber that chickens are a prey animal and no matter that they have been domesticated for thousands of years some instincts are there forever.

As with most of us choosing a breed that is right for you takes time and even after raising birds for nearly 30 years I am still finding breeds that I like. It has just been the past five years or so that we have gotten into Oriental Games but the first love will always be the NNs.

I used to take a bucket out in the coop with me along with a cup full of scratch. Sit on the bucket and toss a little scratch as I taked to the birds and pretty soon they were getting up in my lap whether I had treats or not.

Another point that I would like to make too is that not all roosters are mean in fact there is a very small percentage that will get mean. Hatchery stock are more likely to get mean because they have not been as selectively bred as a breeders birds are. My 8yo grandduaghter has been helping me take care of birds and gather eggs since she was about 2 and when she was that young I actually had roosters that were taller then she was. I was always right there with her but the roosters never showed aggression to her. I don't even trim spurs on the boys and some of them are nearly two inches long.

When you are ready for birds I'm sure that those here on the board will help you get fixed right up.

 

[Kimbroe1981]

2 of my girls are so proud of themselves! They made it up to the tree. They're on a tiny little branch that's only about 8 inches long. Silly girls!



This is my unfinished run (which is gonna make my girls mad since they free range now). I want them still to free range, but I want the laying in their nest boxes too. One of my girls has been laying under my shed. I found 11 eggs under there tonight.


They never sleep inside. Well, I do believe I'm going to bed!
Night Ya'll!

 

[Buckguy20]

Now that i have finally caught up, I am going to bed. I spent the last two days in a hot gym watching basketball. Fun but draining!

 

[nnbreeder]

Have you tried the real strechy bungee cords with the tarps, the wind does not seem to tear them up as bad with the bugee cord, guees due to it being more flexable.

With all of our tarps we lace them through the eyelets with rope and on the end of the rope there is one tarp strap hooked back in someplace. That way if I need to tighten a tarp I can. When we have a tarp over a hoop-type pen we will criss-cross rope over the top of the tarp to hold it down and keep it from flapping in the wind. We can get five years out of a cheap wally-world tarp that way.

My boss up in Enid had bought a tarp for a wheat truck years ago when he was just starting out. He secured it with tarp straps because after all they were called tarp straps and must be used to hold tarps on right?

He gets going down the road and after he got up to speed he looked back in the mirror and he said that tarp was four feet above the top of the sides of the truck bed and all he could think about was the 500 dollars he spent on that tarp! He eased off of it and crept back to the house. Next day he laced it with rope.

 

[sdsknifeworks]

NNbreeder, I'm not opposed to getting a rooster, actually I would like to have one to help protect then hens. Unfortunately my wife has balked at the whole chicken idea and especially at the thought of waking up to a rooster crowing. I'm hoping that after we get the birds in there and things settle down she will be more receptive to the idea of a rooster.

The kids are really excited about having the birds around and I like the idea for a variety of reasons. I will definitely try to get them to come up to us by using feed.

I have one more post to set for the run, the nesting boxes to build, and my top netting should be here mid week. After that I should be ready to get some birds.

Quick question, I'm planning on 4-6 birds. I was going to build 3 nesting boxes. Is that going to be okay? Too many? Not enough?

I don't remember things being this complicated at my grandparents house when I was a kid. The birds just ranged free and layed eggs wherever they wanted to. We had some nesting boxes but the thought of a certain number per bird never ocurred to us. Sometimes I think I may be overthinking this whole thing.

SDS

 

[jcatblum]

Our main coop we collect about 3dz eggs a day -- only have 6 nest boxes. The girls usually use 3 boxes. So 3 boxes for 6 girls is more than enough!
Hope you are able to find some good pullets soon!

 

[old*cowboy]

Quote:
I always thought no more than 3 hens per nest. So u are in good shape with 3 nest boxes.

 

[old*cowboy]

Quote:
Had guineas last summer. They are not stupid, they are 3 phases past stupid. I saw them do stuff that made me want to never ever have guineas agin.