Recent content by LaurenRitz

  1. LaurenRitz

    Possible breeding program

    I'm thinking I need to bring the last two hens from the other coop, even though they're older. One of them takes her ever-loving time going to bed. Long after everybody else is safe, she's dawdling along, inspecting every grass blade and bit of dirt. At least if she's roosting in the rafters I...
  2. LaurenRitz

    Spoiled little velociraptors

  3. LaurenRitz

    Landrace project F1 chicks!!!

    Don't know, but I have a couple hens that lay pink or purple. All descendants of the same BA hen, who laid pink, so obviously heritable on some level.
  4. LaurenRitz

    Spoiled little velociraptors

    This girl is blind. I can walk right up to her, wave my hand around her face, no reaction. But if I touch her she freaks out. I think it was gradual. I gave her to my sister, but after a few months she was just sitting, refusing to move. I gathered her up and brought her home early in...
  5. LaurenRitz

    Landrace/adaptive breeding discussion

    Personality wise, they're great. Low on the pecking order, don't push their way in or fight the other birds. Far more likely to run than fight, but curious enough that their brothers were the first killed by the neighbor's dogs. The others learned from that, though. Excellent foragers, and as...
  6. LaurenRitz

    Landrace/adaptive breeding discussion

    Not sure if these two have gone feral, or have just picked another place to roost. This morning they came from the direction of the neighbor's barn, well after everyone else had finished their snack. They're out there foraging with everyone else now. At first I assumed he was roosting away...
  7. LaurenRitz

    Possible breeding program

    My consistent broody is at it again. She's currently at my sister's place. Since she has the birds she wants I gave the hen 6 pullet eggs and 2 from my single hen that laid through the winter. They'll come back here after Mama weans them. Unsure, but I think it was two Kraienkoppe eggs, two...
  8. LaurenRitz

    Official BYC Poll: How Many Chickens Do You Have?

    The base is JG x RIR, with Marans, BA, Buckeye and Ranger. New boys are Kraienkoppe and a Dorking-Sussex cross. I just gave some eggs to a broody that should be JG x RIR x (Kraienkoppe, American Game, or the Dorking-Sussex).
  9. LaurenRitz

    Official BYC Poll: How Many Chickens Do You Have?

    I was going to downsize over the winter to "just" 24 (20 hens). Didn't happen. It's a distinct hazzard of breeding for good behavior in my boys. They're all so nice, I can't decide!
  10. LaurenRitz

    BYC Member Interview - LaurenRitz

    I had a line of drought tolerant, cold tolerant tomatoes, but when I moved to Kansas the drought tolerant, sand adapted populaion didn't take well to saturated clay soil. 🤦‍♀️ Go figure. I had to start over.
  11. LaurenRitz

    BYC Member Interview - LaurenRitz

    Landrace, or adaptive gardening, isn't for everyone, particularly at the level I choose to apply it. But if each year you save seeds from the plants that thrive best under your conditions, you're adapting those plants to your environment. People think they're bad gardeners, but in most cases...
  12. LaurenRitz

    BYC Member Interview - LaurenRitz

    No. The black and red is Jersey Giant x RIR and is one of the primary ancestors of my population. The other is Bielefelder x Jersey Giant. Currently most of my birds are some combination of Jersey Giant x RIR with BA, Marans, Buckeye, and Ranger. I brought in Kraienkoppe, American Game, and a...
  13. LaurenRitz

    BYC Member Interview - LaurenRitz

    No, unfortunately. They were both Speckled Sussex. She died a few months later--just stopped eating.
  14. LaurenRitz

    What did you do in the garden today?

    Planted some sprouted plum x cherry. First of that group to sprout. Also another apricot. This group emerged last week. The root system on the apricot after a week.
  15. LaurenRitz

    i somehow acquired 2 runaways and i have questions. please help

    It ate the sky! We're next!
See more
Back
Top Bottom