Recent content by NatJ

  1. NatJ

    Unexpected chick colors

    That sounds right to me! Yes, he would have to be heterozygous for extended black, to produce chicks of that color.
  2. NatJ

    Debbie's Silkies

    Does the rooster of that pen have chocolate, or carry it? Assuming this is the sex-linked chocolate gene, a chocolate hen will never produce chicks that are visibly chocolate unless the rooster also carries or shows the chocolate gene. (Her sons will carry the gene but not show it, and she...
  3. NatJ

    Shed Coop Idea

    Here is one without a separate coop portion: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-hoop-coop-chicken-tractor.72211/ In the first picture, with the tarp, it would work for winter in some climates. For any place that gets large amounts of snow, I would probably add a supporting board...
  4. NatJ

    Shed Coop Idea

    For roosts, you can run a board across the hoop coop from one side to the other. The chickens are happy to roost on that. For nests, some people hang them on the side or end of the coop, others make a nestbox that sits on the floor (wood box, bucket, many other options: chickens aren't too...
  5. NatJ

    Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

    DO people avoid that in areas of heavy snow? Or is it just a thing that happens?
  6. NatJ

    Aggressive silkie help please!

    Can you wear boots, and keep your hands out of the way? Maybe also wear leather gloves when opening the door, if she gets you at that time. That would at least keep you safe, and would not hurt her. I usually wear boots to keep my feet clean while tending chickens, which has the side effect of...
  7. NatJ

    Questions about fermented feed

    That is not the only mechanism for reducing feed costs when using fermented feed. For most backyard situations, the savings on feed costs are because wet feed sticks together and doesn't spill as much. The chickens can eat the same total amount of feed as before, but the feed cost goes down...
  8. NatJ

    My Crocus-Fowl Landrace project moving forward

    Mostly because the pea comb gene does reduce wattle size when it is homozygous. Probably partly because of selection in that breed. Just like some single-comb breeds have larger or smaller wattles than others, some pea-comb breeds also have larger or smaller wattles than other pea comb breeds...
  9. NatJ

    What Bantam breed is this?

    I'll be the third vote for White Laced Red Cornish Bantam. I'm basing that on body shape, feather color & pattern, leg color, and my best guess of the comb type (it's hard to be sure about combs when they are so small.)
  10. NatJ

    My Crocus-Fowl Landrace project moving forward

    Nope, no beard. I've seen some pea combs that are the lumpy bumpy thing you mention. My favorite pea combs are three tidy little rows of bumps, with the middle one a little higher than the rest, so they look nicely organized and not random. I don't have any good pictures of them right now. My...
  11. NatJ

    Broody Hen Not Standing? Has Chicks

    A hen with newly-hatched chicks will usually stay on the nest for a bit before she comes out with the chicks. Some hens wait a few hours, some hens wait a few days. If the chicks had actually hatched underneath her, they would need that time to dry off and fluff up and get ready to walk around...
  12. NatJ

    Genetics of my BYM

    In that case, the chick could grow up to be silver with some white (basically, a white chicken). Or the chick could have a light shade of gold with some white (similar colors to a Buff Laced Polish, but not the actual "laced" pattern.) It should be fun to see what colors of chicks you get!
  13. NatJ

    What breeds compliment a single Silkie well?

    I can't quite tell what you are asking. If you are asking, would Polish Bantams be a good choice as chicks? The answer is probably yes. If you are asking, if you get some kind of chicks, should you also get adult Polish Bantams to keep the Silkie company while the chicks are young? The answer...
  14. NatJ

    Genetics of my BYM

    If that rooster is the father, then the mother could be your Chocolate Orpington or your Black Star (chick gets the genes to be all-black from the mother, then the gene Dominant White from the father will turn all that black into white.) Or if the father has the Silver gene, the mother could be...
  15. NatJ

    What breeds compliment a single Silkie well?

    Standard Polish might be an option as well. They are still pretty small, even when they are not actually bantams. And in the USA where I am, it is much easier to find Polish standards than bantams. Of course Polish are handicapped by their crests, which make it hard for them to see. This could...
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