The Moonshiner's Leghorns

[KF0002]

Beardless.
Great head shape though!

Awesome! So he has some potential then?

 

[KF0002]

Bad news with the Buckeye eggs I gave to a friend. Only two of the eight that went into the hatcher actually hatched. I guess they probably had incorrect heat or humidity or something in the hatchery, because my mom never had a problem hatching them.

Yeah not every incubator is equal for certain, and if the humidity was kept too high the chicks likely drowned when they internally pipped. There is a multitude of factors that could have impacted their hatch. My friend called me the other day and she just couldn't figure out what they had done wrong incubating their chicken eggs. Her husband had rigged an incubator out of a styrofoam cooler and a light. No thermometer, no hygrometer.. no thermostat. I was like you can't just put a light in a cooler and call it an incubator.

 

[Amer]

No I don't have any Buffs or anything with Columbian free-ranging. The only Co birds I have are the Red Leghorn rooster and his offspring, and my Buff Leghorn chicks. The Red Leghorn roosters have always been confined, never free-ranged. The hen sorta has a Marans type and tail, and she resembles my Olive Eggers that are Marans and Legbar crosses, except she and her sister are red and lay medium brown eggs where the OE's are birchen like a Marans or barred/crele. So I'm assuming maybe they are an OE x OE cross probably and they inherited the brown egg gene from both parents. But honestly, who knows with weed hatches.



Wow that is one expensive goose! I had a bad goose experience from my childhood so I personally wouldn't give a nickel for a goose, but hopefully the exhibition breeds you want are more gentle and less demon-like.

If you prefer the look of Eastern Wild Turkeys, you can obtain a special permit to own them. Also, you can never free-range them because they will leave. Even if you hatch them from eggs. I have had two experiences where I owned Wild Turkeys, and both times, they went to the mountains and I never saw them again. I turned a group of juveniles I hatched from eggs loose with the chickens on the first experience, and they left. And then a friend gave me a young jake that ended up being highly aggressive, so we were planning on eating him. Before we got the chance, a snow storm brought a tree down through the fence he was in and he went to the mountains, never to be seen again.

Geese are actually the second friendliest birds next to turkeys. If you raise them from babies and they imprint. Unfortunately I got my current ones as juveniles so they are scared of me even though they have fun personalities. I did have one super mean gander but the rest have been very friendly and they are probably our most intelligent birds although I've heard pigeons are supposed to be smart. Geese are too smart for their own good, very mischievous.
I'm thinking about buying wild turkeys for my project and getting a permit (I'll have to anyway for the Canadas) but I'm just saying if I have a Beltsville and it "accidentally" breeds with a wild turkey then it's just divine provenance. I just love the glowing bronze color.

 

[KF0002]

These kind of 55s?
View attachment 4106155
I thought these were 55 flowery "leghorns" and then I think "swedish" flowery hens. Idk, and idk anything about the latter.
But anyways these were some I had. I think I had four. Three were gold duckwing and one was silver duckwing. They had barring and mottling.

Those are definitely 55 Flowery Hens (the ones made up of Leghorns), not Swedish. Gosh I wish I could find some adult birds or chicks around me locally! I think they are gorgeous, and they lay a big white egg and lots of them apparently.

 

[KF0002]

Geese are actually the second friendliest birds next to turkeys. If you raise them from babies and they imprint. Unfortunately I got my current ones as juveniles so they are scared of me even though they have fun personalities. I did have one super mean gander but the rest have been very friendly and they are probably our most intelligent birds although I've heard pigeons are supposed to be smart. Geese are too smart for their own good, very mischievous.
I'm thinking about buying wild turkeys for my project and getting a permit (I'll have to anyway for the Canadas) but I'm just saying if I have a Beltsville and it "accidentally" breeds with a wild turkey then it's just divine provenance. I just love the glowing bronze color.

I love the bronze color on an Eastern Wild also. I currently have two Mottled Bronze and I am super excited to watch them grow out. They may be my new favorite variety. They have double mottling (painted) genes on a full bronze base and they are spectacular looking I think. If the young pair I have make it, I may focus on them and Grizzled Chocolate Painted and that's it.

Here are a couple pics from Porter's website of them.

 

[KF0002]

Geese are actually the second friendliest birds next to turkeys.

I am currently incubating Sebastopol Goose eggs for my friend, and her geese seem very aggressive and moody, so maybe I just assumed all geese were mean since my experience is limited. lol

 

[KF0002]

So far only two of the four Brown Leghorn eggs have hatched. I candled the other two and they are internally pipped so hopefully by the time get home from work in the morning they will be hatched.

 

[Amer]

I love the bronze color on an Eastern Wild also. I currently have two Mottled Bronze and I am super excited to watch them grow out. They may be my new favorite variety. They have double mottling (painted) genes on a full bronze base and they are spectacular looking I think. If the young pair I have make it, I may focus on them and Grizzled Chocolate Painted and that's it.

View attachment 4106308View attachment 4106307

I used to think they were boring but they're growing on me. They really look like Grizzle pigeons to me, but reverse because the wings and tail are the most white.

I am the most fond of Fall Fires and their offshoots (sweetgrass and red sweetgrass).
I also love the look of red pencilled palms. I don't know if the beautiful birds on Porters site are the norm but I like that they are a true breeding variety and would like to get them to my view of perfection.
I used to want to exhibit Standard Bred turkeys but my favorite varieties aren't in there so I'd rather just breed my favorite colors for good health and beauty but maybe I'd exhibit them just for kicks and giggles. I do hope the sweetgrass at least becomes recognized, it's pretty popular.
And I want to work on mini eastern bronze turkey project, breeding for a different body conformation with a larger head and eyes and shorter body like a bantam. Just for fun.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Those are definitely 55 Flowery Hens (the ones made up of Leghorns), not Swedish. Gosh I wish I could find some adult birds or chicks around me locally! I think they are gorgeous, and they lay a big white egg and lots of them apparently.

Mine were really decent layers and did lay the biggest eggs out of everything I've had.

 

[Amer]

I am currently incubating Sebastopol Goose eggs for my friend, and her geese seem very aggressive and moody, so maybe I just assumed all geese were mean since my experience is limited. lol

I always hated geese until I got some for meat, thinking it would be easier because I wouldn't feel remorseful about killing them. Now they are one of my favorites.
They are moody during the breeding season. The Pilgrim boys aren't that aggressive though. One of them hisses but if you actually walk toward them they turn tail.
My buff gander thought it was always breeding season and ALWAYS attacked anyone except my dad whom he adored. My dad he would sing songs to and loved getting hugs from my dad.
Also he wasn't even good at his job because he hardly fertilized any eggs.