Ended Wattle I Do Without You?—2025 Valentine's Day Contest Series

[CrazyChickenLady123]

I absolutely love holding my silkie, her names Donkey! And she's so sweet

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

I also have this sweet black Langshan named Sirius Black lol. She's a gentle giant and loves hanging around people! I've even caught her breaking up fights between other chickens. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of her.

 

[IvyYounts]

Little miss Kyle!!!! She's adorable. She's a black bantam frizzle! She's got some friends, but I think she also loves to hang out with dogs. But she better be careful she was pecking bugs off one of our dogs and he just got up and showed his teeth at her! Some nights she'll sneak up on the porch, in the dog box!!!! The guy that gave her to us. Said he had too many roosters, so he gave us him ("her'). But one day she laid an egg, after that she laid a few more eggs. But then stopped and never laid one again, when we got her she had one buddy. Her name was blackie, but she was old. And one day died. And so Kyle was all by herself, and she would come running up to us. She was so lonely. So we got a rooster and hen. And they had chicks. And now we are where we are today!! She's so sweet! We used to raise and sell German shepherds! She grew up around the puppy lot. And she loves dog food! And she would try to poke their eyes out!! But she is an adorable little girl!!!!!!! I couldn't decide which photo!! I have sooo many!! But the picture I decided to use. Was actually when we cut down a tree, I put her on it. And we were not thinking, but she got stuck to the sap!!!! She loves dogs!!! She's the black fluffy one, in the profile!

 

[Swiftchicks_13]

This is my favorite Hen Suzy! She's a Calico frizzled Bantam cochin and she is just so sweet and has so much personality! We have shown Miss suzy in one show and she won best of show and fan favorite! She also won most photogenic hen in a virtual show we participated in last year! Her favorite thing is hoarding other bantams eggs and trying to hatch them (we don't have a rooster for her in that pen lol).

 

[Perris]

Entry 2: Amadeo. He had a fantastic set of wattles. He was beautiful. He could fly. I still miss him.

 

[Perris]

Entry 3: Chirk. He had a great set of wattles, and was an excellent dom. Raised the other boys here well. Fforest's sire.

 

[Perris]

Entry 4: Tintern. Another great set of wattles (one pierced by fighting sadly) especially given he's not yet 18 months old. Handsome chap, probably will become the dom in due course, but happy to play a supporting role meanwhile.

 

[CUPCAKECOACH]

This is Roo Roo, our Buff orpington. He is a year old and the protector of his girls. We Love spending time outside with them all.

 

[CUPCAKECOACH]

This is Houdina and the first time our flock seen snow. It was so funny, they would not come out of the pen until I shoveled them a path across the yard.

 

[fluffycrow]

Two summers ago I decided to get into seramas. When I went to go pick out my foundation breeding stock out of a batch of a few dozen 8-10 week old chicks, a particular little guy caught my eye. He held is head high, and was not afraid to stare right at me.

The same day, he came home with me along with three little pullets. Very quickly, he established himself as quite the character. Crowing for the first time at an extremely early (for someone used to LFs) age, willingly flying to my hand and shoulder, even assuming a somewhat leading position in the group. At this point, this blossoming young cockerel was given the name “Lady Gaga”.

As the summer came to an end, Lady Gaga was placed with two older bantams. He spent most of the winter and spring in with them, forming a particularly close attachment to one of them, and even siring her second brood. At 6 months, he assumed the role of a father and head male with shocking maturity. By the time the next summer rolled around and passed, Lady Gaga was a father to quite a few birds. At this point, his group had become the most structured and self-sustaining group here. Throughout all of this, he never stopped being friendly with me. He enjoyed a good wattle scratch, a pedicure, and would gladly pose for photos. Still, his priority was always his hens and offspring. He simply would not settle if he could not see them at all times.

By the end of this summer, I made the decision to transition his group to a 24/7 free ranging life, as the group was more than capable of tree roosting, and foraging. Unfortunately, a fox attack proved that to be a grave mistake for the little guy. While I was not there to witness the attack, merely the aftermath, I am confident that Lady Gaga sacrificed himself for the sake of his group, which suffered no more casualties, but was deeply shaken for weeks and months to come.

It’s been a few months since then, and I miss that tiny bird a lot. He was tiny, but he was mighty. I’ve had a lot of males here, but none have had the balance and maturity Lady Gaga had. I’m glad to still have offspring of his to remember him by