May 30th

Opal spending some time with the chicks in the sunshine.

Kenny almost 5 months 

Sweet potatoes are growing lovely now.

And the regular potatoes already have grown little ones Despite no shoots or leaves!

Kentucky

Kentucky 

garden growth and last chick of 2020e.

Last egg has hatched. She is a cutie she is small and frail as expected since her incubation was interrupted. Her feet are not developed properly. But mom's doing a good job. As always opal has always been a reliable mother. Here are some photos from her this morning. 

Garden

Below is the purple sweet potato plant. Loving the warm nights.

hatch of 2020e

Opal hatched these four out.  One egg left. Not sure if it is viable.  We will find out soon enough. 

2020d are growing fast!

iridescent

     learn about iridescence

And some of kenny...

Check out his iridescence.. 

kenny n venus

may 14, 2020

two hens set,

kenny

Kenny is now 4 months old. It is amazing to watch his coloration fill in as he grows into a Rooster.

I have him matched with the neighbors Venus. The other roosters steal her away, Kenny isnt on the bottom of the pecking order, he just does not care for the dominance game yet. As I watch him mature, I have noticed something. His maturity is slower. Much like Gravy I remember the first time I noticed Gravy was not developing as quickly as the rest if his clutch mates. I kept him instead of some of the beautiful mottle brothers, a decision I regretted for a long time. I had worried his brassy color would ruin my phenotype. Gravys body structure was huge, legs, chest breadth, and his tail feathers took forever compared to everyone elses to come in. So, this is the first hatchling since Gravy I've seen that has same slow large growth characteristics. I can only assume it is from RJ. RJ was the rooster i got who still hadn't had his spurs. I was told he was just under a year. 

 

When you research into wyandottes, they are known for this slow growth. Check out this link Wyandotte history and information

"It takes 18 months for a Wyandotte to fully mature so that means a lot of feed goes into growing out a pen of Wyandottes." And to note, the wyandottes I obtained in 2019 took 8 months to lay their first egg. 

It is absolutely interesting to see how this "gene" of slower growth can skip generations and siblings and randomly appear in the grandchild. Any thoughts?

Take care,  SpotOnFarm

beautiful spring day

Here are the pair, kenny is very uninterested at this point.

Here is the little one, shes really doing great.

I put her in with the others, and everyone immediately got along. 

not opal rejects chick.

Not sure why, but on Sunday morning while letting the adults out, the egg Not Opal had been incubating had hatched but Not Opal was gone. Other hens were standing above the chick, looking over the nest box, the egg shell that she hatched from was oddly thrown onto the coop floor leaving this wet, cold and pathetic chick all alone to fend herself from the bewildered others. I picked her up and felt her belly perfectly bloated from the last stage of development prior to hatching. She is tiny and small and barely 33g and was not  making any noises. Her eyes kept closing which is never a good sign. I knew she wouldn't last much longer. 

I brought her into the house and into the incubator. She did not have enough strength to stand up long, but she tried with her splayed weak legs, for the humid heat was welcoming. As she did she fell onto her back; I righted her. She slumped onto the floor, eyes closed and slept. As the day progressed she worried me at times. But she never gave up. Morning came today and she is much better. She is standing now, fluffed up and chirping and attempting to eat food. I gave her electrolytes in her water. She still needs time in the incubator but it is looking promising for her survival. 

What should I name her?

2020d

Looking good chickies!