Freeks and Geeks

This is the famous chicken  that lived for months without a head.  No really, someone wrote a book about it.  Just kidding.  This breed is a bearded buff laced Polish.  But, he (?) does look like his head is missing.

This guys tail feathers are missing.  He is an Araucana.



Eeee!  A naked neck chicken



It's enough to curl your feathers!  (Like these lovely Sebastopol geese).

Playing (with) Chickens

Oh, it's a good thing these two boys were in separate cages.  They were not too happy being in such close proximity to each other.

Here is a better look at this game bird.  All I call think of when I look at him is that he is descended from velociraptor.  He looks built for speed with those long legs.



And here is a beautiful Dominique rooster.  Ooh, la la.



This Silver Spangled Hamburg is also a very handsome bird.



I didn't note this fellas breed, but, I love his coloration.

And, I love the coloration on this proud and prim Welsh Harlequin duck as well (those of us with Welsh heritage have to stick together!).

Isn't he a pretty bird!

National Heirloom Exposition

Yesterday, we attended the very first National Heirloom Exposition in Santa Rosa, California. The Exposition highlighted heirloom varieties of fruits, vegetables and animals.  And, some talented artists like the chef who carved this beautiful melon.

We saw lots and lots of squash.

In fact, we saw a mountain of squash!

Lots of beautiful heirloom tomatoes. No GMO's here!  The blue tomato is a new variety.  The others had interesting names like Berkeley tie-dye.

I think next year we will grow some of the yellow and green stripey tomatoes and purple peppers like on the bike below.  Just think of the beautiful salsa it will make!

Apparently, our cuckoo maran chickens are forming their own club.  Eggs are graded on their color as shown on the chart below.

More on the Exposition to come!

Yummy goodness!

Here are some of the beautiful eggs from my chickenettes!  They are still young girls, so their eggs are small.  Sometimes they forget to put a shell on their eggs.  I don't let that stop me from eating them, though, I usually cook those ones up right away.  Right now, one of the hens is laying speckled eggs.  I think eventually they will be solid and darker.

 

Here they are doing their thing.  Eating.  They eat grow mix.  I switched them to lay mash but they went off their feed.  It was hot and the gal down at the feed store said that corn made them hot.  So, I guess it was too hot for them so I had to go and buy some grow mix but not the medicated feed they eat when they are little.  Then, I had to buy some oyster shell to add to the grow mix.  The chickenettes are spoiled.  They like tomatoes, cantaloupe rinds and seeds, watermelon, tree branches from my fruit trees and certain weeds.  I have to say, I look for weeds to pull in the garden to give them a treat.  They also have lots of activities they can do in their chicken coop.  The large terra cotta saucer is their "pool".  They like to wade through it when it is hot plus, I think they don't like dirty feet, so they will walk through the water to get the dirt off them.  They can also hop up on various objects and sit on their bench and stare out at the yard.  They can also be obstacles when they are racing around the coop trying to chase down a bug!  They are sweet, sweet girls and I like to give them a treat when I find eggs in the henhouse.  I think they know what they are supposed to do, don't you?

 

My little chickenettes

There they are at the bottom right.  They are a french breed called cuckoo marans.  They are a bit spoiled and hoping to get a treat.  Lately, it has been a blueberry or two.  This is their chicken coop but I call it the chicken pavilion.  When I was rehabbing the backyard, I couldn't decide what to do with this old gazebo.  I was on the verge of having it disassembled and carted off.  The canvas cover had rotted away and it was looking quite shabby.  I had looked into buying a replacement cover but it cost more than what I had originally paid for the gazebo.  And, when I was trying to decide what configuration to make the chickens new coop to keep them safe from cats and marauding possums, everything I thought of was looking a bit like something Ma and Pa Kettle or the Beverly Hillbillies pre-oil strike would have.  So, I had it made into the coop by having chicken wire tied to it.  Posts are set into the ground to hang the dutch doors and I had some lovely garden trellises that I had about incorporated into the frame.  I think it turned out quite lovely and fitting for my little french hens.