Thanks! It's held up great, other than the wild bird netting needing to be replaced over time (I ended up using sturdier netting as a later replacement).
Welcome to Montana!
My chickens are in an unheated, uninsulated open-air coop (open on the narrower side, facing east, away from the prevailing winds; there is no draft in the west end of the coop, where the roosts are) and they have thrived in our winter. I have 3 pullets and 5 hens (nearly 2...
Welcome to the Montana thread! I’m in Helena. It’s easiest to get chicks at a feed store or through breeders. I agree that shipping chick is stressful for them. For a rarer breed I ordered hatching eggs (but you have to be willing to deal with any unwanted cockerels then).
Our Partridge Chantecler cockerel, at nearly 6 months. He has started crowing just a little. Still very submissive, runs out of the way of our feisty Silkie hen who is one quarter his height. :lau
Before a cockerel or rooster even thinks of being aggressive, it’s our job to constantly communicate to him that he is subordinate, by controlling the space and making him get out of our way. If you observe your chickens, you’ll see that those lower in the pecking order naturally move out of...
Here are a few more pictures:
His stance does seem on the narrow side, so hopefully he will fill out as he grows.
My widest cockerel is extremely skittish and lazy. He’s the one who lies down to eat grass while the others are hunting and scratching. Plus, his coloring is really dark...
I hadn’t planned on keeping a rooster, but am now deciding that “Cockerel #1” in my above post deserves a tryout.
Here he is today, at 19 1/2 weeks old:
His coloring looks good to me, and his comb seems okay (though I am a Chantecler novice). He is the least skittish of the 3 cockerels...
I am not an expert but have seen many photos of partridge Chantecler hens where the “penciling” looks a lot like double lacing, which is how I see Peanut’s feathering.
I am curious as to what comments some of you on this thread who are more experienced would have to say about the appearance...