Starbirds Chickens

[ozu]

Beez is so pretty! Stella is a girl, my little babies are 5-6 weeks and my little fawn oeb is already showing to be a roo.
Sorry, you may of already stated this, what is your ultiamant goal with your breed? What color, size and amount of toes are you wanting? What type of feathering?

Thank you! We love Beez! She is so friendly and will just roost on my arm, sweetest lil thing. Realllyyyy hoping she is a pullet!

We thought so with Stella, thank you! We picked her specifically because she had the darkest, most beautiful eyeliner, and we read that is usually a pullet-tell.. it was inadvertently successful with Zeeb (we just didn't know about it until after), tested it with Stella, and are pleasantly surprised!

~

Totally okay to ask! I love talking chickens, so I am happy to discuss my thoughts on all of this.

I do want to preface with..

I'm not as hardcore as some others that are breeding, this is strictly a project for myself and my family. It is amazing how much work some put into it their breeding programs (I really admire it.) But this is just for us, casual with a lot of learning as I go. Just feeling everything out and wanting to keep track of all that we produce and be able to build off of that.

And as a disclaimer, we have no intentions to sell these chickens or rehome them. We have a select few family friends and such that we would likely let some go to, but overall, if they don't stay in the flock and meet our standards, then they will be eaten and all of the parts used.

My goal likely will change as I see what I produce, as this is a very casual startup with the ultimate goal of having a beautiful, friendly flock with small/medium bearded/muffed fibro chickens that lay a variety of egg colors.

I imagine that over time, I will begin focusing on other/more specific things that I like that I'm seeing, as I am learning what I like in the chickens that I produce.

Sometimes it's hard to know exactly what the goal is, without experiencing living with the specific breeds/mixes/etc. For example: I love our main current flock. But what we produced in this first batch has made me so happy, and I think they're even better, appearance and temperament wise. And I'd love for that to be the result every time.

What I'm saying is that the bolded text up there is the main goal, but that and the smaller goals may adjust as this project goes on.

~

Color: I'm cool with most colors, and am not focusing on any color in particular at this time plumage-wise. Skin color, I'd like to be black or dark green. I AM staying away from Cuckoo/Barred and solid colors as well as possible, especially solid black (black with a colored head is great.) I love the color splash, but that also produces a lot of solid colors from my research. I wanted to introduce Mille fleur in, but I'm unsure of doing so now, since Eeby has been soft culled from the program. So far, I'm liking the colors in the silkie/ee mixes a lot.

Size: OEB/D'uccle are slightly too small, while Easter Eggers are slightly too large. I like the Silkie size, but they are lacking in a few traits that I like (boldness, colored eggs, less broodiness, toughness/flying). I do plan to add more pure Silkies to add to the gene pool and continue to add traits that I DO like (dark skin, multiple toes, feathered legs.)

Feet/Legs: I do want feathered legs, but I am happy without it as well. It gets messy really easy and can look a little gross and be difficult with scaly leg mites and other issues. So I don't want heavily feathered, but a little bit would be great. It's lower on my list than some other things, as well as the toes. I like 5 toes, but am fine with 4 as well.

Feathering: I would like both typical plumage, and silkie feathering. I am specifically keeping Surbhi back for that silkie feathering gene, and will likely procure a silkie rooster (of an acceptable color) in the future. So I would be happy with a mix of both.

Crest: I like the crest when they have typical plumage, and no crest with Silkie plumage haha. Not sure I can get that specific, but I am SUPER happy with Roadrunner. I love her crest, body shape, and I think she's going to be very beautiful. She also has 5 toes on each foot.


So, these are some of the traits that I like, and that I hope to bring in with specific breeds:

Silkie: Dark skin, 5 toes, crest, feathers, feathered legs, friendliness
Easter Egger: Friendliness, boldness, colorful eggs, beards/muffs
OEB: Size, friendliness, flying ability
Mystic Marans: Feathered legs, brown/green eggs, friendliness
Sebright: Size, color

Overall, I'm just having fun, creating a beautiful, self-sustaining flock of pretty birds.

 

[ozu]

Back again! Hi everyone!

WEEK 8 UPDATE


Klim (Silkie) x Wheaten or Cheetah (Easter Egger)


"Surbhi"

He is a very mild-mannered boy so far.
Not crowing at all yet, and is a bit flighty/not super social.
His coloring is so pretty. I think we can assume that Cheetah is his dad.

"Octavia"

Finally named! Pullet.

"Roadrunner"

Very silkie in temperament. I love her. Pullet.

"Zapp"

Pullet.

"Friendly"

Pullet. She looks like a little chipmunk, she's sooo cute.

☆

Blue (Easter Egger) x Wheaten or Cheetah (Easter Egger)


"Mini Wheat"

Pullet. I don't think she'll look exactly like a mini Wheaten but she's going to be so pretty.

"Twix"

Pullet.

"Stringy"

Pullet. I think cockerel was wrong!

Unnamed

Pullet.

☆

Zeeb (Old English Game Bantam) x Wheaten or Cheetah (Easter Egger)


"Beez"

Pullet. Beez is still so friendly and loves roosting on my arm.
She's super sweet and a pretty little thing. We love her.

☆

Mostaccioli (Mystic Maran) x Wheaten or Cheetah (Easter Egger)

"Gnocchi"

Gnocchi became extremely aggressive and started attacking both cockerels and hens and trying to kill them.
So I dispatched my first chicken ever (normally my partner does it, though I have culled a quail before, we both process) and he cooked him up. The meat was absolutely delicious and had none of that rooster toughness. But he was a bit small. So this is his almost 8 week picture.

"Rigatoni"

Cockerel. He's also become a little aggressive, but nowhere near as bad as Gnocchi.. but bad enough to have to be separated. He will be culled soon. My partner said he'd do it if I process.. it's a deal!
Notice his yucky beard.. I gave him wet food so he made a mess haha.

"Ditalini"

Pullet. I'm a bit disappointed that her head does not seem to have any color. Looking at the babies, and the eggs the chickens lay, I actually think Long Ziti is the mother of the 3 MM x EEs. Which is unfortunate, considering I think Long Ziti is a bit ugly. She is solid black with bright yellow eyes, which Rigatoni has. But Ditalini here seems to have been spared both the yellow eyes and ugliness. Not sure if she will move forward in the project, but she is very cute and I'm happy to have her around. Let's see how she grows!

☆

And the Extras!


"Twisty"

Silkie Pullet. Pretty happy with her.

"Groucho"

Silkie Cockerel. He crows every morning and sounds so funny. His beak has stripes which is neat. He's so friendly and sweet. I'm really sad he's the color that he is because I kind of love him.

"Sour Cream"

Silkie, and pretty sure she is a pullet still.. temperament, she stands/is shaped like a pullet. No streamers on the head (not in the crest or neck, wind was blowing in the pics.) Reminds me of Klim. Crossing fingers she isn't one of those that hide it forever, I find TSC silkies to have a look to them and they seem to develop faster than well bred silkies/be pretty obvious pretty early on.

"Stella"

Pullet. She's finally big enough to be able to be in the outside pen with the other chicks!

"Concrete"

Cockerel. Why had no one ever told me that sebrights shine purple? Or at least this boy does, he is so beautiful. He is also a really nice boy, so we may try to keep him. I need to check the genetics on the comb, since I don't really like it. He also crows every morning with Groucho.

"Butter"

Sebright Pullet. She is turning out sooooo cute.

​

 

[ozu]

And here's the 8 week collages! I was soooo excited to do this, I'm very happy with the results!
A shame Gnocchi didn't make it to his 8 week pictures.
​

 

[Egg Snatcher]

They’re getting so big! Love the silkies!

 

[ozu]

They’re getting so big! Love the silkies!

I know right! The silkies are some of my favorites, I adore them!

Today we are going to try and set up the other side of the coop to get the babies in so they and the adults can be around each other more. They are getting so big, they need to join the flock soon, but Stella, Butter, and Concrete are SO SMALL still.

We also have decided that we will let Wheaten go when we introduce the new babies (as in, we will cull him.) He has gotten pretty rough on the girls, a bit excessive, and he is just SO BIG. If he is in there, the other roosters, especially the new ones, will never have a chance.

I worry about lack of fertilization because we have bigger hens/smaller roos, but we ARE adding some smaller hens, and Surbhi will be a decent size, so I think it will work out. We definitely know we have some of Wheaten's bloodline in there, so I think it is time to move forward without him.

But man, am I sad about it. I really love him. He's amazing with people. But the way he literally takes running starts, body slams the girls to the ground, and forces them (they scream like a predator has gotten them), is becoming way too much.

 

[Egg Snatcher]

I know right! The silkies are some of my favorites, I adore them!

Today we are going to try and set up the other side of the coop to get the babies in so they and the adults can be around each other more. They are getting so big, they need to join the flock soon, but Stella, Butter, and Concrete are SO SMALL still.

We also have decided that we will let Wheaten go when we introduce the new babies (as in, we will cull him.) He has gotten pretty rough on the girls, a bit excessive, and he is just SO BIG. If he is in there, the other roosters, especially the new ones, will never have a chance.

I worry about lack of fertilization because we have bigger hens/smaller roos, but we ARE adding some smaller hens, and Surbhi will be a decent size, so I think it will work out. We definitely know we have some of Wheaten's bloodline in there, so I think it is time to move forward without him.

But man, am I sad about it. I really love him. He's amazing with people. But the way he literally takes running starts, body slams the girls to the ground, and forces them (they scream like a predator has gotten them), is becoming way too much.

I agree with your decision.

 

[ozu]

I agree with your decision.

Thank you!

Wheaten and Deeby too, are both separated now, and we will likely be saying goodbye on Friday. Eeby is still separated as well, but is thankfully no longer broody. I think we will still hard cull her, because she is just plain nasty temperamentally.

The babies are now integrated (so smoothly, too!) into the adult flock.. I'll have pictures later

 

[ozu]

Here with pictures, finally! Hopefully you can tell who is who!

 

[ozu]

And a few more...

 

[Egg Snatcher]

Is anyone laying?