Friday, January 3, 2014
Moving on over...
We've decided to consolidate our Blog and Website, come follow us at http://www.loudenfarms.com/home/6littlechickies-blog/
Friday, March 8, 2013
Peafowl 201: Genetics, Colors, part 2
In our last post we discussed breeding with the colors that follow the normal patterns, in this post we'll talk about the other colors, referred to as sex-link colors. This includes Cameo, Peach, Purple and Violeta.
There are some basic rules that apply to these sex-link colors:
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| A young pair of Peach (male on the right, female on the left) |
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| Purple Pied Peacock |
There are some basic rules that apply to these sex-link colors:
- Males can be split to a color, females cannot*.
- A split male can only pass that color on to a female chick(50%); male chicks from a split male will be blue but split to that color(50%) or blue(50%).
- In order to produce a male of one of these colors you must have a female of color with a split male or two birds(M and F) of that color.
*Interesting work is being done to study this and the results may prove this rule as not absolute, but it is the general rule for use and most typical result.
Again, for these examples we will use the traditional (or barred) pattern. We will use Peach in this example but you can substitute Cameo, Purple or Violeta instead. Some examples:
Again, for these examples we will use the traditional (or barred) pattern. We will use Peach in this example but you can substitute Cameo, Purple or Violeta instead. Some examples:
- Peach male times peach hen = all peach chicks.
- Peach male times blue hen = all peach hens, all blue split peach males.
- Blue split Peach male times blue hen = 50% peach hens, 50% blue split peach males.
- Blue split Peach male times Peach hen = of the males 50% will be peach, 50% will be blue split peach; of the hens 50% will peach, 50% will be blue.
- Of the sex link colors, Peach is also unusual as it is believed to have originated from two other sex link colors, cameo and purple. Notably it has been found that a split to peach male may give an occasional purple or cameo offspring as well as peach. This gives further evidence that this color originated from the cameo and purple color lines.
At our farm we work with both split birds and full color ones. We have three males that are split Peach and one Peach male, along with several Peach hens.
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| Black Shoulder split Peach Peacock |
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| Silver Pied split Peach Peacock |
By utilizing the split Peach boys over blue hens we can increase the number of Peach hens we hatch without having to have more Peach males.
In our next genetics discussion we'll cover the last two colors we haven't yet mentioned, Charcoal and White. Very interesting genetics on these two!
Now that you know the differences between breeding sex link colors and the others, what do you find most interesting? Which color do you think would be the most fun to work with?
In our next genetics discussion we'll cover the last two colors we haven't yet mentioned, Charcoal and White. Very interesting genetics on these two!
Now that you know the differences between breeding sex link colors and the others, what do you find most interesting? Which color do you think would be the most fun to work with?
Sunday, March 3, 2013
TEN years
Today our oldest, Sydney, turned ten. Wow, ten years. I thought about doing a list of ten things like I did for the others but I've been doing a lot of thinking about her and what I keep coming back to is the day she arrived. The day she gave me the best gift I could ever imagine, the day she made me a MOM!
I remember her birth with such detail. Sydney was born early in the morning (3:45AM) on March 3, 2003. When the Dr. told me my due date was 3/3/03 I remember saying what a great birthday that would be, he laughed and commented on how something like 20% of babies are born on their due date. I was still insistent baby would arrive on that day.
I had a very normal pregnancy with her and we spent the last couple weeks eagerly awaiting her arrival. Of course in my weekly Dr. visits he would say how close I was to going into labor and how I would not be back the next week. For three weeks that held true! On that last week, I had an appointment on Friday, Feb 28. The doctor was sure I would have a baby by the end of the weekend but scheduled me to come back on that upcoming Monday, March 3. I remember leaving his office laughing at the doctor and thinking of what I would say to him on Monday.
We spent that weekend enjoying our last few days as of our baby-free life. I had arranged to work from home until the baby did arrive but I was really hoping I would not be turning on my laptop that upcoming Monday. Hubby joked to the baby that if she would come out today, he would take the whole week off of work to be with her. I wanted to walk because I thought that would help bring on labor. We went to a local mall on Saturday and met with hubby's sister and her husband for dinner. It was a great evening and we all joked that hopefully the spice from the Mexican dinner we had would kick start labor. Sunday morning I woke to a phone call and surprise visit from one of my oldest, closest friends. We hadn't seen each other in months and he was marveling at how big my belly was and how odd it was to see me that way. We spent the day catching up and just hanging around our house. He kept trying to convince baby to make her appearance right then so he could be there but Sydney was not budging and was happy to stay in her warm cocoon inside me. Dinnertime finally came around and my friend had to leave to make his was back home (3 hours away) with distinct instructions to let him know as SOON as she did decide to come. Little did we know how soon that would be!
After he left, hubby and I thought we'd take a short nap and then maybe find another store to go walk around in. I couldn't get comfortable and felt restless so I convinced hubby to take a little walk around the neighborhood since the temperature that day was unusually warm. We decided to walk down to the ice cream stand about three blocks away for a treat. As we were making our way back the temperature started plummeting and by the time we were back home it was snowing. As the evening wore on the snow just got worse too.
As it started to snow we hurried home as fast as my waddling would take me but we were both shivering by the time we reached the front door. Another friend called to check on me, knowing my due date was the following day, and it was at that time that I first noticed what I thought might possibly be actual contractions signaling labor. I told her I thought that I might actually be starting labor RIGHT NOW and that I was going to take a warm bath and would keep her posted. I drew a warm bath, filing our huge tub as full as I could get it. Hubby settled in to play a computer game to pass the time. At this point, timing gets a bit hazy but I was not in the bath long when I realized yes, this pains were not stopping and WOOHOO! this could be IT!
I think it was around 7:30 at this point and the only clue I have on that is that we were watching The Simpsons and the shows that followed it that evening. LOL We began timing the contractions and found they were about 15-20 minutes apart. My in laws called for the evening check in and hubby said that we thought this might be IT and to stand by for a bit longer and we would let them know. We noticed the contractions started going from 15-20 minutes apart down to about 10 minutes apart and knew this was definitely IT! I told hubby to start making calls and get things packed into the car. he was hurrying around getting everything ready as I was trying to time the contractions. Somehow we went from 10 minutes apart to 3 minutes apart! I remember hubby saying, 'what happened to every 5 minutes? I never got my 5 minutes!'
Luckily we were only about 10 minutes from the hospital because as we got into the car we realized the snow from earlier had really picked up! It was an outright, full blown snow storm. By this time it was about 9:30 at night. We were only a few minutes from the hospital but our parents were over an hour away which made me nervous for their drive.
As we pulled into the hospital it was oddly empty. Despite having pre registered they still needed to check us in and asked me what felt like a thousand questions (but was probably only a few minutes) while I was wincing in pain from the near constant contractions now. They quickly wheeled me up to to labor and delivery which would found completely dark. No women laboring, no doctor's, no nurses, no lights on even!
The person who wheeled me up called and a nurse appeared out of nowhere. She asked what was going on and I said, 'Labor is eminent.' She laughed and said she had been a L&D nurse for over 20 years and has never heard a woman say that. LOL Because I was the only one there I was treated to the largest room they had and ended up with two nurses all to myself. :) It was this time that we realized we never called the doctor or the hospital earlier to let them know i was in labor. oops. The contractions were coming one on top of the other and I just wanted some relief or at the least a chance to catch my breath. The nurse quickly got me changed and hooked up to the monitors where hubby commented the one showing contraction strength kept going off the chart and never went all the way down. I could have told him that. LOL
Because we had forgotten to call my doctors they were not there yet so the in house doctor checked me when we arrived. He insisted on doing an ultrasound because he thought the baby was breech which was fine but hubby and I knew that was not the case from my dr. visit less than two days before that. They confirmed she was head down and then called my doctor to fill them in. It turned out one of the midwives was on call that night.
By the time we were settled in all the parents had arrived. They were able to say a quick hello before they came in to give me an epidural. Once that took effect I was able to chat with everyone and let my body do the work. I think it was somewhere around midnight or 1am by this time. We figured it would be a little while so everyone went back to the waiting room so that hubby and I could get a little rest. Before that could happen though I started to feel sick like I was going to vomit. I actually tried to get up out of bed (LOL) but the nurse laughed and said I wasn't going anywhere. She got me a large container and as I got sick my water broke. It was at this point they realized there was merconium in the fluid. Things started moving very quickly after that.
They paged the midwife and the pediatrician that was in the hospital. We were fortunate he happened to be the head of the department too. The next thing I knew the midwife was bounding through the door, full of energy (just what we need at that time too!) and proclaimed it was time to get to work and get this baby out.
Suddenly the room transformed with lights coming down from the ceiling and the bed coming apart. I did not push long and before I knew it they were laying my sweet girl on my belly so I could get my first look before quickly whisking her away to be thoroughly checked over. I remember my first words to her were "MY BABY!" I thought my heart might explode from happiness at that point. <3
Hubby followed her over to the other side of the room where the doctors quickly worked to make sure she had not swallowed any of the fluid. She was measured, weighed and wrapped up tightly. Thankfully she was perfectly fine and suffered no ill effects at all. Yet another miracle in addition to her birth itself. As hubby brought our beautiful little girl over to me I could hardly believe it. It was just before 4AM, her birth being 3:45 AM on March 3, 2003.
About an hour after she was born I was moved to a recovery room and we settled in for a long day ahead; everyone was excited to meet little Sydney! I never did get to sleep until almost 11pm that Monday night.
Later that morning my Dr. came in to say hello and I recall telling I had totally forgot to call to cancel that appointment. How funny that seems now and he even laughed at that saying he would be sure to let them know.
Before we knew it we were being released to come home and start our adventure as a family. The fun and adventures haven't stopped since. :D
I still can't believe she is ten years old today! Sydney is an amazing little girl who has exceeded everything I could have ever hoped for in a daughter. I am so, so proud of her! I do not want to speed up one minute of the time I have with her but I cannot wait to see what she does with her life.
I remember her birth with such detail. Sydney was born early in the morning (3:45AM) on March 3, 2003. When the Dr. told me my due date was 3/3/03 I remember saying what a great birthday that would be, he laughed and commented on how something like 20% of babies are born on their due date. I was still insistent baby would arrive on that day.
I had a very normal pregnancy with her and we spent the last couple weeks eagerly awaiting her arrival. Of course in my weekly Dr. visits he would say how close I was to going into labor and how I would not be back the next week. For three weeks that held true! On that last week, I had an appointment on Friday, Feb 28. The doctor was sure I would have a baby by the end of the weekend but scheduled me to come back on that upcoming Monday, March 3. I remember leaving his office laughing at the doctor and thinking of what I would say to him on Monday.
We spent that weekend enjoying our last few days as of our baby-free life. I had arranged to work from home until the baby did arrive but I was really hoping I would not be turning on my laptop that upcoming Monday. Hubby joked to the baby that if she would come out today, he would take the whole week off of work to be with her. I wanted to walk because I thought that would help bring on labor. We went to a local mall on Saturday and met with hubby's sister and her husband for dinner. It was a great evening and we all joked that hopefully the spice from the Mexican dinner we had would kick start labor. Sunday morning I woke to a phone call and surprise visit from one of my oldest, closest friends. We hadn't seen each other in months and he was marveling at how big my belly was and how odd it was to see me that way. We spent the day catching up and just hanging around our house. He kept trying to convince baby to make her appearance right then so he could be there but Sydney was not budging and was happy to stay in her warm cocoon inside me. Dinnertime finally came around and my friend had to leave to make his was back home (3 hours away) with distinct instructions to let him know as SOON as she did decide to come. Little did we know how soon that would be!
After he left, hubby and I thought we'd take a short nap and then maybe find another store to go walk around in. I couldn't get comfortable and felt restless so I convinced hubby to take a little walk around the neighborhood since the temperature that day was unusually warm. We decided to walk down to the ice cream stand about three blocks away for a treat. As we were making our way back the temperature started plummeting and by the time we were back home it was snowing. As the evening wore on the snow just got worse too.
As it started to snow we hurried home as fast as my waddling would take me but we were both shivering by the time we reached the front door. Another friend called to check on me, knowing my due date was the following day, and it was at that time that I first noticed what I thought might possibly be actual contractions signaling labor. I told her I thought that I might actually be starting labor RIGHT NOW and that I was going to take a warm bath and would keep her posted. I drew a warm bath, filing our huge tub as full as I could get it. Hubby settled in to play a computer game to pass the time. At this point, timing gets a bit hazy but I was not in the bath long when I realized yes, this pains were not stopping and WOOHOO! this could be IT!
I think it was around 7:30 at this point and the only clue I have on that is that we were watching The Simpsons and the shows that followed it that evening. LOL We began timing the contractions and found they were about 15-20 minutes apart. My in laws called for the evening check in and hubby said that we thought this might be IT and to stand by for a bit longer and we would let them know. We noticed the contractions started going from 15-20 minutes apart down to about 10 minutes apart and knew this was definitely IT! I told hubby to start making calls and get things packed into the car. he was hurrying around getting everything ready as I was trying to time the contractions. Somehow we went from 10 minutes apart to 3 minutes apart! I remember hubby saying, 'what happened to every 5 minutes? I never got my 5 minutes!'
Luckily we were only about 10 minutes from the hospital because as we got into the car we realized the snow from earlier had really picked up! It was an outright, full blown snow storm. By this time it was about 9:30 at night. We were only a few minutes from the hospital but our parents were over an hour away which made me nervous for their drive.
As we pulled into the hospital it was oddly empty. Despite having pre registered they still needed to check us in and asked me what felt like a thousand questions (but was probably only a few minutes) while I was wincing in pain from the near constant contractions now. They quickly wheeled me up to to labor and delivery which would found completely dark. No women laboring, no doctor's, no nurses, no lights on even!
The person who wheeled me up called and a nurse appeared out of nowhere. She asked what was going on and I said, 'Labor is eminent.' She laughed and said she had been a L&D nurse for over 20 years and has never heard a woman say that. LOL Because I was the only one there I was treated to the largest room they had and ended up with two nurses all to myself. :) It was this time that we realized we never called the doctor or the hospital earlier to let them know i was in labor. oops. The contractions were coming one on top of the other and I just wanted some relief or at the least a chance to catch my breath. The nurse quickly got me changed and hooked up to the monitors where hubby commented the one showing contraction strength kept going off the chart and never went all the way down. I could have told him that. LOL
Because we had forgotten to call my doctors they were not there yet so the in house doctor checked me when we arrived. He insisted on doing an ultrasound because he thought the baby was breech which was fine but hubby and I knew that was not the case from my dr. visit less than two days before that. They confirmed she was head down and then called my doctor to fill them in. It turned out one of the midwives was on call that night.
By the time we were settled in all the parents had arrived. They were able to say a quick hello before they came in to give me an epidural. Once that took effect I was able to chat with everyone and let my body do the work. I think it was somewhere around midnight or 1am by this time. We figured it would be a little while so everyone went back to the waiting room so that hubby and I could get a little rest. Before that could happen though I started to feel sick like I was going to vomit. I actually tried to get up out of bed (LOL) but the nurse laughed and said I wasn't going anywhere. She got me a large container and as I got sick my water broke. It was at this point they realized there was merconium in the fluid. Things started moving very quickly after that.
They paged the midwife and the pediatrician that was in the hospital. We were fortunate he happened to be the head of the department too. The next thing I knew the midwife was bounding through the door, full of energy (just what we need at that time too!) and proclaimed it was time to get to work and get this baby out.
Suddenly the room transformed with lights coming down from the ceiling and the bed coming apart. I did not push long and before I knew it they were laying my sweet girl on my belly so I could get my first look before quickly whisking her away to be thoroughly checked over. I remember my first words to her were "MY BABY!" I thought my heart might explode from happiness at that point. <3
Hubby followed her over to the other side of the room where the doctors quickly worked to make sure she had not swallowed any of the fluid. She was measured, weighed and wrapped up tightly. Thankfully she was perfectly fine and suffered no ill effects at all. Yet another miracle in addition to her birth itself. As hubby brought our beautiful little girl over to me I could hardly believe it. It was just before 4AM, her birth being 3:45 AM on March 3, 2003.
About an hour after she was born I was moved to a recovery room and we settled in for a long day ahead; everyone was excited to meet little Sydney! I never did get to sleep until almost 11pm that Monday night.
Later that morning my Dr. came in to say hello and I recall telling I had totally forgot to call to cancel that appointment. How funny that seems now and he even laughed at that saying he would be sure to let them know.
Before we knew it we were being released to come home and start our adventure as a family. The fun and adventures haven't stopped since. :D
I still can't believe she is ten years old today! Sydney is an amazing little girl who has exceeded everything I could have ever hoped for in a daughter. I am so, so proud of her! I do not want to speed up one minute of the time I have with her but I cannot wait to see what she does with her life.
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| Pictures from Sydney's first minutes after being born. The picture in the top right corner is the first time I held her and our first picture together. |
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Showing your birds? Help protect them!
I love keeping chickens (and peafowl, ducks, etc) and I love the challenge and excitement that come with showing them. We have been fortunate to have participated in The Ohio National poultry show for the last three years. We taken our bantam Russian Orloff's and have done very well. It has become something we look forward to doing at the end of each season. Shortly after this show, which is held in November, we take a break for the holidays and then eagerly awaiting spring again.
For the most part it has been a very positive experience but there have been some things we've seen and heard about that have us concerned.
I can't speak to how all shows are handled but I can say what they do at this particular show. Here is a run down of the show weekend.
FRIDAY:
Check in is Friday starting at 9am up until 10pm. You see folks coming and going all day long, vendor tables are being setup, sale birds being put in cages and random greetings of fellow enthusiasts. Only exhibitor's (and their family) may enter on Friday. You enter the hall and go to the sign up table to check in. They ask your name (never requesting any identification from you or a visual on your bird), check your name off on the list, give you a booklet listing out the names of everyone exhibiting, a button to allow entry to the show over the weekend and then they point you to a large group of papers listed on a wall nearby. In the three years we have been showing, this is the only contact we have with the show staff the entire weekend. The papers indicate where each bird goes on the floor (row and cage) and a handy diagram of the floor so you know where to go.
This is a big show with rows being labeled by letter and cages being stacked three high on either side. There is a center aisle down each row. You then go find your cages and get your birds settled in. You provide your own food and water but they do put small plastic cups in each cage for you to fill. None of the cages have any kind of locking mechanism and the rules state, "If the coop is locked or the bird is not accessible to the judge, the bird will not be judged." I have never noticed one lock on any cages in any of the years we have went, although I have seen a few zip ties here and there.
You can also setup any sale pens you have pre-purchased. Sale pens are in the same hall but a different area than the show birds. Lots of sales happen Friday evening, we often don't arrive until 6:30-7pm and are mobbed upon arrival. ;)
Around 9:30 the show staff starts reminding everyone they are closing up at 10PM. At 10pm personnel begin throwing people out and the hall is then locked up for the evening.
SATURDAY:
They open the hall up at 7am but judging doesn't start until around 9am. One by one they will block each half of a row from all traffic so the judge can easily go from one cage to the next, looking at each bird and noting their comments. After they have judged a row they block off the next and open that row back up. This takes a while, there are thousand of birds being shown. If I recall judging usually lasts until 4 or 5 pm (it might have been earlier) but the hall remains open until 6pm, when they again go around to move people out. Again, the hall is locked until morning.
Throughout the day but especially in the morning are when many sales happen. There are a lot of people that come to the show simply to look at all the birds, but from the vendor tables and check out the sale pens. By late Saturday most of the cages are empty.
SUNDAY:
The hall opens at 7AM again. Champions are awarded mid-morning, I think it was around 10 or so. After that they formally dismiss everyone. The process for taking your birds is simple, you walk up to your cage and take your bird. You can put it in a transport cage if you want but lots and lots of people are there carrying birds around so no one really pays any mind to an uncaged bird. You then pack your birds up and head home. Most of the sale pens are cleared out before they award the Champions and by noon the place looks like a chicken ghost town. lol
Note, there is absolutely NO check out of birds, validation/identification or proof of ownership you need to provide to leave with your (or any) bird.
Can you see the red flags in the process here? Did it help I highlighted them? ;)
I'll discuss those red flags a little further, flags that had always been there but were brought to light more recently.
It started the Monday after the show with reports on Facebook from a few people that their birds were missing. Some came through on our farm page wall so I shared them with the Ohio National Facebook page, their replies were less then helpful. :/ As days went on, more reports of missing birds came in. Some were located but others remained missing. How sad it is that someone brings a bird to a show and comes home empty handed!?!
Then today happened. Today I received a postcard in the mail...
there was a little sticker on the front directing me to a youtube video:
wow, just breaks my heart. truly.
I've been thinking about Julia all day, how much she must miss her boys, how much she obviously cares for them and how WRONG it is that this happened to her. I knew I had to do something to help.
I have no idea where her boys are and I don't breed silkies but I knew I could use our FB page to try to get the word out. If you are on FB, please go share our post!
BUT
that's not enough. We need to make sure this doesn't happen again. How can anyone feel comfortable bringing their birds to a show environment if they are being taken right out of the cages, potentially stolen, right there at the show. I checked the Ohio National's web site list of rules again and noticed one I hadn't seen before, "The Association will take every precaution against loss or mishap, but will not be held responsible should any occur." Hmm, let's see 'every precaution'? Remember my run down, does that SOUND like 'every precaution'? heck does that sound like ANY precaution?
So, what can we do about this?!
I realize all of this would require a little more time on the part of the the show personnel but then again aren't these just 'precautions'?! After all, they themselves said they would take 'every precaution against loss or mishap'.
These checks would not eliminate ALL instances of missing birds but I think it would really deter future instances.
So, what do you think? What rules or processes/procedures do you think should be put in place? Whether you show birds or not I'd love to hear from you!
For the most part it has been a very positive experience but there have been some things we've seen and heard about that have us concerned.
I can't speak to how all shows are handled but I can say what they do at this particular show. Here is a run down of the show weekend.
FRIDAY:
Check in is Friday starting at 9am up until 10pm. You see folks coming and going all day long, vendor tables are being setup, sale birds being put in cages and random greetings of fellow enthusiasts. Only exhibitor's (and their family) may enter on Friday. You enter the hall and go to the sign up table to check in. They ask your name (never requesting any identification from you or a visual on your bird), check your name off on the list, give you a booklet listing out the names of everyone exhibiting, a button to allow entry to the show over the weekend and then they point you to a large group of papers listed on a wall nearby. In the three years we have been showing, this is the only contact we have with the show staff the entire weekend. The papers indicate where each bird goes on the floor (row and cage) and a handy diagram of the floor so you know where to go.
 |
| Thousands of cages! |
This is a big show with rows being labeled by letter and cages being stacked three high on either side. There is a center aisle down each row. You then go find your cages and get your birds settled in. You provide your own food and water but they do put small plastic cups in each cage for you to fill. None of the cages have any kind of locking mechanism and the rules state, "If the coop is locked or the bird is not accessible to the judge, the bird will not be judged." I have never noticed one lock on any cages in any of the years we have went, although I have seen a few zip ties here and there.
You can also setup any sale pens you have pre-purchased. Sale pens are in the same hall but a different area than the show birds. Lots of sales happen Friday evening, we often don't arrive until 6:30-7pm and are mobbed upon arrival. ;)
 |
| Sale area. This was mid morning on a Saturday. |
Around 9:30 the show staff starts reminding everyone they are closing up at 10PM. At 10pm personnel begin throwing people out and the hall is then locked up for the evening.
SATURDAY:
They open the hall up at 7am but judging doesn't start until around 9am. One by one they will block each half of a row from all traffic so the judge can easily go from one cage to the next, looking at each bird and noting their comments. After they have judged a row they block off the next and open that row back up. This takes a while, there are thousand of birds being shown. If I recall judging usually lasts until 4 or 5 pm (it might have been earlier) but the hall remains open until 6pm, when they again go around to move people out. Again, the hall is locked until morning.
 |
| Mid Day on Saturday, judging is happing somewhere amongst these cages. |
Throughout the day but especially in the morning are when many sales happen. There are a lot of people that come to the show simply to look at all the birds, but from the vendor tables and check out the sale pens. By late Saturday most of the cages are empty.
SUNDAY:
The hall opens at 7AM again. Champions are awarded mid-morning, I think it was around 10 or so. After that they formally dismiss everyone. The process for taking your birds is simple, you walk up to your cage and take your bird. You can put it in a transport cage if you want but lots and lots of people are there carrying birds around so no one really pays any mind to an uncaged bird. You then pack your birds up and head home. Most of the sale pens are cleared out before they award the Champions and by noon the place looks like a chicken ghost town. lol
Note, there is absolutely NO check out of birds, validation/identification or proof of ownership you need to provide to leave with your (or any) bird.
 |
| Getting ready to pack up to head home. |
Can you see the red flags in the process here? Did it help I highlighted them? ;)
I'll discuss those red flags a little further, flags that had always been there but were brought to light more recently.
It started the Monday after the show with reports on Facebook from a few people that their birds were missing. Some came through on our farm page wall so I shared them with the Ohio National Facebook page, their replies were less then helpful. :/ As days went on, more reports of missing birds came in. Some were located but others remained missing. How sad it is that someone brings a bird to a show and comes home empty handed!?!
Then today happened. Today I received a postcard in the mail...
there was a little sticker on the front directing me to a youtube video:
wow, just breaks my heart. truly.
I've been thinking about Julia all day, how much she must miss her boys, how much she obviously cares for them and how WRONG it is that this happened to her. I knew I had to do something to help.
I have no idea where her boys are and I don't breed silkies but I knew I could use our FB page to try to get the word out. If you are on FB, please go share our post!
BUT
that's not enough. We need to make sure this doesn't happen again. How can anyone feel comfortable bringing their birds to a show environment if they are being taken right out of the cages, potentially stolen, right there at the show. I checked the Ohio National's web site list of rules again and noticed one I hadn't seen before, "The Association will take every precaution against loss or mishap, but will not be held responsible should any occur." Hmm, let's see 'every precaution'? Remember my run down, does that SOUND like 'every precaution'? heck does that sound like ANY precaution?
So, what can we do about this?!
- Check in Process:
- Any adult exhibiting should be required to show photo ID and check in with their bird(s)
- Because this is a junior show as well, I can understand many of them would not have an ID but in those cases an adult with them should be required to show the needed identification.
- Birds can be marked with a numbered leg band at this time, provided by the show itself. This would provide a consistent, standard, unique identifier for each bird. It would be low cost, easily removed, harmless to the bird and a way to identify EVERY bird being shown. And, how handy, several sponsors of this show SELL these leg bands. hmm, seems like they could work that out pretty easily.
- Caging/Penning In process
- The design of the cages would lend itself to a lock or other mechanism to secure the cage but this could prove problematic for judging unless the show itself purchased locks. Ideally they would have a master key for the judges and then individual keys for each lock that can be given to exhibitors. The cost for these locks could be included in registration fees and/or a deposit could be taken and then returned upon return of the lock at the end of the show. This would ensure the safety of the bird but also allow the judge access to the bird. Incidentally, the judges are not alone when they walk around, they each have at least one helper that clears people from the rows before they block them off, you hear the judge talk with them as well. From the watching I've done of the judges (I admit, I find it fascinating to watch them) I think this could be incorporated into the process, again with assistance that they already have. It would be made more simple by the show issuing the lock thereby having a master key to unlock all locks. It wouldn't be a case of the judge having to fish through thousands of keys for the right one, it would be one key they would have to work all the locks.
- Check Out
- This is the process I think has the most opportunity for improvement as to date there IS no process. To start with, if they can implement a simple banding upon check in it would be easy to verify birds upon exit. The show staff would need to check leg bands of each bird against the master check in list of leg band numbers. No match, no leaving.
- They should also require you check out the same way they require a check in; you check in with X number of birds, you check out with that many.
- I also feel they need amend their rule that states, "Any birds left at the show will be disposed of at show management's discretion." I feel they should first off designate a difference between birds in the show area and birds in the sale area. They could then say any birds left in the SALE area will be disposed of at their discretion. I think they should at least make an effort to contact anyone with birds in show cages after noon on Sunday.
I realize all of this would require a little more time on the part of the the show personnel but then again aren't these just 'precautions'?! After all, they themselves said they would take 'every precaution against loss or mishap'.
These checks would not eliminate ALL instances of missing birds but I think it would really deter future instances.
So, what do you think? What rules or processes/procedures do you think should be put in place? Whether you show birds or not I'd love to hear from you!
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Peafowl 201: Genetics part 1: Colors
When we left off with our Peafowl 101 post I promised more on genetics. If you read our previous post you might remember that every peafowl has a pattern and a color. This will be a multi-part series on genetics/breeding, this is part one: Colors. We will have more posts on the Sex-Link Colors and then Patterns.
As we discussed before, peafowl come in 12 Colors (India Blue, Bronze, Cameo, Charcoal, Jade, Midnight, Opal, Peach, Purple, Taupe, Violeta and White). We keep 7 of these colors: India Blue, Bronze, Cameo, Opal, Peach, Purple and White.
I remember doing Punnet's squares back in high school biology (and I quite enjoyed it, nerd that I am.), husband is a scientist so he does most of this in his head. If I didn't have him handy to refer to I'd be writing this all down!
In the peafowl world, the term split refers to a bird carrying those genetics but not visually expressing it. For instance, this boy looks like an India Blue (Black Shoulder pattern) but he is also split peach.
Some of the female chicks are Peach like this chick to the left, some are blue like the chick below.
For the combinations listed below you can interchange where I have listed blue (short for India Blue) with Bronze, Jade, Midnight, Opal or Taupe and get the same results.
Blue X Blue = all blue chicks
Blue X Bronze = all blue split bronze chicks
Blue X Jade = all blue split to Jade chicks
Blue X Midnight = all blue split to Midnight chicks
Blue X Opal = all blue split to Opal chicks
Blue X Taupe = all blue split to Taupe chicks
Easy enough right? Anything you breed that does not 'match up' color wise will produce split chicks of whatever color isn't blue. The blue color is dominant so it will always visually display when you are not breeding two of the same color.
Now if you take any of these colors and cross them, all the chicks will be blue and split to both colors. Let's use Bronze in this example (mostly because I love it so much).
Bronze X Jade = all blue split Bronze split Jade chicks
Bronze X Midnight = all blue split Bronze split Midnight chicks
Bronze X Opal = all blue split Bronze split Opal chicks
Bronze X Taupe = all blue split Bronze split Opal chicks
Still with me? Good. ;) The fun really starts when you start adding in the 'split' factor. Because blue is dominant, crossing them to a bird that is split to another color would not give you that color (blue X blue split bronze will not give you bronze chicks). You would need to cross that split bird with either one of that color or one that is also split to that color.
Bronze X Blue split Bronze = 50% chicks will be bronze, 50% will be blue split bronze
Blue split Bronze X Blue split Bronze = 25% bronze, 50% blue split bronze, 25% blue
**here is where it starts to get tricky because you will not be able to tell the difference between the blue and the blue split bronze. **
Clear as Mud?!
You can see how careful record keeping is imperative to breeding peafowl, well if you are planning on achieving a desired outcome at least. ;)
In our next installment we will talk about the other colors, Cameo, Peach, Purple and Violeta. Also known as sex-link colors.
As we discussed before, peafowl come in 12 Colors (India Blue, Bronze, Cameo, Charcoal, Jade, Midnight, Opal, Peach, Purple, Taupe, Violeta and White). We keep 7 of these colors: India Blue, Bronze, Cameo, Opal, Peach, Purple and White.
Most of the colors follow the same rules while a few of the colors are referred to as 'sex-linked' colors. Let's start with the basic colors to get an idea of how the genetics break down. The colors that follow the basic 'Punnet's Square' rules are
- India Blue
- Bronze
- Jade
- Midnight
- Opal
- Taupe
In the peafowl world, the term split refers to a bird carrying those genetics but not visually expressing it. For instance, this boy looks like an India Blue (Black Shoulder pattern) but he is also split peach.
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| India Blue Black Shoulder |
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| Peach Peachick |
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| In contrast, this is an India Blue chick. |
For the combinations listed below you can interchange where I have listed blue (short for India Blue) with Bronze, Jade, Midnight, Opal or Taupe and get the same results.
Blue X Blue = all blue chicks
Blue X Bronze = all blue split bronze chicks
Blue X Jade = all blue split to Jade chicks
Blue X Midnight = all blue split to Midnight chicks
Blue X Opal = all blue split to Opal chicks
Blue X Taupe = all blue split to Taupe chicks
Easy enough right? Anything you breed that does not 'match up' color wise will produce split chicks of whatever color isn't blue. The blue color is dominant so it will always visually display when you are not breeding two of the same color.
Now if you take any of these colors and cross them, all the chicks will be blue and split to both colors. Let's use Bronze in this example (mostly because I love it so much).
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| Bronze Peacock |
Bronze X Jade = all blue split Bronze split Jade chicks
Bronze X Midnight = all blue split Bronze split Midnight chicks
Bronze X Opal = all blue split Bronze split Opal chicks
Bronze X Taupe = all blue split Bronze split Opal chicks
Still with me? Good. ;) The fun really starts when you start adding in the 'split' factor. Because blue is dominant, crossing them to a bird that is split to another color would not give you that color (blue X blue split bronze will not give you bronze chicks). You would need to cross that split bird with either one of that color or one that is also split to that color.
Bronze X Blue split Bronze = 50% chicks will be bronze, 50% will be blue split bronze
Blue split Bronze X Blue split Bronze = 25% bronze, 50% blue split bronze, 25% blue
**here is where it starts to get tricky because you will not be able to tell the difference between the blue and the blue split bronze. **
Clear as Mud?!
You can see how careful record keeping is imperative to breeding peafowl, well if you are planning on achieving a desired outcome at least. ;)
In our next installment we will talk about the other colors, Cameo, Peach, Purple and Violeta. Also known as sex-link colors.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Reflections of (St)Eve
Whew! It has been quite a year! When I first agreed to take on the project The Chicken Chick originally started, I was really, REALLY nervous. What if something happened to him? What if I couldn't get a picture every day? What if I took all these pictures and no one even saw them? and a million other 'What if's' went through my mind.
Over the last 10+ months (St)Eve and I have had quite the adventure. Much more than I could have ever imagined. We do have a plethora of animals here, including over 75 chickens and between 80-100 peacocks (and peahens). Normally I would not spend this much time daily with one bird, well unless it was my Bronze Boy. <3
When the journey to us started midday on February 14, I was a nervous wreck! I can only imagine how ridiculous my text messages to (St)Eve's transport (Tiffany) must have sounded. Even though I had recently started back to work full time and the littlest Louden was only 7 weeks old, I spent that evening pacing the floors instead of catching up on some much needed rest. I was mixed with excitement and nervousness at his arrival. After stopping to rest, they arrived at our meeting point in the afternoon with just enough time for me to be back to greet the oldest two Louden's off the school bus for the day.
The kids were all a huge help preparing for both (St)Eve and Max's arrival. We kept both boys quarantined before integrating into our birds and we had decided (St)Eve would stay inside for the time being (more to ease my mind than anything).
(St)Eve made himself right at home. ;)
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| Hugs from Anderson! |
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| Checking out a newly hatched half sibling. |
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| Enjoying a view of the farm from the back deck. |
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| Watching TV with Jackson and daddy Max. |
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| Conquering the land of the dinosaurs. |
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| Doing a Mexican Hat Dance. |
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| Playing piano for us. |
As the weeks progressed on March started, (St)Eve grew and we introduced him to some friends from our flock (he still hangs with some of them today). He made his move to the outside in early March. I would try to spend time following (St)Eve and his crew around just to see what he was up to, he never disappointed me.
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| Riding Jackson's skateboard. |
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| Making himself right at home in the 'climbing tree'. |
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| Being a protective big brother to yet more chicks. |
At the end of March we reached a bit of a dilemma, we were committed to attend an exotic auction for our peafowl for three days. What to do with (St)Eve?! He came with of course!
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| Enjoying his trip to a hotel with a breakfast buffet served in the bathroom. |
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| Posing with my wooden rooster to show how big he's getting! |
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| Scratching around for tasty treats. |
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| With his best gal Eve, strolling into the woods. |
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| These two quickly became inseparable. |
May started off with (St)Eve almost not making it any further! I found him tangled up in a roll of wire and nearly lost it trying to remove him safely. Luckily DH came to the rescue (literally) and helped save his life! After our little wire scare, we coasted safely through the month without incident.
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| (St)Eve with the wire that almost took his life. |
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| Watching for the school bus in the front flower bed. |
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| Trying to blend in with the orange azalea. |
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| Spending the afternoon with his gal Eve. |
In June we celebrated with (St)Eve when Eve laid her first eggs. We also all enjoyed the return of warmth and sunshine.
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| He's so proud you'd think he laid it himself. |
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| Practicing to be a garden statue. ;) |
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| (St)Eve loved to give us action shots. |
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| Overlooking his domain. |
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| Look at that sweet face. |
As (St)Eve grew and July rolled around he found himself the center of attention for several ladies! He also figured out how to open our sliding glass door and would often wake us up with a crow in the morning.
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| Another one of (St)Eve's gal's, we call her Blue Hen. |
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| Practicing his best karate kid pose. |
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| Leaving after his early morning wake up calls. |
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| Bringing all the lay-deez in for treats! We were met with another dilemma in August, we planned a 10 day trip to Disney World for the kids. Unfortunately, we didn't feel this was a trip (St)Eve was up to making so we had our farm sitter text us his daily pictures so we wouldn't miss a day on our journey. Turned out, he didn't miss us AT ALL and spent most of his days planning a big party--good thing we made it home in time to stop that! ;) |
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| (St)Eve borrowed Sydney's scooter to pick up his Lay-Deez |
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| Some of our friends, Shelly and Harry Wade, made the trip out to meet (St)Eve and take a picture too. |
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| Before we knew it, it was time for school to start again, Sydney gave (St)Eve BIG hugs before heading out for the first day. |
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| Remembering his days as a house chicken. |
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| Did you ever have an itch... |
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| Soccer star! |
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| (St)Eve in the moonlight. |
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| Happy 7th Birthday Jackson |
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| Happy 5th Birthday Anderson |
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| (St)Eve wasn't as amused with Savannah's peacock costume as we all were. ;) |
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| (St)Eve's classic flamingo pose. |
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| (St)Eve with Sydney at his first poultry show, the Ohio National. |
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| Enjoying the last bit of fall with Blue Hen. |
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| NOT enjoying the early hour of it, but enjoying his time with his Russian gal watching the sun set. |
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| Getting his crow on. |
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| Crowing at the foggy morning. |
Before we knew it, December was upon us. We tried to capture a little bit of Christmas spirit in a lot of the pictures this month while still letting his personality shine through.
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| Adding the ultra important Chicken to the nativity scene. |
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| Mesmerized by the lights. |
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| Reluctantly posing with some crocheted trees intended as teacher gifts. |
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| Thankful we didn't wrap him with all the other presents! |
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| Showing us just how far he's come, posing with a newly hatched chick. |
Well, folks that's it. that's the year. oh wait! I have this handy-dandy video I made showing ALL the pictures from the year. I hope you enjoy it, it's taken us a year to produce! ;)
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