Cover StoryFloozey really is the star! Actually I made this cover at a web site I heard about from Amy and from Paula. It's fun and challenging at the same time. Here is the link to create your own cover.
Thanks Paula and Amy!
Not Quite Normal
I wanted to give Ruth a lot of interesting "objects" for her photography, and I think I can safely say, "Mission Acomplished." I'm not sure if I have any "normal" chickens. By normal I mean chickens most people would be familiar with like Rhode Island Reds, Leghorns, etc. My breeds are Polish Cresteds, Ameraucanas, Araucanas, Buttercups, Cuckoo Marans, Buff Orpingtons, Black Minorcas, Cochins, Crevecouers and Japanese Bantams. (Did I forget anyone?)
White Japanese Bantams (5 weeks old)
These two are tied at the hip! If I catch one, it is like holding onto water while he (she) tries to get back together with the other one. If I catch them both simultaneously, they sit in my hand like little Webkinz. Someone told me that they are the ultimate "Lap Chicken." I can see that already as they are quite cozy when I have both of them.
It is hard to tell their size in these photos, but they can both easily sit in one of my hands. At the Ingham County Fair, I saw full grown Japanese Bantams and a lady had a rooster in her right hand and was allowing everyone to pet it. Apparently it likes that. She said when he sees her, he runs back and forth in his cage until she picks him up and pets him.
I wanted to give Ruth a lot of interesting "objects" for her photography, and I think I can safely say, "Mission Acomplished." I'm not sure if I have any "normal" chickens. By normal I mean chickens most people would be familiar with like Rhode Island Reds, Leghorns, etc. My breeds are Polish Cresteds, Ameraucanas, Araucanas, Buttercups, Cuckoo Marans, Buff Orpingtons, Black Minorcas, Cochins, Crevecouers and Japanese Bantams. (Did I forget anyone?)
White Japanese Bantams (5 weeks old)
These two are tied at the hip! If I catch one, it is like holding onto water while he (she) tries to get back together with the other one. If I catch them both simultaneously, they sit in my hand like little Webkinz. Someone told me that they are the ultimate "Lap Chicken." I can see that already as they are quite cozy when I have both of them.
It is hard to tell their size in these photos, but they can both easily sit in one of my hands. At the Ingham County Fair, I saw full grown Japanese Bantams and a lady had a rooster in her right hand and was allowing everyone to pet it. Apparently it likes that. She said when he sees her, he runs back and forth in his cage until she picks him up and pets him.
Sleepy HeadsWhile walking around in the yard pecking at everything, these two did something very interesting. As soon as they walked into full sunlight, they both immediately squatted and began to fall asleep. I am talking about a matter of seconds!
Dahlia (Silver Polish Hen)
Dahlia needed a haircut today, so I brought her out and Ruth snapped photos and then held her while I snipped away. It was fun to watch her go back into the pen and actually look around and see. This photo is the before. We forgot to take an after shot. Oh well, she has a mohawkish "do" now. I may show her at the fair next summer. (No haircuts after her moult)
Not your typical chicken 
36 comments:
DANG...I gotta get me some!!!
Dahlia ..oh wow, ...I saw some roosters, hens, yesterday at Tom's farms but only got a few shots. They looked miserable in the heat. How do yours hold up when its' hot..
Oh Don, i love your little chickens so much!!!
I have never saw one like dahlia!! what a Queen!
OMG ... I love them All! And I just did my little post on Honey today :)
The plumage on the Japanese Bantams is almost angelic it's so white. Are they the ones that the zoo gave you? I LOVE them all!
I can shoot a 4GB memory card at your farm Don, maybe one day, who knows...
That book is a cracker, LOVE it, my designer eye says it looks great...keep it in mind to publish.
http://www.lulu.com/en/products/
maybe it is a thought.....
Have a great day and please say Hello to my dear friend Kuifje....;-)
Those little bantams are so cute. They sound wonderful to keep. I wonder if you've got boys or girls or a mix? And Miss Dahlia is just beautiful with her lovely laced feathers.
Lol, too funny about the falling asleep, and thanks for the link to create your own cover page, heading there right now!!! just took some shots of the Milky Way, going to be the image.
I thought all chickens were ... "chickens". I guess I need to get out to the farm more often!!
Hello from SpeedyCat :)
That mag cover is one of the funnest projects ever!
Oh, our Dahlia is such a sweetie. And the bantams are a funny duet. They could do synchronized dancing. Or sing duets in church.
ok ... keep it up...
now you have synchronized dancing and singing chickens!!.. if I don't get some soon I am gonna have a fit!!!
Great pix!
See, I'm thinking that faux magazine cover can be REAL, despite the decline in print media, with the right kind of marketing type who can aim it at the "young lad" rooster market. Instead of Maxim, we have Clucks-him, "FHM" in this case stands for "For Hen Managers," and of course there will be a risque spinoff called "Hot Chix." Maybe Chik-Fill-A will bankroll this idea.
I don't know how I missed the magazine cover when I visited...!
That is so cool.
sandy: that's too bad about those over-heated chickens. My coop is actually in the basement of the barn and the stone walls are aver 8 feet tall. This makes for a cool room and it stays 10-20 degrees cooler than outside. Also, I have left big clumps of Burdock growing in the chicken run so they can get underneath those huge leaves during the heat of the day.
Gwen: If we lived closer, I would drive over to your house and bring you a Dahlia of your very own, (along with a Cuckoo Maran rooster or two!)...
drowsey monkey: I loved your Honey post. It is very thought provoking.
sharon: Yes, the little white angels are from the zoo. I think I will have a winter dilemma as I will need to put them in with the others to keep warm, but don't want them to get picked on.
hmm...
astrid: one of these days, you'll have to join ginnie and donica on an american jaunt and come to the farm.
I think a good chicken magazine would be fun to read (and write). I have a lot of blogger friends who could be columnists and provide interesting articles about poultry and gardening.
Kuifje needs a haircut. Maybe I can send you some of her feathers with Ginnie?
amy: I would love it if I had a boy and a girl. One of them has a slightly larger comb...
I didn't plant any dahlia flowers this year, so I am content to have her walking around the pen!
bob: your photos of the milky way are stunning. People! Go see Bob's pics, you'll get hooked!
speedycat: Hello to you! I agree with you about chickens. I didn't realize there were so many breeds. I think I read somewhere that there are over 200 accepted breeds.
ruth: you would know all about those church duets! I wonder if we could video record them doing a synch-walk...
gwen: just think about all the eggs, entertainment, and fertilizer for your gardens!
teena: thanks to Ruth for the pix! thanks to you for your visit.
loring: i googled "poultry mags" and all of them are a little too serious. I think your ideas would shake up the poultry magazine industry.
sandy: I added the magazine cover after your visit. You're not going insane.
If you lived closer.. I'd take you up on it in a minute!!
Look at her in her lacey evening gown...your chickens are so well dressed your mag cover should be Chicken Vogue.
Seriously I have to find a way to get around my HOA and get me some of those beauties.
Dahlia is beautiful. I also like your magazine cover. I tried one for my rooster but his picture didn't seem to fit and I ran out of time. I'm going give it a try again!
Hi Don, man I LOVE your magazine cover!
:D
Seeing all these photos (well done Ruth by the way!) just makes me want to move in our new place NOW and start having fun like you do.
I haven't been around on the blogs recently as we've been a bit busy with sourcing stuff for the house and being with the kids.
Always nice to catch up though!
;)
Love the magazine cover and your birds of course.
Don i really like youre magazine cover ,i may have a go myself at doing one for the chucks r us site ,come the chicken revolution....chicken J out
I just commented on Ruth's blog that you look like you had a new haircut a la subtle mohawk. Do you and Dahlia have the same hairdresser?
that looks like a real magazine!! i love reading the headlines you chose. i would get a subscription. so when do you publish?
"farm visits: who's next?" :)
gwen: one of these days!! Say, are you interested in a bag of chicken feathers? Anyone??
tori: Dahlia is stylin! Everyone that sees the flock gravitates to her as their favorite.
carole: I need to come to your blog and get an update. I hope to see a cover!
stiggy: I have been too busy lately too! I'll bet you and Jo are dreaming about your place!
paula: I love the Japanese Bantams! I decided to let them in with the big girls, in a somewhat separate pen, and every night they are roosting 7 feet off the floor! They are 6 weeks old and still quite petite.
country girl: thank you!
chicken j: The cover is a fun little project, you need to give it a try. It looks like you are getting your allotment under control!
loring: commenting as myself, er, um, no, I cut Dahlia's feathers and do a pisspoor job of it! My hair cutter actually does a nice job, but I don't have her around every day to do me up!
lesley anne: a magazine would be fun, yet a huge challenge! I can't even do a consistent blog!
arbor plans??
Aww feathers ... you must have some beautiful colors floating around...
Oh, I LOVE your Japanese!!!! They're beautiful. I want some!!!! I think I may be buying some chickens at the fair....
Dahlia looks a whole lot like one of our golden-laced Polish.
I love your chickens! We are getting ready to butcher our red broilers and I think they are 10 weeks old this week. The hatchery said not to raise them past 12 weeks due to the meat will get tough. I am ready to put them in the freezer now because they are really eating a lot of grain now... but haven't really consumed as much overall as the Cornish X that we did earlier this year. We had a lot of those die also because of sickness, so I wanted a hardier bird... the red broilers sure are that! I love that they walk around more than the Cornish X also! they are a good bird and I think I will definately raise them again next year. You have a nice blog also! Thanks!
Janine
Hi Janine: Welcome to my blog. I am interested in the red broilers for the fall. I am going to visit your blog to see what is happening!
Your chickens are so cute! Someone requested I highlight the Japanese Bantam on my sight and then what do I find, you have one! Very cute!
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