First, Djimon the Yak. You heard it, he's bigger than the goats now! He's maturing quite well now, and is quite the "man" . . . Okay so not really, but he thinks he is!
He's so hairy now! And it doesn't stop there. . . He's still got a LOT more wool to grow. Speaking of growing, take a look at how his horns are coming along. . . They used to be little stubs, now they're becoming longer, and I can actually hook my hand around them!
And of course, there's the other black four leggeds. . . Here's Jugs, previously named Zing. She's sooo close to birthing a kid! Look at that belly. . .
And then look at that pretty head.
But, what about this "3rd Goat" of ours? When did that come into play? Well, yes, we now have a 3rd addition to the four leggeds. . . We recently (two weekends ago) got ourselves a Nubian buck. I normally don't care for Nubians, but this guy has a most interesting color, hard to tell in photos though, of creamy tan with big white spots here and there. Also, he's very needy and an absolute sweetheart! He even wags his tail when you pet him.
Now, past the four legged animals, are the chickens. . . Here's our first Ameraucana and Marans chicks we got a while ago, back in February. They're 2 months old now!
The first photo is of our "keeper" Black Copper Marans cockerel walking a long the chicks' new permanent perch, just across from our current layer's perch. He has some undesired traits such as mossiness and a red chest coming through, but we're keeping him for Olive Egger production. "Mossy" Marans, those who have too much copper or golden feathers scattered around their bodies, are often known to lay darker eggs. So, we're keeping him to give us some beautiful Marans-Ameraucana crosses, so his traits won't affect the offspring, as they're going to be hybrids anyway.
Next is our Ameraucanas, who have really grown! We do indeed have some cleanfaced ones, (no muffs and beard) which is also undesired, but the cockerels we're not keeping and the hens will only be used for egg laying. The boys in this photo though are our keepers - One black, and one blue from this particular batch of Ameraucanas.
All 12 Marans and Ameraucanas that are 2 months old are now living with the adult hens. Eventually all of our chicks, including the ones in the incubator right now, will be introduced into the main flock once they're a month old. Then, when everyone hits laying age, the cockerels will all be put into their "bachelor pad" and the hens will all have free range until a month later. . . Then, the breeding programs begin.
And speaking of chicks, here's the Araucanas I got just a little while ago:
Full wing feathering!! They're also getting feathers in on their shoulders and back now. Of course, this photo may look like a chick you can get from the feedstore or hatcheries, but believe me - It isn't. These are true Araucanas, not the "Americanas" and "Araucanas" sold at hatcheries. They're the real thing; The rumpless, tufted, blue egg laying breed from South America.
And to further prove it, here's a gorgeous white one with amazing tufts, with another amazing blue just to the left, also with a lovelt set of tufts coming in.
And, here's the most interesting color of all - blue cuckoo. It isn't a true "barred cuckoo" color, but close enough. As a chick, it is completely convincing. But as it grows up, it is more of a blue tipped splash color. I got my Araucanas from a lovely guy named Gary Ramey, and he mainly works with this weird color as well as splash. I'm hoping to continue work on this color, and especially get some tufts in that genepool, because so far - I have two of thse. One with a clean face, and another with only one tuft.
And then past the Araucanas are our own recently hatched Black Copper Marans, Wheaten Marans, and BBS Ameraucanas. They're maturing very well! Here's our only three Wheaten Marans. . .
The first is feathering out straight brown so far, and a cockerel. It has a very well sized comb, and displayed the proper behavior just days ago.
This one I'm unsure on sex of, but has part black, part brown wings:
Another one I'm unsure on, as it has solid black wings:
And then, there's the Black Coppers. Some are getting some beautifully developed cockerel combs, some are just plain nice looking, and one is solid black. There is not a white feather or bit of down on it - Even its feet and beak are black. Very interesting.
Here's a group bunch of them, with the biggest combed Marans in the middle:
And last but not least: My 3 BBS Ameraucanas, being the biggest and heaviest of the bunch. They're only hours to a day older, but that can change a lot. Pictured is one of the blacks.
Hope you had the patience to look through all that! It sure is a lot, and don't worry. . . There will be more!!
My next post will be all about eggs. I'll be showing pictures of what we currently have in the incubator, what we eat and sell, and what we have that hatched out already, and we're just waiting for to grow up and give us more beautiful eggs! :)
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