Goodbye Goats - Hello Sun!

So, just a few days ago, Saturday January 15th, we sold two of our goats.

Our beloved and beautifully patterned Coral Belle, who gave me some amazing, rich, sweet milk and out of this world cheese as well as plenty of great personality and conversation. . .



And another beloved doeling, Marguerite, who was quite shy but very beautiful. We never had a chance to try any of her milk though.



Marguerite is on the far left, Coral Belle on the far right.




We sold them last weekend so that we have more room for the pasture to grow and not get over grazed. If it were really up to me, I would have kept Coral Belle, she was an absolute sweetheart and had amazing coloration, but at least we still have our colorful Nubian buck, George. He'll now be the sire to the remaining two doe's kids. Hopefully he'll throw a LOT of color and sweet temperament!





George, despite being a buck, is a very sweet, odorless, mellow, and quiet goat.


Well, beyond the sad news of loss, we must move on. . . And today was a perfect day to show for that. We had some rare sun show up!

First up is a Black Copper Marans hen who is really, really busty! This girl has a lot of size to her, bigger than my other lines of Black Coppers, and this photo perfectly shows how meaty she can be. I'm certainly going to use her next for our Shamo x Marans meat-bird projects.



After that, there's another kind of size. . . This here is a splash colored Jersey Giant basking right behind a rather small looking but normally sized Wheaten Ameraucana. The splash Jersey Giant still has a lot more growing to do, too!



And, her sister, another behemoth still with some time left to continue growing. Behind her is an Araucana hen.



And, on the smaller side, the Araucana. . .



Also wandering around is a rarely seen Silver Duckwing colored Araucana.



And, in relative subject, here's a gorgeous Blue Ameraucana.



Wandering more in the shady times of the day is another beauty, a Buff Ameraucana.




Well, that's it for now. This sun only lasts so long, and then it's just a bunch of long, large shadows cast by the trees. Winter is a dark time of the year, but when the sun does come out, it is a very nice advantage. Also, you might notice, but some of the birds are just finishing up on molting, so their feathers aren't looking in top condition.

Buff Ameraucanas

Yes! Besides a lot of new chicks, we also purchased a new color variety of Ameraucana. I must really say, I'm getting quite the addiction to Ameraucanas. Why? Because they're good sized, lay good sized eggs, and they're very sweet, friendly, and laid back. Unlike Araucanas, cockerels get along better, and unlike Araucanas, they're not practically bantam sized. But still, I do love Araucanas as well!

Anyway, here's my new pair. I got them from a well respected breeder, Jean Ribbeck. (Known well as Pips&peeps from BYC) They're Buff Ameraucanas. A very rare color, and sadly also very underrated. Because most Buffs lay a poor egg color and the color in general is rare, they're rarely spoken of. If anyone mentions the color, it is usually another misinformed owner of a typical Easter Egger. (Who of course is NOT buff colored)

The pair are in quarantine right now, so the photos aren't the best. . .

The evening sun just feeds to his gorgeous golden glow!



The two. . . Perhaps two in love?



. . . Or a pullet who thinks beards are tasty. . .




Now that we're done with that excitement for the night, let's take a very brief tour on how others are doing..

First, our Tolbunt Polish are still growing! This here is Spike, my frizzled cockerel.





And this is Bowie, my Smooth cockerel.






Looking out at some girls free ranging. . .





Her secret hidey hole.



Searchin' the tree trunks. . .



Our colorful Blue Wheaten Marans cockerel. . .



Crowing. . .



Sultan, our "White Wheaten" crowing. . .



Our Wheaten Marans crowing . . .



Even Bowie crowing!



And at last, here's a little sample of all the egg colors we've been getting. Isn't the purple looking one just awesome?

The Marans & Ameraucanas - Grown up!

It's been a long time since I've updated on these guys too. They are what create the colored eggs on the above photo. Also, this will be a good time for me to show the difference between Ameraucanas and Araucanas. (but remember, hatcheries and feedstores do NOT sell either of them, no matter what they say!)

Here's my Ameraucanas so far. . . My Blues, Blacks, Wheatens, and Blue Wheatens.

This is my main blue cockerel, Poseidon.







This is my main black cockerel, Hades.





This is my currently broody blue pullet.



And here's another blue pullet, but she's so dark of a blue she's nearly black.



This is my black pullet, enjoying the vast reaches of our pasture.



Also, here's our current Blue Wheaten pullet who's laying. . . Her tail was taken by a goat.



Here's a Wheaten pullet.



And here's a gorgeous example of a Blue Wheaten Ameraucana egg! (it is small because it was her first)



Last but not least, this is "Sultan," an odd "White Wheaten" cockerel as I like to call it - He's white, but hatched from a wheaten/blue wheaten batch of eggs.




Now onto the Marans. . .

Almost all of my Marans are now laying, and at the moment I'm typing this, I'm collecting every single egg and putting it up for sale. So, to take a quick tour through the colors of Marans I have. . . We'll start with the Blue Wheatens and Wheatens.

Here's my Blue Wheaten cockerel. He's lanky and really needs to fill out, but otherwise quite nice.



Here's my Wheaten cockerel. He's quite an eye-catcher, and always takes good photos.





And now, the girls. . . I used to have the most gorgeous Blue Wheaten pullet around, but she went broody far out in our pasture and one night got dragged off by a raccoon. So, I've got Wheatens left. Most are okay, one in particular is stunning!









And last but certainly not least - My Black Coppers. These are the "big prize" Marans who lay the darkest of eggs. I have three different breedings of them, and am in the works of improving both egg color and body conformation and color. Some of my girls hardly even have copper on them, while one of my boys has a side-spring on his comb.

Here's the boys. . .

This is Guitard (pronounced goy-urd)



This is Cacao (His tail was eaten by a goat)



This is a cockerel currently nicknamed "Five Pointer."



These two are the bothers, "Five Pointer" and Guitard.



Two Black Coppers and my Blue Wheaten




And here's a small sample of the girls. Note the lack of copper.