I received my order of chickens, rabbits and a pair of Myotonic (TN Fainter) goats today.
The folks at Peace of Eden were super nice, and we met another rare breed rabbit person who had driven up from NC to receive shipment as well. He said he would travel a long way for a good (stock) rabbit. And these are. I have very old lines in the pedigrees, show winners, etc.
The following are the chicken breeds I recieved today:
(This is from Peace of Eden's Website.)
Barnevelder--developed in Holland. Very rare in the US. They are especially good layers in cold weather, in our experience. This is a very beautiful breed, with the male's iridescent greenish-black covering most of his body, edged slightly with a rich, mahogany brown. The females are even more stunning, with a base color of the same greenish-black, and the added beauty of mahogany double lacing on the back and breast feathers. We highly recommend this docile breed for homesteading. Our Barnevelders are predominantly from Johan Achterberg's line, who imported his stock directly from his native Holland in the 1970s.
Black Copper Marans--developed in France. Very rare in the US. These birds are known for their large, extremely dark brown eggs. The male is black with copper hackles and feathering on the back. The female is black, but copper hackles are desirable and a red spotted breast is acceptable. Our birds have heavily feathered shanks and we breed for copper coloring on the female hackles. Our hens are consistently laying nice eggs from the 5-7 color range at this time; however, egg color is an ongoing project with these birds. We have the Wade Jeane bloodline purchased directly from Tom Culpepper who has Wade's original stock.
Delaware--developed in the state of Delaware as the name suggests in 1940 from a cross of the Barred Plymouth Rock and the New Hampshire Red. They are white with barring on the hackles, primaries, secondaries and tail. They are a great dual-purpose bird and are very calm and friendly. They lay a very large, tinted brown egg, sometimes with double yolks. This breed has been listed as Threatened on the 2011 ALBC endangered breeds list and are on Slow Food's Ark of Taste. Our stock comes from a private breeder in NY and from Sandhill Preservation Center in Iowa.
Three pullets and one cockerel for each breed. Quartets. During breeding time I will have to keep them in pens, together so I will have purebred chickens, to add to my flock, and to sell, trade, gift. Plus egg production will be good on all three breeds.
Right now, I have them sorted by age. Not all the BC Marans were older, so the older three were picking on the little one. The Delawares had same situation going on, but not much of an age difference. I added them to the two chicks (my own hatch) I had in the chicken tractor. They are all getting along fine. So, a RI Red, a Black, a BC Maran, and four Delawares are sharing space there. I wish I had more of those tractors they work out fantastic in the summer. Portable with built in shelter. Free roaming in the safety of chicken wire. They all seem happy.
The remaining larger (teenagers) BC Marans are still in the large kennel until they get acclimated to sights and sound and the free roamers have plenty of time to see them here.
Lastly, the Barnevelders- they are in the brooder. They got quite beat up on they way across the state. So I am keeping them separate to heal and grow some feathers to cover their bald spots. They are super healthy looking birds, but those teenagers must have be relentless on them. So they have a luxury suite. All you can eat buffet, soft beds, and a fresh flowing water bowl. If a bird ever looked relieved, it would be them. They are cheerful chirping and jumping about. Apparently no worse for the wear.
Next, was my sweet breeding pair of Myotonics. Their names and Pancho de Villa and Cinco de Mayo. Cinco was born on the 5th of May, so her name was a no-brainer, but we wanted her mate to be named something Mexican as well.
Poor Pancho have fainted 5 times today, and had a run in with Earl. (Oh Earl you are so on my shit list) He pretty much wanted to follow Sophia or hide under my skirt.
Oprah seems to like her new playmates. Sophia said, "mom, Oprah will be like, what do you call them... sister wives?" I laughed, and said "exactly, she will be!" They all had fun while we where up at the garden. The garden that the ducks obliterated, now obviously had some yummy fresh greens. Look how big Oprah is comparatively. These TN Fainters are smaller than I thought they would be. Babies. They are little babies. They cry for us. My heart strings tug for that sort of stuff. I thought about bringing them in the house, and then my rational side said "No". I tucked them in like 3 times tonight.
sisterwives
We are a safe happy farm, you little TN Fainters, with impressive pedigrees. I put my name in for you, before you were born. You are wanted, We will take care of you.
Lastly, I received two American chinchillas. Nice, nice rabbits. The photos are not so great as I brought them down and they were moving, not posed. I am sure you will get the jest of what nice rabbits they are. The first photo is of the buck. He is younger than the doe. Pancho likes him.
Here is the doe, I am calling her rosemary. I love the smell of rosemary and the good feeling I get from that smell reminds me of my pretty doe.
I am off to the market tomorrow, more to experience and bring back to here. To you. Thanks for sharing in my joy. I hope it expanded and reached out to you.
~ tired, happy, crow.
