mostin Posted August 28, 2011 Author Share Posted August 28, 2011 As promised here as some pictures. There is one of Gina the proud mummy, and then some so you can see the chicks. There is one stripey chick, one pale grey, one dark grey and four black. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Raven Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Aww that's wonderful! So pleased for both of you!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple hen Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 They are so cute, How clever of her to bring her chicks home to a safe place to rear them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkysmum Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Awesome. Just gorgeous. Wonderful story Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CluckyBucks Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 That is such a smashing story really really heart warming too. I wish you and her brood all the best xx xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Brilliant. Well done that sneaky little bird. Gorgeous chicks though. Good one with Shaun too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WitchHazel Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 what a fantastic surprise! She's a gorgeous girl, and the chicks are supercute. How lovely that she brought them home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 OH says they are cute too. Now to just persuade him to move house so I can have MORE!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 That'll keep her on the ground. Congratulations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mostin Posted August 29, 2011 Author Share Posted August 29, 2011 That'll keep her on the ground. Congratulations Yes, quite!!! I wonder when she's finished raising these chicks if she will behave herself and go to bed in the chicken house with the others, or go back to her old bad habits and go back up the tree? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HENthusiastic Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 I was talking to OH about this today and we both agree that at first free range she will be 6" up a tree with her darlin row of littluns perched along a branch next to her Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 or to get away from them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippy chick Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 aww what an amazing story, and those chicks are just to gorgeous well done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HENthusiastic Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 What fun it will be watching to see who they grow up to be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy-Deb Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Aww bless thats brilliant, congrats on your new chicks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennym Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Hi Mostin, could I hijack this thread for a moment with a couple of questions about the hen & chicks? 1. What breed is Gina? She looks like a Blue Marans with a pom-pom hairdo! 2. If the chicks all had the same mother and father, why do they look so different? Is this normal, or is it possible they had different fathers (naughty Gina!)? I know a bit about human genetics but apparently nothing about chicken genetics Jen x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennym Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Oops, I think I can answer my first question - she's an araucana, I think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckmum6 Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Love the chicks, especially the stripy one it looks like a humbug! What a clever hen to keep herself and them safe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vickichicky Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 How totally cute! Well done mum for bringing them back to keep them safe. The mind boggles how she managed to get enough to eat & drink let alone stay safe! Bless her. What a lovely story - you are very lucky! x x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mostin Posted August 29, 2011 Author Share Posted August 29, 2011 Oops, I think I can answer my first question - she's an araucana, I think? Very close . Her mother was a Coton Blue, that is an Araucana hybrid they have developed so that they will lay eggs all year round, they lay green eggs instead of blue though. Her father was Basil a pure Araucana, quite famous in the Yorkshire omlet group He did the rounds last spring and visited lots of our girls to help us all hatch some coloured egg layers. Blue crossed with blue gives mainly black chicks. Gina and Bluey were the only 2 Blues I got out of that cross last year. All the rest were Black. There can be many different fathers in a hatch. Or one father with a hen can throw up many different colours so it is very difficult to know what has gone on The three boys she could have mixed with in my garden are, a large Red Sussex, a large Buff Sussex or a large Malay. Judging by the fluffiness of the chicks, there is no Malay in the mix. But I don't know if she has been to the gardens on either side of me and visited the boys there!!! I don't know what they have at the moment I was talking to OH about this today and we both agree that at first free range she will be 6" up a tree with her darlin row of littluns perched along a branch next to her I can just see that now hehehe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennym Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Wow, how complicated! But no matter, Gina and her fluffy chicks are all gorgeous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurmurf Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 lord knows what the "deed" would have looked like between Gina and Joseph - the Malay. I still wake up in a cold sweat with memories or having to rescue our Min - a sebright - from George - a HUGE Malay! looking forward to meeting these COF later today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mostin Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 Well we knew she had been to visit Joseph. In true Gina style because the big girls run wasn't open for the day yet and she had come down from her tree and was hungry, she had gone up yo the top lawn and gone in the Malays and was eating their food Joseph was going nuts to be near her but I don't know if he ever "got" her as she did it quite a few times! Yorkshire Pudding is calling round this aft too, to pick up her holiday hens so it be nice to get 2 more opinions on what on earth has gone on!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
