Backyard Poultry Forum

Well all continues pretty quietly with the langshans- two months of determined broodiness from one or more of the hens at any one time and then some major moultings. I continue to love their individual personalities - they each have different voices some loud some softer- they talk to each other and to me. We have adventures in the garden each day and most days a dust bath. I will update soon on the two new flocks that we have bought for Dad- more shortly

So Dad's 70th birthday is coming up and I have been trying to convince my parents to let me buy him some chickens as he has always wanted some. I had contacted a Hamburg breeder, to investigate getting some of his birds but unfortunately the breeder didn't vaccinate for Mareks which is a must for us after the trauma of losing most of my first flock.

And then I saw on BYP that Avgen was starting to sell some of the imported birds so we got very excited about the possibility of helping to get some of these breeds established in Australia- what could be better for a 70th birthday present!

So last night a trio of Dutch bantams and a trio of redcaps arrived! Oh my goodness these are lovely birds. The Dutch bantams are tiny! So pretty, I love listening to their quiet trill as they are talking away to each other as they explore their new pen. They are going to be real characters I think.

The redcaps are terrific- the rooster (only 12 weeks) ventured out of the carrier we had left open inside the pen at 10pm and worked out how to get up the ramp in the dark and convince his two girls to follow him up into their new house late at night. In the morning they were out and exploring- they are an active, curious and intelligent bird who will be a wonderful part of our new flock.

We are so excited and so happy to have these lovely birds as part of our family

I promise to take some photos on the weekend.

Oh please! I want some pics soooo much!
Thats excellent

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Erika

How incredibly exciting!! What a wonderful present

Glad to hear that your Langies are going well too

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Cheerio, Rach
Blue Swedish Ducks

Tis exciting - what a well thought out gift. We looking out for photos so don't put that on the backburner.

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PC

Oh Trillian that's so exciting ! How wonderful
Photos please !!

I read another of your posts that said these birds hadn't had water for half a day during travel. I'm curious why weren't such valuable birds given water? (I haven't re checked that post in case you updated it...ooops sorry).
I've had quite a few silkies transported from interstate and they are fed and watered during their journey. I would think after everything it took to get these birds into the country their welfare would be extremely important.
What happened ? Was it a poultry transport company you used?

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Ok some photos the first shows my bantam langshan hen being broody in the same size nest box as the Dutch bantams like to sleep in- just to give you a sense of how small the Dutch bantams are

The rest of the photos aren't great I'm sorry - just an iPhone trying to take a photo in shadows

The last two photos are the redcaps. Both the redcaps and Dutch bantams are still very young- only 10 weeks old

The redcaps are impressive- they are really active and strong - it's easy to see why they have been a farmyard bird since the early 19th century.

Thanks Trillian Enjoy them all and keep us updated as they grow please.

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Erika

Thanks for the pics!!

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Cheerio, Rach
Blue Swedish Ducks