It's greening up in the pastures again with the little bit of rain that we've had in the past couple of days, so I turned the sheep out to let them run around and graze a bit. They're hilarious to watch as they leap up into the air and tear around like little lambs. =:)
I'm really happy about this little black beauty. This is the first "throw-back" genetically solid black penedesenca pullet that has hatched out in two years worth of work. I've been trying for awhile to get anything remotely close to a completely solid black out of my recessive rooster. I usually get the darker crele pattern, which is what her little brothers are beside of her. This pullets grandfather was my old solid black penedesenca rooster "Guapo" who sadly passed away at the very ripe old age of 8 1/2. The mother of these chicks is a bright blonde colored crele hen, and their father is a younger recessive-gened dark crele rooster - (by Guapo out of an older crele hen who is now deceased as well). I will take these younger cockerels back to bright colored crele hens when they get older, and the little pullet will get paired with an unrelated solid black roo in the future.
Crele penedesenca pullets. There is an older silver birchen serama pullet in the brooder box with them too. The serama pullet hatched out kind of weak, and I was afraid that the big surrogate broody hen would accidentally squash her, so she went into the box as well. -Shannon.
wow, good for you!
ReplyDeleteI would love to learn some genetics. I was going to try to breed Araucanas but every time I buy one it turns out to be an Easter Egger.