Sebrights are not a beginner breed for maintaining a breed-standard bloodline -- they're smol with smol eggs and mainly bred only for show, resulting in a low population. But I'm allowed to look and they're just so gorgeous. source
(The second row looks to be some of the nonstandard colorings developed in Holland; Gold and Silver with black lacing are the two recognized Sebright variants.)
They're excellent fliers (look at those broad primaries!) and best kept in an aviary environment. In coincidental and completely unrelated news, I want an aviary.
(this is where I put a disclaimer that any type of animal bred for show is put through a LOT, both in the traits achieved and in the handling they get, and not all of it is good. I'm averse enough to crowds that I don't think I'd breed for show, but you don't have to show birds for them to be healthy and on point.)
(additional disclaimer that breeds requiring their individuals to be unhealthy in some way should cease forever and be supplanted with versions different enough to be healthy, etc etc very large subject.)
...wow these people were raising chickens AND pheasants AND guineafowl AND turkeys AND ducks AND peacocks AND EMUS (cw for some bullying behavior among the guineafowl; the bullied bird is removed to safety)
If I was going to improve on this, I'd use larger bottles so the eggs aren't hitting the roof when they hatch, and two egg-holding trays mounted so the eggs can turn all the way over without moving the entire unit.
This guy's only electronic component is a 60-watt lightbulb. (I'd make the box taller, though, or run the bulb in from the top with a non-flammable material for a cover; 60 watts isn't a lot but I don't like it so close to the cardboard.
Inability to monitor the temperature and humidity in real time would probably be a problem mostly in situations where the temperature/humidity near the incubator wasn't constant and predictable.)
From what I understand, Seramas in America have a really tiny gene pool (along with their really tiny everything else) because of post-bird-flu regulations against bringing any new ones in.
It's a pretty strong argument against getting them for breeding, except with hens from different breeds to widen the gene pool, after which they're not full Seramas anymore but would still make perfectly fine pet chickens. (Small-breed hens should not be kept with larger-breed roosters; egg size can become an issue.)
Orpingtons of different colors apparently don't share the same root breeds; it's more of a brand name, aiming for dual-purpose (good for both eggs and meat) birds bigger than the usual 1880s breeds.
They come as both regular-size and Bantams, and sound like a great bird all round: docile, cuddly, good brooders, cold-hardy, quiet, ok in smaller spaces: a good chonk borb.
/ponders This hold seems designed for people who will be handling a lot of unfamiliar chickens. He's absolutely right that if you support a bird's feet, it will feel more qualified to control itself than you are and will often flap in your face and try to launch itself elsewhere.
When you need to hold and assess one chicken after another for hours and don't want them to have flappy adrenaline bursts and get distressed, it makes sense not to give them that leverage.
However: show birds are (ideally) used to human handling and feel less threatened being held than a lot of free-range non-hand-raised birds. I don't know how much this would help a bird used to not being handled.
It's not a fair comparison because homesteader-raising-so-many-types-of-birds doesn't have as much chicken-holding experience as founder-of-the-Sustainable-Poultry-Association, but I suspect the birds' individual temperaments and experience being handled is also part of the difference.
This fellow's been conservation-breeding since he was a kid (go to 1:54 to skip discussion of chicken vaccination and the dangers of sending poultry in the mail)
He has each breeding family in its own space. With a regular backyard flock, isolating a breeding group is only necessary for a few weeks to make sure egg fertilization isn't happening between siblings (that's unhealthy).
Ultimately, though, backyard chickens don't have to serve a lofty purpose like conservation to justify getting them. Chickens can break even with careful management, but it's completely okay if their primary purpose is to be fat floofy borbs who sit on your lap and raid your pockets for seeds.<3
It's good for me to remind myself that I don't have to make a big complicated this-is-how-what-I-like-will-serve-humanity plan in order to have something good.
Exchequer Leghorns are speckly! It's a lovely look with their white earlobes. (In most breeds, though not all, white-earlobed birds produce white eggs and red-earlobed ones produce brown.)
Hmmm yeah I'd say this handsome fella is a cis lad. The sickle-curved tailfeathers are a big sign, but it'd be VERY unusual finding such a deep voice on anyone who could lay eggs.~~
The tail difference is really visible here. Very few breeds have roosters with "hen-feathered" (non-curved) tails, which can be associated with low fertility, probably for some kind of gene-associated hormonal reason.
(This guy's using that same "holding a show chicken" technique, but also those birds stay right where they are on the table when he puts them down; non-hand-raised birds would Probably Not! )
Cochins are actually really gentle! A lot of types of chickens can be raised to come hop on your lap for a hug, but Cochins are big fluffy sweeties and are even recommended for backyards with children!
A really cuddly chicken will hop on your lap, cluck comfortably while settling down, and tuck its head under your arm, and then your heart melts into a puddle.
/hauls self out of another chicken googlewander but look this Dutch booted bantam is so pretty~ I think from this list of Booted Bantam colors, he's a porcelain millefleur!
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[this has become a Chickens Are So Gorgeous And Cool plurk, to absolutely no one's surprise
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LAVASNOWhttps://i.pinimg.com/... Bearded Buff Lace!
https://backyardpoultry.iamcountryside.com/...
Bearded Silver Lace!
So many different colors zomg! And there are non-bearded Polish Lace ones too!
https://the-chicken-chick.com/...
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.
tumblr post of gorgeous Barnenvelders
lolololbetween these last variations(cw for some bullying behavior among the guineafowl; the bullied bird is removed to safety)
One more pretty chicken for the night!
This hold seems designed for people who will be handling a lot of unfamiliar chickens. He's absolutely right that if you support a bird's feet, it will feel more qualified to control itself than you are and will often flap in your face and try to launch itself elsewhere.
If she were broody? 1/3.
absolute chonk (Silver Penciled Rock)
This gorgeous Polish blue!!!!
now I'm hungry XDI think from this list of Booted Bantam colors, he's a porcelain millefleur!