Speckled Sussex

I am super excited to announce our new flock of Speckled Sussex! We have 11 hens and two roos. We bought them as adults from a local farm from three young brothers who started their own business! The chickens each have names, though I can't remember them all yet. The roos are Jeremiah and Markus. That's easy enough. The girls are Veronica, Ruby, Screech, Linda, Philadelphia, Daisy, Leigha, Carry, Snow, Charity, and Constance. So far I know Ruby, Snow, and Constance.
Speckled Sussex are amazing dual purpose chickens. They are nice size birds; roos are around 9 pounds and hens come in at around 7.
Sussex chickens lay a light cream egg about every other day. See the larger eggs in the picture to the right (smaller ones are bantam eggs). We have had our girls only a few days, and they really didn't stop laying, even during their transition period. Usually after moving hens to a new location, they will stop laying for a couple weeks until they get used to their new home. But these girls took it all in stride and continue to lay about 3 to 5 eggs a day. I expect that to bump up to a solid 5 or 6 eggs a day in another week or so.
The best part about Speckled Sussex is their ability to forage and feed themselves! They eat anything and everything! Whether you're a prepper looking for a chicken that can survive Armageddon, or just someone looking for a chicken that won't break the piggy bank, this is the breed for you!
As an added bonus, this breed is super friendly and entertaining! They are such bundles of personality and so fun to watch! Since each one looks different, it's easy to keep track of which one is which and fun to give them names.
I'm looking forward to my adventures with this breed! And of course, I already have a breeding project in mind! ;)

Jerry, lost his tail in the move, but foot is better! 

More to come!

Bad case of Bumblefoot

New Chickens! I'll write a separate post about them soon, but we inherited one small problem. Jeremiah, the rooster, was battling a pretty nasty case of bumblefoot. Now I'm actually using that as a rather blanket term for an open, infected, swollen wound on the bottom of the foot. Poor Jerry was limping around, obviously in a great deal of pain. In my initial exam, I learned this was a very deep round hole, plugged with a deep hard cork made of a bloody scab full of all sorts of dirt, tiny gravel, and grass bits. The scab had deep cracks going all the way down to the irritated open hole, that continually reopened and

allowed fresh bleeding. So for a few days, he came inside into a quarantine bin of pine shavings that wouldn't get packed into his wound. There he could stay put, and give himself a chance to heal! He was quite happy to accept that offer, and spent most of the fist few days sitting quietly or snoozing with his foot stretched out. We got his owie all cleaned up, which took a great deal of soaking in salt water with turmeric added to disinfect and stimulate healing. Then we put a few drops of oregano oil into the wound. After the fist couple days, I alternated the oregano with lavender oil; plus he got a few lavender drops in his bin to help with the idea of calm and healing. It is going to take a long time for this foot to completely heal, but I am happy to report that the swelling is much better and it is healing quite nicely! We will keep after it, and I'll report back as he gets better! :)

 Update! Sept 4...
He is back out in the pen with his girls, and since they are on grass, it is much easier on his foot. He is still limping, but not nearly as bad, and he still sleeps in the nest hut because it's too painful to jump up to the roost. But his foot is looking much better! :)

Mille Fleur D'Uccle

First, if you don't know how to pronounce that last word, it's like "Dew CLAY". It's a city in France where these delightful little rascals are from. Mille Fleur is the name of the color pattern and is French for "Thousand Flower," which is a fitting name for a chicken with a thousand spots! These are some of the world's most colorful chickens, though they are pint size. This is a true bantam breed, with no large size version. Roos tip the scale at a whopping 26 ounces, with the hens not far behind at 22 ounces.

But what they lack in size, they make up for in spirit, not to mention egg laying ability! Our little half pints pop out a white to barely faint cream egg nearly every day! Their eggs are a bit small, but they are actually kinda huge compared to the size of the little bird! They readily go broody if given the chance, and make good mamas. They are great foragers, and it is such fun to watch them chase a grasshopper or moth across the yard. Their fluffy beards and feathered legs and feet really add endearing comedy to their antics.
Our birds were purchased as show quality stock. Our ladies, Prima, Bella, and Dona, are from a breeder north of Spokane who raised multiple show winners from her line, and our roo, Marcel, is from Oregon where he won best in show at the state fair! I'm looking forward to trying my hand (wing?) at the fair. Sadly, Prima is my favorite, but she isn't up to show standards; she has clean legs and feet. I prefer the clean legs and I think they do too. Foot feathers are messy and in the way. They trip on them and are always having to clean them. When not in show dress, I will sometimes cut their feathers off their feet for them. They really appreciate it.  Especially in winter when their feet tend to get packed with snow. :)

Prima

Marcel

Back in the Pacific Northwest! YIPEEE!!!

Hello Spokane! It's great to be home! Actually, we have been here for a couple months, but we have been doing a lot of other things to get established and settled here, so Qwatra has been in limbo since June! Wow! Has that much time gone by?! We are staying on a friend's farm for the time being while we search for our dream farm. This is exciting, but frustrating! There are so many beautiful farms out there! My dreams keep getting bigger and bigger- but more on that in a later post! ;)
We have lots of new things developing and will be back in business shortly! WOOT!
See ya soon!