Chooks!

Well, after putting my name down on ToH's list for a good quality silkie cockrel, he finally got one he felt was what I'd be looking for! So I went to pick the little guy up today. He and his family also have a nursery and a garden featuring model trains landscaped throughout it. It's the ultimate little-and-not-so-little-boys playscape! They have gorgeous daffodils they breed along with other rare plants and bulbs and of course the chooks and geese so going there is always enjoyable! Nic and La LOVED the train display, same model trains Nic has collected since he was a kid. (LGB Trains) La didn't want to leave and wailed, "Noooooo bye-bye train!!!!!!!!!" like a soap opera star all the way to the car! I ended up getting two new helebore pictote, a bag og lily of the valley (my favorite scent) and a tree paeonie "Etienne de France", to plant in honor of La's birthday!

At any rate, here's the new little guy! His name is "Basil", going with my garden theme for chook names. He is SO tiny right now! Six weeks old, he fits comfortably in the palm of my hand! Awww...

He's got a good amount of lemon colouring in his crest, which I needed to balance out Blossom's darkness and is a nice lighter ginger colouring.

Feet - the all important silkie thing! He's got a good amount of feathering down his legs and stubs on his middle toe. Ideally those stubs will turn into feathering all the way down the middle toe but his is still better than Blossoms who just has stubs and not the amount of feathering down the side he does. In case anyone is wondering, silkies have five toes on each foot, hence the "extra" hind toe visible.

Just another nice (aka lucky!) shot... you can see he's got a little bit of a beard starting here.

Now I was *just* going to get the one silkie... but I saw this lovely little partridge girl and ended up getting her too! She is a bit older, hence more filled out but just so lovely! I'm very glad he was willing to part with her!

Doing a swan impression in the wind! She has a lovely fluffy crest, some lemon colour in there, a decently dark eye for a partridge, deep turquoise, nice barring in the wings and neck annnnnddd...

Lots o' lovely of toe feathering! Down the side and down the middle! So fingers crossed she should pass this down to her chicks!

Another lucky shot, showing her head.

And a better one of my std partridge wyandotte cockrel, so I can delete the not-so-good one!

I have my buff sussex and light sussex pullets sold now, I'll miss them but I'll only have so much space for birds in my pens and can't really warrant keeping ones I'm not breeding or doing anything with. I'm also on the waiting list for a pair of lavender runners (have been since winter) and black runners and a pair of brown chinese geese but I'll get those as day-old's so they bond to me and are friendly!