Cock-a-doodle-oo-la-la.

Learn about the best & most popular 18 chicken breeds for your backyard flock, including informationon on temperament, eggs, and more!

Raising chickens in backyard is always inspiring for backyard chicken raisers whether for ornamental

By Karen - I posted this previously on BYC, but feel it may need to be reviewed again... I've seen so many questions about peoples' birds, pics, etc... First, as far as color is concerned, blue laced red Wyandottes are just that... they are blue (but can also be black or splash, since blue does not breed true), they are laced (a complete NARROW band of blue/black/splash around the center color), and they are RED. In this case, red is not just your 'run of the mill' red like you'd see in a black breasted red whatever, but the deep dark mahogany red seen in the old heritage type Rhode Island Reds... This breed has no place for anything resembling gold, copper or fire-engine red. There is also no place for poor or incomplete lacing, and birds that have wide lacing will not breed true either. Over all, the blue is the easiest part to get right on this breed. It is also the most insignificant aspect of what makes a bird a BLRW. And honestly, getting the color right is by far the easiest part of breeding GOOD blrw... it's the type that seems to be lacking 9 times out of 10, IMO... Or just flat out ignored in some cases, I think. But without type, all you have is a pretty chicken. NOT a Wyandotte. So here's a brief refresher from past discussions regarding Wyandotte type... One of the most commonly misunderstood (or even flat out ignored) is the proper profile a Wyandotte should have. image is from the Wyandotte Breeders of America website The following is from an old text regarding the Wyandotte standards... useful for seeing right and wrong as far as overall body shape (ie, type) the genetics behind lacing (good and bad): Pg is the pattern gene, Ml is the melanizing gene, Co is the Columbian gene. Each one is dominant over the wild type (shown with a +). If all 3 mutations are not homozygous (2 copies of the mutation present) then the appearance of the lacing is changed. the black tip mentioned above - AKA spangling - can be seen in the image below, including proper and improper feather markings in a laced bird. I hope this helps clear up some of the 'mystery' behind a beautiful variety and breed. Here are my two large fowl birds, the others were killed by predators recently. I'm hoping to start hatching again once the hen is done being broody. The last picture is my bantam BLRW rooster. I'm searching for a better hen to use with him, as she appears to be more of a partridge than laced. None of these birds are perfect, but were the best I could find and afford when I started breeding this variety. I lost one unrelated hen (black laced bred by J. Foley) and a black laced red pullet that was maturing very nicely from this breeding pen. blue laced rooster (LF) splash laced hen (LF) blue laced bantam rooster  

A Practical Guide to Keeping Chickens! Learn all about chicken parts, breeds and how to care for them. A must read for keeping backyard chickens.

Cock-a-doodle-oo-la-la.

The Guardian's photo team brings you a daily round up from the world of photography

Looking for a curious, friendly, gentle chicken who's a good egg layer? Here's why the Speckled Sussex would fit right into your family.

Little and Littler by H. Hille on Flickr.

simple living, happiness, growing food, home cooking, baking, sewing, mending, recycling, family, homemaking, slowing down, recipes, ageing

Fancy-Pants Chicken by ioana.san on Flickr. Polish Ornamental Chicken Breed

Could anything be sweeter? What a beautiful chicken! I love clover too. via

Explore lifeinmyzoo's 3563 photos on Flickr!

Time To Take In The Weekly Dose Of Cute (#84) - World's largest collection of cat memes and other animals

Learn to make perfect pie crust from scratch. Heather Cameron, Missing Goat, Farm Fresh Recipes, Stylist, Story Producer, lifestyle photographer

For Marie-Laure Coste Dujols, flowers are all in a day’s work. One day she can be called upon to conceptualize the design scheme for a wedding while the next has…

Animals Who Forgot To Schedule a Hair Appointment Before Going Into Self-Isolation - World's largest collection of cat memes and other animals

My notes on paper crafts, photography, illustration, and life on the farm, by Anna Wight.

Blue Cochin Hen

The chicken doesn't have the best reputation. Even self-described animal lovers sometimes make an exception for the ordinary, obnoxious, strange-looking chicken. New York photographer Tamara Staples' portraits of fabulous, elegant chickens help to give this bird the positive attention it deserves.

If you have standard breeds of chickens but want a fancier yet solid dual purpose breed - Barnevelder chickens are right up your alley!

Martha Stewart's Bedford farm becomes the inspiration for the special holiday gifts she'll make including lemon curd, horsehair accessories, and knit vests.

Polish chickens come in a variety of beautiful colors and are fun to raise. In this article, I share photos and basic information about raising them.

The Cochin Chicken is a very popular breed of hen. This includes info like size, recognized verities, eggs, care, images, more info

Bantam Cockerels