The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: funkyfish on May 30, 2013, 06:26:44 pm
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I love the look of these birds!! :D
Does any one keep them? If yes how do you find them compared to others- temperament wise etc? Want some hatching eggs ASAP, seen some on ebay but its 3 days till the auction ends and I have a broody who has been sitting for a week now.
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A friend of mine has them and loves them I personaly do not like them and wouldnt have them
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We have TNN's Funkyfish. Two cockerels and 9 hens in two coops, having bred from the quartet we exported here. I really struggled to get good stock originally and ebay is not a good idea. Most birds have been crossed at some stage and have neck feathers as a result. We got hens from Leeds (stock was stolen so no longer available) and a cockerel from Boston Lincs.
Colours are black, cuckoo and white (ours are black), but naturally they are black with brown wings and head. Very dainty in their movements, very flighty and spook easily. You can't pick them up even though they were regularly handled as chicks -they don't like being handled at all after about 6 weeks old. The hens go broody at the drop of a hat so, although they could lay 300 eggs in a year, they only manage 150 because of broodiness. They are avid foragers and will trash land faster than any other chickens we have. Still love them though -the cockerels are real characters. Claude, our original, is a bit dim but his son is a very good cockerel who looks after his hens extremely well and we are very pleased with his development (would be a show winner in the UK as well). When we move we intend to just let them free range and accept any losses from predators. I can't see anything catching them though as they fly well -a good 30 yards and 6 feet high easily (length of the garden). You must have a covered run otherwise. They handle any amount of heat but are good in cold as well -which is a surprise as they have few under feathers.
Hope that helps Funkyfish and I haven't missed anything.
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Thanks for that- lots of info! Humm if they are that flighty then maybe they are not for us as our lot are in 200m electric pens in a field.. Think they might just fly off and get eaten! I'll wait until we (eventually) can afford to buy a large ark for them.