[fuzzies]

I know!! It really melts my heart that he's so patient and tolerant of them 😍

 

[Overmountain1]

Here they are today, a rare moment when Crash came out of the pool to eat and Roscoe was distracted with the babies in the pen next door.

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Not great pictures because of the fence, but here he is interacting with the babies. They are no relation to him and he's never seen them before today, but he was absolutely glued to that side of the pen! He kept poking his head through to look at them, showing them goodies, and letting them poke at his face. What a softie!

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Awwwww I love it! My Tiny has done the same with a batch of Ameraucana chicks I hatched- he just adored them and let them peck all over him! Blew me away. And then Chip with his actual babies- he’s like a hen- he lets them ride on his back and is soooo patient w them too. Roosters can really be so amazing.

 

[fuzzies]

Ahhh, good roosters are worth their weight in gold! 😍 They sound precious!

 

[fuzzies]

A hand full of pictures from the junior fuzzies squad this week. They're about 3 months old now. 😊

Diesel 😍 😍 😍

This one's a little blurred from them moving, but it's the Blue boys, Hank and Diesel ❤

Washburne and her big eyes 😍

Bella with the over-the-shoulder pose 💕

Juniper ❤

One more of Wash. She's the smallest of the bunch, but she's so confident and poised. Look at that face! 😍

 

[robin416]

Washburne? LOL Her looks are so far beyond her name.

What are you all doing to keep the genetics watered down so there are no breeding issues?

How many do you know of that have the "Fuzzies" as you call them?

 

[fuzzies]

Washburne? LOL Her looks are so far beyond her name.

Haha, yeah, her name is a bit of a story. Her egg was messy so it needed to be washed before I set it in the incubator, so she's been known as "Wash" since before she hatched. It kinda morphed to Washburne over time because of a character in a show I like whose last name is Washburne and everyone calls him Wash. 😊

What are you all doing to keep the genetics watered down so there are no breeding issues?

My plan is to do spiral breeding with the silkied Cochins. I'm looking at keeping three distinct flocks of them; pullets hatched will stay in their flock, and the best cockerels will go on to replace the males in the next pen over in a spiral pattern. Only thing holding me back from that setup is the cost of building supplies right now, but I'm hoping by next year I can afford to get their coops built and set up, preferably in time to get a generation of breeding in before too late in the year.

I also intend to outcross to smooths occasionally where I see it needed. The nice thing about the silkieds is that they are genetically the same as their smooth-feathered counterparts other than their fuzzy feathers, so just getting some smooth Blues or Blacks in would do the job for an outcross. Breed the resultant silkie-split offspring back to silkied individuals, and the silkied feathering comes back. Neat thing about that plan is I could even get some genetically close color of smooths like Mottled or Lavender and potentially get silkied versions of those varieties eventually, too 😁

How many do you know of that have the "Fuzzies" as you call them?

I am aware of just two other farms who actively breed them, and two that have sadly gotten out of breeding them. That's why I get very excited when I see them mentioned like what prompted me joining here!

 

[robin416]

I'm glad you stuck around even though it wasn't quite what you thought it was. I may not have chickens anymore but I am still fascinated by new.

It does sound easier to keep the genetics healthy with them than I originally thought. I'd really like to see them recognized by the APA.

 

[Overmountain1]

I’m super stoked that you’re here- please don’t leave without giving me some contact info if you don’t mind! I’m serious about wanting some fuzzy Cochins maybe next year or even year after- we all know how things can go. But I would be honored to add a few from your flocks when the time comes- they’re beautiful!

 

[fuzzies]

Oh, haha, well I don't plan to go anywhere! I actually kinda like it here. 😊 I'm part of another chicken forum and I like it there, too, but they have many thousands of people posting many thousands of times every day and it can trigger some anxiety for me, which leads to me not really posting much there outside of my own threads. I like the slower pace here, and that I feel like I can actually be helpful because there aren't literal hundreds of thousands of other people who are ready to post essentially exactly what I would at any given moment.

But yeah, sometimes things come up and who knows if I might fall out of activity for one reason or another, and plus it's relevant to a thread about fuzzies anyway, so I'll just post it here that I got my Blues and Blacks from Gopher Hill Farms on Facebook (not the animated Christmas lights page that comes up when you google that, but the other one). That page is run by Erin, who's a great person that loves her fuzzies, too, and loves to talk chicken as much as the rest of us do!

The other farm I'm aware of is triplecreekfarm on ebay. I only recently discovered them (around the same time I joined here) so I haven't actually talked to them to know if they sell their hatching eggs directly or at all other than in ebay auctions, but they have good reviews on their hatching eggs so they seem trustworthy enough. 😊

And of course there's me, but like I said, I haven't gotten my breeder pens set up yet so obviously my ability to pass on any birds will hinge on how soon I can get that done. You know, unless you just want cockerels--I always seem to have plenty of those around!

 

[robin416]

That's one of the reasons I found this spot. The other was a mod recommending a terribly unnecessary treatment for a bird. It was just one more black mark and I left years ago.

 

[lovely_chooks]

Oooh coot fuzzies

 

[Overmountain1]

Oh, haha, well I don't plan to go anywhere! I actually kinda like it here. I'm part of another chicken forum and I like it there, too, but they have many thousands of people posting many thousands of times every day and it can trigger some anxiety for me, which leads to me not really posting much there outside of my own threads. I like the slower pace here, and that I feel like I can actually be helpful because there aren't literal hundreds of thousands of other people who are ready to post essentially exactly what I would at any given moment.

But yeah, sometimes things come up and who knows if I might fall out of activity for one reason or another, and plus it's relevant to a thread about fuzzies anyway, so I'll just post it here that I got my Blues and Blacks from Gopher Hill Farms on Facebook (not the animated Christmas lights page that comes up when you google that, but the other one). That page is run by Erin, who's a great person that loves her fuzzies, too, and loves to talk chicken as much as the rest of us do!

The other farm I'm aware of is triplecreekfarm on ebay. I only recently discovered them (around the same time I joined here) so I haven't actually talked to them to know if they sell their hatching eggs directly or at all other than in ebay auctions, but they have good reviews on their hatching eggs so they seem trustworthy enough.

And of course there's me, but like I said, I haven't gotten my breeder pens set up yet so obviously my ability to pass on any birds will hinge on how soon I can get that done. You know, unless you just want cockerels--I always seem to have plenty of those around!

Wellllll oddly enough since I do have my Hensley already I would probably prefer a pair when the time came. But I think your timeline will work just fine for mine also. No rush for me in other words. At all. Lol.

I know what you mean about the busy forums and threads and chats- I’m just too old to keep up with all that now! If I ever could. Hahaha

 

[fuzzies]

Oooh coot fuzzies

Aw, thanks! 😊

Wellllll oddly enough since I do have my Hensley already I would probably prefer a pair when the time came.

Darn! But seriously, that makes sense and I completely understand. 😊

 

[lovely_chooks]

Aw, thanks!




Darn! But seriously, that makes sense and I completely understand.

And very nice name too

 

[fuzzies]

The young fuzzy crew sitting with their 'little brothers', the English Orpington boys. Those Orps are a week younger than the silkied Cochins. 😲 I only had to separate them because the Orp boys kept stepping on the much smaller Cochins without noticing them in their path

Of course, as soon as I lean over the fence to take a picture of them, the fuzzies all come running! 😍 Washburne leading the charge, naturally.

That face, though 😍

 

[robin416]

Gimme, gimme, gimme. You've got something, I just know you do.

 

[fuzzies]

Haha, funny thing is I have never given them treats or anything! They just want my attention, I guess. 😊

That, or they think the camera lens is food. They do peck at it quite a bit!