We just finished updating our website ([You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] with far too many photos to post here, of our new breeds we imported from Greenfire Farms this spring! There are also tons of photos on our Facebook page [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] We imported a few new breeds but also some new lines of our existing breeds to bring in new genetics. We brought in, direct from Greenfire Farms Sulmtaler, Alsterier, Marsh Daisy, Swedish Flower, Malines, Black Copper Marans, Bielefelder, Cream Legbar Rees & C line. It was quite the trip up from the border!
We are so pleased to be working with these breeds, they have been so neat to watch grow, mature and change! We also brought in some new to Canada Cream Legbar lines. We had some real issues with our original flock and ended up culling them completely. The new line we have from Greenfire Farms is the Rees line and the C line, much closer to the standard and they are growing up to be so friendly and beautiful!
And a little about our new breeds in terms of personality...
Malines - so far these gentle giants are super friendly, calm and aren't generally upset by much. They are very similar to the Bielefelders in that respect. We are going to work hard next year on uniform growth amongst their offspring as we have noticed that could be improved upon.
Bielefelders - the auto sexing trait is awesome, and they are serious gentle giants that are so mellow in personality! We can't wait to see how they all mature, we have 3 lines to work with and they are all equally beautiful.
Marsh Daisies - these guys are a little smaller for standard birds but HOLY SMOKES are they ever hardy! We received our shipment at the end of April, the weather was HORRIBLE. They never were fazed by it at all. They have done so well, not one loss, they just keep humming along and now that they are past the normal juvenile crazy phase, they are super super friendly and come running when you open their coop door!
Alsterier - another hardy bird, they are a very ancient breed and we are enjoying them. They are similar in colour to a welsummer but seem to be more friendly then the wellies we kept previously. They are curious and inquisitive but like to watch from afar rather then run towards you like crazy fools like the Marsh Daisies do. They also have a small crest, not too big to hinder them, but enough of a crest to give them an awesome little bit of pizzaz
Sulmtaler - one of our favourites, they are hardy, and we can't wait to process the extra cockerels as they are renowned for their meat in their home land.A nice thing about them is that we can sex them similarly to the wheaten marans, by 2-3 weeks. We also ended up with a Sport White that popped up. They are extremely rare, we are going to work with her and see where we get!
Swedish Flower - they aren't as new to Canada but holy smokes are they ever fun. The chicks arrived after their 36 hour shipping quest looking like chick models straight off the page of a magazine. Their fluff was perfectly fluffy, and they are like a box of chocolates, no two the same. Very hardy and friendly and they change so much as they mature they are really neat to watch. We are so excited to get eggs from them as they are said to have very large eggs for the size of bird, and they are great layers we have heard!
Well that about sums it up, as you can imagine we are busy building coops... poor dad never gets a break! But he loves them as much as we do
Happy summer!
We are so pleased to be working with these breeds, they have been so neat to watch grow, mature and change! We also brought in some new to Canada Cream Legbar lines. We had some real issues with our original flock and ended up culling them completely. The new line we have from Greenfire Farms is the Rees line and the C line, much closer to the standard and they are growing up to be so friendly and beautiful!
And a little about our new breeds in terms of personality...
Malines - so far these gentle giants are super friendly, calm and aren't generally upset by much. They are very similar to the Bielefelders in that respect. We are going to work hard next year on uniform growth amongst their offspring as we have noticed that could be improved upon.
Bielefelders - the auto sexing trait is awesome, and they are serious gentle giants that are so mellow in personality! We can't wait to see how they all mature, we have 3 lines to work with and they are all equally beautiful.
Marsh Daisies - these guys are a little smaller for standard birds but HOLY SMOKES are they ever hardy! We received our shipment at the end of April, the weather was HORRIBLE. They never were fazed by it at all. They have done so well, not one loss, they just keep humming along and now that they are past the normal juvenile crazy phase, they are super super friendly and come running when you open their coop door!
Alsterier - another hardy bird, they are a very ancient breed and we are enjoying them. They are similar in colour to a welsummer but seem to be more friendly then the wellies we kept previously. They are curious and inquisitive but like to watch from afar rather then run towards you like crazy fools like the Marsh Daisies do. They also have a small crest, not too big to hinder them, but enough of a crest to give them an awesome little bit of pizzaz
Sulmtaler - one of our favourites, they are hardy, and we can't wait to process the extra cockerels as they are renowned for their meat in their home land.A nice thing about them is that we can sex them similarly to the wheaten marans, by 2-3 weeks. We also ended up with a Sport White that popped up. They are extremely rare, we are going to work with her and see where we get!
Swedish Flower - they aren't as new to Canada but holy smokes are they ever fun. The chicks arrived after their 36 hour shipping quest looking like chick models straight off the page of a magazine. Their fluff was perfectly fluffy, and they are like a box of chocolates, no two the same. Very hardy and friendly and they change so much as they mature they are really neat to watch. We are so excited to get eggs from them as they are said to have very large eggs for the size of bird, and they are great layers we have heard!
Well that about sums it up, as you can imagine we are busy building coops... poor dad never gets a break! But he loves them as much as we do
Happy summer!
