One of Jarrah and Penny's oldest boys, a year old on the 21st

A funny shot of Matilda... I was trying to just take a nice one when she spotted some yellowed tailed black cockatoos and did the crest raising and tilted her head up to watch them.

My younger pair of Chinese... well, in theory they are a pair... in reality she likes the Embden goose as well! ~_~;

Reason for lack of news is how sucky this season has been. I've been feeling really disappointed with it - laying is so scatty, fertility is non-existant, no one is going broody except the Embden who is partnered HERSELF with a female chinese and so nothing is going to hatch unless someone else is sneaking eggs in to her nest (don't think so).

Mou.

Razzafraggin WIND!

After we finally got the geese laying (and determined the Embden IS indeed a girl goose, having caught her actually laying a few times) mum was just starting to look like she'd go broody when BANG... the wind rips the door open and off it's hinges (welded mind you!), which startles the geese and results in a stampede which results in goose-egg omlette.

Crappity crappity crappity CRAP! The joys of living in a very windy valley!

After watching at the agility nationals on Friday and Saturday, Sunday was straight off to Euroa. Supposed to be some large partridge wyandottes and I was quite hyped to hear it.

When I got there, I finally found them. All three were sold as one lot. One was nice, one decent and not as nice with a lot of wild markings, all smaller than mine but with decent type. However, one was constantly head-flicking and the other slightly fluffed and I wasn't sure if it was something or nothing, so ummed and ahhed a bit.

Last time we had a good bit of fun (not) as the trio of OEGb I brought home had a nasty case of flesh mites, northern fowl mites. Now all new birds here go STRAIGHT into quarantine pens for 2 weeks, are immediately treated for lice and given moxidectin, followed by wormer and preventative doses of sulphaquin before release. This is on the premise that sometimes birds will have an issue that is not at a detectible state on purchase and the stress of moving can bring it out as well as the fact they may not have immunity built up to local strains of cocci. Generally you try to examine the birds but when the cages are zip tied to prevent theft and over head height you have to eyeball it. To top it off, these guys had a VERY well established case as the mites must have been there for some weeks already to exist in such numbers so the fact that the seller brought them just rankles... either they knew and didn't care or didn't know through sheer lazyness and bad husbandry. The rotten mites ended up killing several as while I'd seen the bugs upon getting home and promptly dosed them and redosed them appropriately, apparently they aren't killed by moxidectin. (Which quite generally is effective for everything else, just not the rather rarer stuff.)

At any rate, since to the best of my ability to examine I couldn't see anything other than head flicking and stress I decided I'd put in a lower bid and take a chance. So I put in my bid but pulled when it hit the bid hit $140. So instead I came home with a lovely bunch of daffodils courtesy of Tim (whose family owns a gorgeous daffodil and bulb farm) and spent the day chatting with everyone inbetween cuddling Cami to keep warm when it started raining and getting into discussions with everyone in their brother about how I was really, truely, honest to godly sure she WAS an Australian Shepherd and NOT a Koolie. Can I also say I really, really, really wish we could change the name to AMERICAN Shepherd... honestly, I think there are a number of people convinced the Yank is crazy or trying to have one over on them! ^_^;

*happy dance*

Why? Well if you've been following this blog you know I've been looking for more Std Partridge Wyandottes for about a year or so. I thought a few months back the fellow I'd got my original rooster from had more stock but it'd turned out he thought I was a different previous buyer and wanted Australorps when he said that. As it happened he'd sold his partridge breeders to parts and persons unknown ages ago.

So imagine my delight when first a week ago I hear of a breeder who is moving and selling it all, including a trio of std partridge dottes (waiting for pictures of them) and second the next Euroa auction this month has a clearing out by a well known Std Wyandotte breeder which includes a trio of females between 1-2 years old. FINGERS CROSSED!!!

The Picture of Pride

More Matilda

We went down to the dam today for a good splash about...

Enjoying the sunshine after a splash.Bizzaro-world Grooming Rituals

Chinese Grooming Session

Waterside Contemplation

"I is not a liddle duck! See? I is BIG DUCK!"
and last but not least...

VERY NAUGHTY BIRDS!
(Ye gads... Embden-Chinese-Aylesbury Duc-oslings anyone?)

Miss Matilda Muscovy arrived last night, picked up from the RSPCA and quite happy to be around other poultry again! She's been very calm and slipped into the routines quite easily although sometimes a bit unsure of where everyone is rushing in a big hurry. (LOL They heard the food bag crinkle.)Here is a nice full profile shot of her, standing in front of the Wyandottes near the house.

And together with the Aylesbury near their little clamshell. We'll save the dam for another day when she's more sure of where home-base is and I'm sure she'll come back out. The red on her face is natural colouring, Muscovy's have bumpy red skin there called caruncles.

A better photo of her close up, so you can see her caruncles. They get more pronounced as she gets older.

And the other unusual thing about these guys is they've got a tiny crest of sorts that they can raise and flatten depending on how they feel. You can see she's got hers slightly raised here and can see she's not pure white - she has two tiny black feathers as beauty spots.

And one near Ambrose Aylesbury, to give an idea of size difference. She is very young still, but looks so petite next to them and even smaller next to the geese!

Matilda the Muzzie

This little girl was found lost and taken to the RSPCA. Unfortunately the RSPCA seldom gets owners claiming the birds and most end up euthanized unless a shelter worker adopts them. One of the shelter workers has adopted several but couldn't keep adopting dozens of ducks, so she put up a notice looking for someone to take in this little girl before her date with the green dream.

I'd been looking for a few muzzie girls for broodies (muscovy as a breed are generally a favorite breed for hatching out eggs from breeds that don't naturally sit) and this was perfect timing... so I wrote to see if she still needed a home. As it happens, she did, so she's been named "Matilda" since she was found a waltzing (I know, I'm awful aren't I?) and I wanted to keep a M theme to go with my Aylesbury all having A names. LOL

Euroa breeders invite auction

I had an absolutely fabulous day today at the Euroa's breeders invite auction. I've been waiting for this one since before the start of the year and it didn't disappoint. Very nice birds and a lot of BYPers, so it made for a fabulous get together!

I'd gone specifically looking for another pair of brown chinese and with my eye on the birds Hamish Russell had up, as he is retiring from geese and they would be representing decades of work and a fabulous bloodline. I was very, very pleased to secure a pair, a lovely big fellow and a pretty young lady even if I spent a bit more than anticipated. (My DH officially gets the Best DH Ever Award for putting up with my poultry obsession with such tollerant indulgence... LOL)



I'd also e-mailed Kirribindi, to request when she had more ducklings if I could get a pair of baby girls. I was lucky enough to catch her in time to pick these two up today - meet Amelia and Anabella. They are disgustingly adorable and have imprinted VERY quickly - they are MOST unhappy when I'm out of sight... LOL

A trip to the dam... happy geese, joyous ducks, curious sheep.

Ambrose has his curly tail back. ;-)

Beautiful, beautiful Wyandottes

Few things please the eye so much as a lovely large partridge wyandotte.

This is probably one of the nicer pictures I've got of her showing type as she's usually busy MOVING or looking for food.

Had a nice day at Warrigul Bird Day today - took the 6 OEGb and 3 Wyandotte - Penny, her son Twobands and an unrelated pullet. Penny took 1st. Twobands wasn't shown of course being PB line but I'd brought him just to get opinions on and pleased with what I was told. OEGb - my first blue-goldenduckwing male placed and the honey-dun girls got a 2nd. I also brought the new trio to get opinoins on as I wasn't sure if I'd keep/onsell.

More geese pictures...

I'm having way too much fun photographing them. Unlike the chooks, they actually hold still.

Even in the rain, geese are happy!

A better one of the Embden. Beautiful blue eyes!

And positively catlike in grooming

And grooming.

And grooming. (Yes, this is right side up.)

Picture it - a sunny but windy day, Mr. Ambrose Aylesbury has had his morning meal and his crop is bulging to the point it's nearly dragging, the great gut! Content at last (read: unable to stuff a single pellet more down his gullet) he waddles over to the clamshell pool, clambers in and begins splashing about with much joy. So great is his joy in the act of bathing he fails to notice he's near the edge of the pool and his head, chest and crop are standing right over the edge. With another joyous splash his great full crop of food overbalances him and he comes forward, over the edge and out of the pool still rapturousy shaking his wings, tail and body in the bathing dance - unrealizing he's actually fallen out due to his fat gut. A few more flaps and he notices (finally...) the "pool" is distinctly short of water and full of grass. He stops, looks down and looked a bit puzzled... "Hm, fancy that... I could have sworn the pool was full of water when I entered! Ah, no matter, mustn't interrupt my bath!" and continues flapping and shaking as if he were in the pool.

Silly duck. Lucky he's cute...

One Year

Only one year and I'm well on my way to being a "crazy bird lady". ;-)

Would you believe on 30 May last year I got my first three baby chooks in Australia and it's sprawled into this in only a year??? LOL To be fair, I was warned how addictive poultry is! To celebrate I spam you all with more goose photos! ;-p

Some of my mob come up for a chat.

Young fellow enjoying the sunshine after a good meal.

Look ma, I'm in colour!

Having a stickybeak.

Pretty as a picture... *snap*

Who needs a rubber duckie? Real ones make bath time more fun!

A place for every feather and every feather in it's place.

Everything must be "just so".

Duck, duck, GOOSE! (I just can't help myself.)