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Post by whollygoats on Aug 4, 2013 22:55:31 GMT
Heh...She's a purebred hen (and acts it). Since she was 'French' ( the Marans is a French breed), I sought a French name with with I was comfortable. I actually liked the name of my earlier Black Copper Marans hen, Cafe'. Any way, Eleanor was named for Eleanor of Aquitaine (or, BAAWKquitaine), the wife and prisoner of Henry II, the Plantegenet King of England and France.
One of the pullets I'm intending on keeping is a cross of EasterEgger (like Ingrid, with the foofy face) and Black Copper Marans (like Eleanor), so I expect her to look a lot like Eleanor colorwise, but still have the foofy face of muffs (muttonchops) and beard, like Ingrid, rather than wattles, like Eleanor .
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Post by Moose on Aug 5, 2013 16:17:59 GMT
She married some French king also but I forget which. Had a rather flighty reputation I think
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Post by whollygoats on Aug 5, 2013 22:15:59 GMT
She married some French king also but I forget which. Had a rather flighty reputation I think Heh...She was married to Phillip, King of France, prior to marrying Henry II of England. But since she produced only female children for Phil, he divorced her. She then married Henry and produced four...count'em, FOUR boys. Of course, those four boys were not particularly loyal to dad, as Eleanor fomented rebellion and insubordinate insurrection by the sons. One went on to become Richard the Lionhearted and another was the lovable John of Magna Carta and Robin Hood fame. Eleanor was so much trouble for Henry II that he had her locked up in a castle in Aquitaine....hence, the storyline for "Lion in Winter". Henry II also had problems with troublesome priests....and hotheaded minions who took such things rashly in hand. Other minions would embroil England in Ireland forever after...
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Post by whollygoats on Aug 9, 2013 3:11:30 GMT
So...My first hatched and raised pullet went off with her new human to live on a larger property with more chickens, and goats. The little TurkoMarans is off on a new adventure. She'll have a grand adventure, because, as I understand it, they recently got another Turken pullet that they are hoping to introduce to this little girl and have them socialize together. She'll be buddied up when she gets there.
So, I now have a cockerel that looks fairly Welsummerish, but darker. Then, I have a foofy-faced babyroo that has the whole black with red flashing going for him; I'd be interested to see how he matures, but I don't think I'll see it. Then, there's the foofy-faced pullet that will need a name. She's all black but for her reddish hackles. Black foof (called 'muffs and beard'). Last is the gold-mantled Marans, with head to shoulder (rather than just hackles) goldish (rather than reddish) striations. This last one I am ardently hoping is a pullet, but I'm not sure. Yet.
All four of them could use names.
I'm tempted to start calling the boys Olaf and Akmed.
The girls, since i'm keeping them, will need more consideration. I'm willing to consider suggestions, but keep in mind that I have a penchant for 'appropriate' in names. French names have a head start with these girls. Both have Black Copper Marans coloring from their sire, but one had an EasterEgger dam with a foofy face and green eggs. I'm hoping this progeny of the two will bring me "olive eggs". The other pullet likely has a Welsummer heritage and will have wattles and a full comb, and probably lay dark brown speckled eggs. Both will be shiny black with reddish hackles, like Eleanor.
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Post by raspberrybullets on Aug 9, 2013 8:07:40 GMT
I'm not very familiar with French names. Hmmmm..Abigail? Margaritte? Marie?
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Post by Mari on Aug 9, 2013 8:30:24 GMT
Antionette, Lynette, Jeanne, Jeanette, Claudine, Odette, Jolie, Fleur... I'll get back to you if you need more. My young cousin is named Abigail by the way.
Oh, Francine, Marcine, Minous.
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Post by whollygoats on Aug 9, 2013 13:50:47 GMT
Hmmm...I kinda like Claudine, but would probably change it to Claudette. I've been playing with raiding Terry Pratchett for names, as the girls will be in 'all-black', which is 'witch-wear', and, of course, the two most prominent witches are Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, who both have 'real' names of Esmerelda and Gytha. Esmerelda is usually shortened to 'Esme'. I rather like the 'Esme' and 'Gytha' pair of names.
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Post by Mari on Aug 9, 2013 14:08:36 GMT
But you asked for French names. *pouts*
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Post by whollygoats on Aug 9, 2013 16:46:07 GMT
I did...rather, I alluded that French names would have a preference. They still do, but that does not exclude all other options.
I really quite appreciated your list.
I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned "Josephine". I mean, Josephine Baker was a famous black French figure, no?
Does anyone here know of Noisette?
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Post by whollygoats on Aug 9, 2013 16:51:31 GMT
There are also plays on the EasterEgger theme (Magdalena?) and the Welsummer theme....allowing Dutch names in.
Also, famous brunettes. Famous French brunettes, even better.
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Post by Mari on Aug 9, 2013 18:29:54 GMT
Mata Hari, though she wasn't French. Wasn't she a brunette?
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Post by raspberrybullets on Aug 10, 2013 9:15:05 GMT
Edith Piaf
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Post by whollygoats on Aug 19, 2013 19:27:51 GMT
Well...I tried pushing for "Esme" and "Gytha", but Swimmer resisted, saying that they were "weird" names. I finally came down with "Coco" for my EasterEgger x Black Copper Marans (Easter Marans?) and "Claire" for my Welsummer x Black Coppper Marans...Coco and Claire. The boys are still hanging about at this point.
I'm now trying to habituate the young'ns to going to the coop by inserting them under the cover of darkness. Three nights now and they still have not caught on. A mite slow on the uptake, I guess.
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Post by whollygoats on Aug 30, 2013 4:56:29 GMT
'Coco' is a winner name, but 'Claire' fell by the wayside when 'Dora' was fielded. She's more of a 'Dora', than a 'Claire'.
I think of them as Cocoa and D'Ora.
I think I may have found homes for both Olaf and Akmed, my two cockerels. Reputedly, Olaf is headed for a horse farm out south in the east side of the valley, south of the conurbation. Akmed is reputedly headed for a farm outside of Washougal, in the western end of the Columbia River Gorge. I won't celebrate until they've been relocated. They are both still 'cheeping' at this point. Olaf is bolder than Akmed and will step up and take handouts along with the biddies, taking the punishment for the prime access; Akmed gives the big girls more distance, still. I'd describe them as about half the size of the mature hens. They're ten weeks and maturity is 'around 22-23 weeks'. Of course, they could well start crowing before the onset of full maturity....that's been my experience.
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Post by whollygoats on Sept 7, 2013 21:28:11 GMT
Pillow fight!
Hey, at least I no longer have to task myself to hunt down Ingrid's latest egg-laying nest. I stopped getting eggs last week. Then, we had a nighttime kerfuffle that left one of my cockerels a little light in the tail. And then, I started seeing whitish/goldish feathers. I thought I was having some interloper....but then, as more down-like feathers appeared, in all places in the garden, it dawned on me. Ingrid had started moulting. She's losing feathers; she ceased laying. She's a week earlier than last year, which was a week earlier than the previous year. Of course, she's pushing seven and still laying loverly pastel green eggs. These days, she's alpha bird, too.
Anyway, she's continued to lose feathers and, since they are light colored (she's my blonde), they show up rather distinctly....the red and black featherings tend to blend in much quicker.
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Post by whollygoats on Sept 7, 2013 21:30:27 GMT
Pillow fight!
Hey, at least I no longer have to task myself to hunt down Ingrid's latest egg-laying nest. I stopped getting eggs last week. Then, we had a nighttime kerfuffle that left one of my cockerels a little light in the tail. And then, I started seeing whitish/goldish feathers. I thought I was having some interloper....but then, as more down-like feathers appeared, in all places in the garden, it dawned on me. Ingrid had started moulting. She's losing feathers; she ceased laying. She's a week earlier than last year, which was a week earlier than the previous year. Of course, she's pushing seven and still laying loverly pastel green eggs. These days, she's alpha bird, too.
Anyway, she's continued to lose feathers and, since they are light colored (she's my blonde), they show up rather distinctly....the red and black featherings tend to blend in much quicker. So, my garden looks like the scene of a recent pillow fight where a pillow took the worst of it.
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Post by whollygoats on Nov 11, 2013 1:12:35 GMT
So...Olaf has table reservations, but I'm still trying to find him a situation in the country. Free Olaf. Let him breed. He was being particularly cooperative this session. Handsome, isn't he? Eleanor and her new shank feathers. Just for 54, but it shows off her chaps rite nice. Sonja, now chief moocher and always 'Sonja on the spot'. Ingrid, still alpha hen, but now back to asserting that privilege. Dora, omega girl, still an unstarted pullet. Dora again. Poor molten Chance, doing her Turken imitation, with no tail feathers. They have now successfully moved in to the Chook Chalet after being evicted from the Hen Condo... The new chalet totally open. The new chalet totally closed. The box the juts out to the right is the nesting boxes (2), the metal handle slides a door closed at the top of the ramp from the enclosed run area with the hanging feeder and water bottle. Chook Chalet occupied.
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Kate
Junior lady
Posts: 381
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Post by Kate on Dec 15, 2013 20:35:53 GMT
Lovely chicken photos, whollygoats I did consider getting chickens, for the organic eggs and because I think they are generally lovely, but sadly, after considering it, I didn't think they would be happy living in London, because although they would have a big garden and roaming space,they would be prey to foxes and I'm not sure how well they would take to my dog. I'm glad they worked out for you though.
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Post by whollygoats on Feb 7, 2014 15:55:07 GMT
Well...My girls are cornfuzed...They spent the better part of the blustery day hanging out under the balcony....nice sand and a roost and all. I even threw them some rice and stirfry and chopped up a dubious balony sammich for them and delivered it under the balcony. But then, it began to snow in earnest (as well as here in Puddle City). Our first real accumulation of the season. I lost track until after full dark and went out check on them....
Not in the coop or hen chalet.
Not under the balcony.
Okay, more lights are needed.
Oh...Proof that I has true PDX chix: a four hen pile up on the porch of the shed. Eleanor actually made it back to the coop and had the hen chalet all to herself. The other four had evidently become so disoriented by the drifted snow (all 2" of it!) that they had become discouraged, given up, and taken refuge in one of the old nesting baskets....three in, one out. It was pitiful. I had to move them by hand into the safety and comfort of the hen chalet.
That was yesterday. This morning dawned calm, quiet, cold and white everywhere. The nastynasty wind has died. I took two bottles of relatively warm water and a couple of cups of scratch out to the hen chalet. The water was welcomed, as they all tanked up as I watched. I opened the coop door so they could exit and free range....Here is is a couple hours later, I've finished shovelling the walk, and there is still not a single chicken track outside the coop. No, they are all ensconced in the hen chalet.
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Post by Kye on Feb 7, 2014 16:10:16 GMT
Smart chickens...
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Post by whollygoats on Feb 7, 2014 17:29:46 GMT
Well...in some respects, yes. In others, not so much.
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Post by whollygoats on Feb 7, 2014 17:43:10 GMT
Lovely chicken photos, whollygoats I did consider getting chickens, for the organic eggs and because I think they are generally lovely, but sadly, after considering it, I didn't think they would be happy living in London, because although they would have a big garden and roaming space,they would be prey to foxes and I'm not sure how well they would take to my dog. I'm glad they worked out for you though. Thanks, K. Yeah, they've 'worked out' reasonably well for me. I have a tiny lot in an inner city neighborhood of a modest urban confab in the Pacific Northwest of the US. I have a permit to have more than three hens. I think this is my ninth year of being a chicken tender. Most of my losses have been to the free roaming raccoons which habitate this area. We have oppossum, too, but they are mostly egg thieves, rather than live bird predators. Both are largely nocturnal predators, so we make sure the coop is built to deny these critters. We have bluejays (a corvin) which predate upon the eggs in daytime, but the new enclosed nests in the hen chalet have scotched that problem. All in all, I've adapted a couple of times to various pressures and managed to get erratic delivery (because I don't augment lighting) of fresh eggs. Right now, I'm averaging three eggs a day. A month ago, I was getting one egg a day, at most. If you've enough space and aren't too fastidious, then chooks might work. I've found that even a little space is sufficient to my purposes. Just prepare for the predators you might encounter and tend your chooks.
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Post by Moose on Feb 8, 2014 1:42:26 GMT
THough don't take them to uni with you..
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Kate
Junior lady
Posts: 381
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Post by Kate on Feb 10, 2014 11:04:02 GMT
Definitely not, I can only imagine what havoc that would wreak...
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Post by whollygoats on May 2, 2016 2:40:07 GMT
Having lost two layers last fall, I've struggled through the winter with two hens, Ingrid and Dora. Ingrid has always been an erratic layer and she's now pushing eight or nine years....ancient for a layer. Yet, she is still laying her distinctive pastel green eggs. Today, I augmented my flock with two new pullets as additions. The new girls are both Ameracaunas....EasterEggers...mutt birds which might, when mature, lay green eggs. They will not have wattles, but instead have tufts of cheek feathers and 'beards'. Ingrid is an Ameracauna. Ingrid is all light buttery yellow; the new girls are both buff to russet with darker red-brown highlights on head, neck and back. Neither has a name, yet.
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Post by Mari on May 2, 2016 17:52:32 GMT
So... need any help with the naming?
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Post by whollygoats on May 2, 2016 18:03:45 GMT
So... need any help with the naming? Um...I'm always open to suggestions. I have one possible, but it could be dispensed with were there a better alternative.... I wish I had the means of producing a photo for you, but I don't. I guess the best way to distinguish them is one is darker than the other, mostly with a subdued barring pattern on the neck, wingtops, and body. The lighter of the two has the darker neck markings, but the body and wings are a mousey grey-brown....great camouflage patterning (unlike Ingrid, who stands out like a beacon most places).
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Post by Mari on May 2, 2016 19:54:41 GMT
Hmmm, so no theme this time? Florence might be nice for the darker one. As in NIGHTingale. Or is that too farfetched?
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Post by whollygoats on May 2, 2016 20:35:17 GMT
I did some 'in yer face' interviewing and it seems that the pullets are either a bit apart in age (a week, maybe) as the darker of the two has the start of her facial tufts and beard. The lighter shade of the two has an as yet unadorned chookface. She, I would guess is younger and part of her being lighter in shade might be due to her still feathering out from her chick fluff. Her chick fluff is keeping her less distinct. I don't know if I'll be able to readily tell them apart once they've fully feathered in.
Since they came to the Ravenswood Priory of St. Gallus on May 1st, I'm tempted to name them 'May' and 'Day'. Then, when I call them, it will be like a neighborhood distress signal..."MAY DAY! MAY DAY! MAY DAY!"
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Post by Moose on May 7, 2016 18:22:51 GMT
I like that. Go for it.
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