Dogcows and Chickens, Cont’d.
Isn’t he magnificent?! This is mockturtle’s rooster, Mac.
Now mt and Karen can tell us what breed of chickens this is and what’s so special about them, and fifteen comments down heaven only knows what we’ll be talking about!
Ambiance 
kngfish said,
June 13, 2012 at 10:34 am
If this chicken were only on his Iphone talking to a dogcow on HIS Iphone…. Photoshoppers?
mockturtle said,
June 13, 2012 at 10:52 am
Amba, it was nice of you to post Mac’s picture. His story was told in the iPhone thread. A Buff Orpington, he was initially the beta male in my flock of Orpingtons and Barred Rocks. When I had to slay the alpha male [a mean Barred Rock prone to domestic abuse], Mac stepped in and admirably fulfilled the role of Rooster. And, unlike his mean predecessor, he was well-loved by all the hens. They were good layers, both breeds, and though I sold a few eggs, I gave most of them away.
When my husband retired from his research job in 1991 [he was a biochemist], I quit my nursing job and we moved from Seattle to a beautiful small farm in the mountains of NE Washington state. No cows, Karen, but I enjoyed my laying hens and we had productive gardens and I did a lot of canning, root cellaring, all that stuff. We subscribed to Mother Earth News. ;-) Made bread, sewed everything, all that stuff. It was totally new to both of us and we enjoyed it for five years.
amba (Annie Gottlieb) said,
June 13, 2012 at 10:57 am
Gosh, I used to pile up Mother Earth News in my New York apartment, and read the land-for-sale ads . . .back around 1970. In my case, it remained a fantasy.
Melinda said,
June 13, 2012 at 11:19 am
What a beautiful bird!
I keep seeing books on the “new nonfiction” shelf at the Jefferson Market Library about raising chickens, and I also keep reading stuff like this:
http://brokelyn.com/raise-a-backyard-chicken-for-your-brooklyn-dozen/
Sometimes, I get tempted. :)
mockturtle said,
June 13, 2012 at 11:35 am
It’s interesting that in Seattle now they are changing some city ordinances to allow for small flocks of chickens. No roosters, though. :-(
karen said,
June 13, 2012 at 4:00 pm
Maybe just a little rooster? Our banties are so small- probably some mixture of breeds- but, too cute. They crow, w/gusto, but not overly loud. That’s why we named our original ~Woody~: the 1st time i heard him crow, he sounded like he had a pull string somewhere on the back of his neck.
When Goldie hatched out her eggs- they were all boys and they would hide under her wings in such a fashion that she looked like she had multiple little legs(6chicks)but they were hidden. She’s good mom.
I wish i could get into Mother … ooooh– Mother Earth!! I was thinking Mother Jones and saying how i wish i could get into that mag, but it was just too much for me to… fathom? Earth is a different story.
I sympathize w/your alpha rooster story, MockT. We did that w/3 pencil-laced roosters that were not nice to be around– and they eat like horses. I have a pic of me w/the lady that did the deed(me watching and learning)(hopefully)- but they did yield a lot of meat, unfortunately. They were about 7-9mos old, so that could be why.
mockturtle said,
June 16, 2012 at 11:29 am
Karen, one thing I’ll have to admit about chickens, much as I love them. They are incredibly stupid. ;-) BTW, I love cows, too. As I mentioned before, grandparents were cattle ranchers in CO–black angus and hereford. Grandma kept about a dozen milk cows [guernsey] and chickens, too. Grandpa hated those milk cows, called it her ‘hobby’. She sold the milk but he always said it wasn’t profitable. I loved putting their feed in the troughts for them and bringing them into the barn for milking. I didn’t ever mess with those big milking machines but she let me ‘strip’ the cows after the machine was removed [getting the last bit of milk out manually that the machine didn’t]. Do you still do that?
Spending part of the summer with them was pure heaven! :-)
mockturtle said,
June 16, 2012 at 11:29 am
Troughs, not troughts.
joared said,
June 19, 2012 at 2:59 am
What a magnificently beautiful bird! We raised Rhode Island Reds, Bantams and had a few gorgeous Game Cocks along with a couple of ducks. Having Bantams hatching duck eggs became more than a bit traumatic for the mothers when baby ducks chose to swim in a half-oil drum pond we devised for them. Ah….life!