[joyfull]

aww so sweet

[tosca100]

While researching Bulgaria we joined a forum for ex-pats. One of the members very kindly gave us five hens(?) after we had asked if anyone knew where to get some, as a 'welcome' gift. They are a funny looking lot but with bags of personality. We are not entirely sure what sex they are as none are laying and are not conventional looking. So here they are.

Bunty, so named as she has the colouring of the snow bunting. She still makes baby noises and asks to be brooded at night, but is very precocious.


Venus, she is an avid fly catcher


Cagney...just because. She seems to be boss.


Lacey, Cagney's sister, who has lace patterning to her feathers...sort of.


Ans finally, Silver, named for the silver on it's neck, and because it could be a boy or girl according to the gifter. It is bigger than the others, has a crooked foot, and although at first we thought maybe aggressive, is actually a clown who raises it's hackles when confused or pushed around by the smaller chooks. Not pretty, looks rather like a vulture.

[ANHBUC]

What a lovely mixture, Venus looks like a Black Rock so there is possibly some Rhode Island Red in the breeding.  The tufted ones look as if they have Cream Legbar in them.  Silver has a very pale comb and wattles for a cockerel.   

[tosca100]

What a lovely mixture, Venus looks like a Black Rock so there is possibly some Rhode Island Red in the breeding.  The tufted ones look as if they have Cream Legbar in them.  Silver has a very pale comb and wattles for a cockerel.   

I dearly hope you are right. OH wants to raise pure bred utility birds and says there will be no place for a boy of uncertain breeding with a crooked foot. I have got rather attached already.

[ANHBUC]

What a lovely mixture, Venus looks like a Black Rock so there is possibly some Rhode Island Red in the breeding.  The tufted ones look as if they have Cream Legbar in them.  Silver has a very pale comb and wattles for a cockerel.   

I dearly hope you are right. OH wants to raise pure bred utility birds and says there will be no place for a boy of uncertain breeding with a crooked foot. I have got rather attached already.

It looks more like a Silver Sussex and the cockerel is a lot lighter on the neck feathers so keeping my fingers crossed for you and Silver (aptly named).   

[tosca100]

Well, we picked up our (his) new pure bred shumens yesterday. They are a rare Bulgarian breed which were down to just 100 birds a few years ago. The chap we bought them from has been instrumental in bringing them back, using an out crossing programme. OH's three are two pure black hens and a blue male who is 87.5% pure. An interest for him as he used to manage stud books for zoo animals. They lay white eggs.

I have to admit I thought they would be as smart as his videos show, but they look a bit run down and featherless, and the pens they lived in make their new home look like a 5 star des-res. The girls are just over a year old, the boy is 8 months. They are one of the fastest maturing breeds ever, apparently. Hopefully with fresh air and excercise they will soon feather up and get their fluffy bums back.

Here they are just after the indignity of a good dusting of louse powder.



The boy had a bit of a scrap with another rooster a week ago


Awww bless them. They do look a lot better this morning, but only one hen will come out of the shed.


Our girls are acting like tarts outside the window. They look great next to the new ones. OH wants to mix them, but I don't know, I would hate to see them looking like the new hens, it looks as if the cockerel has been a bit...er...amorous. I expect OH will win, if that's what the chooks want.

[tosca100]

And they have already given us our first Bulgarian egg. Sevi is a very happy boy, he likes his new home and all in it.

[ANHBUC]

That is great news tosca.  I would keep them apart for three weeks if possible just in case they are carrying anything.  It is easier to treat 3 birds rather than your full flock.  You may be able to get breeders food for them which will get them in peak condition.   

[joyfull]

It will be lovely to see them all in their glory once they feather up 

[tosca100]

That is great news tosca.  I would keep them apart for three weeks if possible just in case they are carrying anything.  It is easier to treat 3 birds rather than your full flock.  You may be able to get breeders food for them which will get them in peak condition.

Hmmm....that was the idea, they have a lovely vermin proof shed of their own. Unfortunately, due to the dogs getting too hot in the bedroom OH came down with them in the night so was the one to let the chooks out, and all agreements went out of the window. We are worming them all (asked the owner, who also shows, about worming and he was totally confused by the question!) and they were well dusted as they came out of the crate. So too late to worry by the time I got up.

It will be lovely to see them all in their glory once they feather up 

The hens are just small black hens, with large, very red combs. I find the comb thing a bit confusing. i would have thought large combs a bad idea in a native of a country which has very bitter winters. But then I suppose they rarely get out. Not quite sure how Sevi will turn out with having a small amount of Spanish blood. They will supposedly have half black, half blue offspring, but obviously the bloodline will be closer to pure.

[ANHBUC]

You may find that the comb and wattles shrink in the winter.

[tosca100]

Sevi is showing the promise of a handsome boy....as long as you can't see his 'tail'!

[ANHBUC]

That is a great improvement in a few days.  You can give them a little extra protein to help keep their diet balanced while they are refeathering.  They are going to be really handsome birds once they have their new feathers, I can imagine them strutting their stuff already.   

[tosca100]

Thanks ANHBUC, all three are strutters, the girls because they are so much older and more confident than my five, and Sevi because he is a show off and more than happy to have all these girls. From the chap we bought them from we have found out that Sevi was on his own since the fight, and the girls were with a black boy. We are keeping the eggs to incubate as the girls are not related to him and the rooster they were with is also unrelated (as much as they can be in a rare breed) so if there are any hen chicks we can keep any laid within the first ten days or so. The eggs are tiny though, with the hens being small. Like bantam eggs.

Thanks for the protein advice. It is difficult to get supplements out here when you have communication problems, but they do love a bit of tinned fish!

Bella, who loved our chickens in the UK, but was wary of my five here, was in the shed with the shumens as soon as they arrived, and goes in with Dave when he does the afternoon feeding, they are OK with Bella, more wary with Dave. Sevi's comb was a tiny bit blue here, but is OK now.

[ANHBUC]

That is a good idea about the fertile eggs, I did it with two Barred Plymouth Rock bantam hens I bought.  I now have 3 pure bred chicks free of charge, 2 girls and 1 boy so I am very happy.  When I looked online to see how long they can stay fertile it says up to 3 weeks.     One of my eggs that hatched was laid around 2 weeks after I got them, so if you need to know who the daddy is you have to leave plenty of time clear between mating with different cockerels.

The ladies should be fine for breeding if they are over 12 months old so fingers crossed you have some fertile eggs.