Introducing Our New Longtail Breeds Part 1~ Red Shoulder Yokohamas

For Christmas and my birthday this year, Chuck surprised me with the last thing I expected him to purchase on his own, new chicken breeds!  Not just new breeds but an entirely new class of chickens with much project potential!  He talked to the breeders about coop and run requirements and ensured I was all set with those too.  Spoiled?  You betcha'!  Please welcome our newest chickens, our new longtail breeders!  The first of our new long tail breeds is the Red Shoulder Yokohamas.

Red Shoulder Yokohamas

My first thought when I saw Luke, Peace, and Hope was, "Striking!"  They are truly glorious and make me feel as if I'm close to a wild eagle.  They're an extremely attractive exhibition breed with long tails and saddle feathers.

Yokohamas are named for the port they were originally exported from in the late 1800s.  As with all three of my new longtail breeds, they were developed from Japanese origins.  It's thought that the Yokos of today were mostly created from the Japanese Minohiki ("Saddle Dragger" in Japanese) with a bit of Onagadori crossed in.  Others have said that once the French missionary Girad exported the Minohiki to Europe, the German breeders created the Yokohama from crossing them with Malay, Phoenix, Sumatra, and other common game fowl.  Either way, though they were created from game lines, the Yokos are kept primarily for ornamental purposes.

The Yokohamas were accepted into the American Poultry Association's Standard of Perfection in 1981 in two varieties, the White and the Red Shoulder.  We breed and raise the Red Shoulder variety. They are primarily white with substantial reddish brown highlights on their shoulders, wings, and breast.  They have small, bright red walnut combs and earlobes with the same color small or non existent wattles.  Their beak, shanks, and toes should be yellow and their eyes reddish bay to orangey red. 

Generally alert but easy going and docile,  Yokohamas are fairly slow to mature.  To maintain the roosters' long and lush tail and saddle feathers, they're best kept in dry, well-bedded coops with high perches.  These lovely fowl bear confinement well but are also well suited for free ranging situations.  The roosters are known to be rooster aggressive so you'll want to limit your flock to one.  

The hens are quiet, are known to go broody, and be excellent mothers.  They lay small to medium tinted or white eggs.  The frequency of their laying depends greatly on their diet.  To keep the hens laying consistently and to encourage proper tail growth in the roosters, diets higher in animal and fish protein and fat. 

We currently do not have any Yokohama chicks nor juveniles for sale but fertile hatching eggs can be purchased via our online store.

I'll be introducing you'll to our other two new longtail breeds very soon!

Blessings,

Tiffany

The Egg Basket is published, as a contributor in "Must Love Chickens"

 

The Egg Basket is published in Erin Kelly's book, "Must Love Chickens" available at Amazon.com!

It's official! We're published!  The Egg Basket is pleased to announce Erin Kelly's book, "Must Love Chickens" has been released.  We're a contributing author and photographer to the book and very excited about it!  It's inexpensive ($2.99) and full of ideas and information from us and other knowledgeable chicken keepers from different perspectives.  Go download yours today!

**Urgent** Lost Silkie from Nationals in Newnan

*MISSING* Judy Lee's Paint Hen; wearing pink leg band #13. She went missing during the poultry show at Newnan, GA.

 

 

 

Friends I could really use your help!! My dear friend, Judy Lee, who is THE CREATOR of the American Paint Silkie has lost her BEST Paint Silkie at the Newnan Show. She is the best she's every had after 10+ years of breeding the paints to make them better and better so we can all enjoy them, some jerk has stolen her beloved Penelope right from her trailer at the show. If you are near N...ewnan or anywhere between there and TN please keep your eyes open. The chicken community is a small world and we need to help this beautiful, compassionate, giving Chicken Mama try to get her baby back! She is an amazing, generous person and for someone to do this to her of all people just ticks me off! No questions asked if Penelope is returend safely, she just wants her baby back! Please help!!

Love ♥ ~

It's Showtime Part 3- Let's Go to the Show!

It's Showtime!
 
We're getting ready today to head out to the Virginia Poultry Breeder's Association 2012 Fall Poultry Show first thing in the morning!  The kids will be showing two chickens each and all three are participating in Showmanship again!  Their APA ABA Youth Poultry Club friends are mostly all showing tomorrow so it will be like an all day Chicken Play Date!  It doesn't get much better for them!  Snacks, Picnic, 800 or so Chickens, and hanging out with friends!  Mom is going to have a great time too!  We'll post photos later of our preparations, it's our largest show yet so the kids and I are thrilled and nervous at the same time!

 So, who are they taking to this show?

Chance is taking:

Jordan, his Blue Splash Silkie Cockerel

Jordan, his Splash Silkie Cockerel

And
Chipmunk, his Silver Ameraucana Pullet

 

Briana is bringing:
Samuel Little, her Bantam Salmon Faverolle

And

Lou, our Silver Ameraucana Cockerel

 

Alyssa is bringing:

 her La Fleche Pair,

Kyle, her Bantam La Fleche Cockerel

And



Katie, her Bantam La Fleche Pullet

The kids have been practicing their Showmanship both at home and at their APA ABA Youth Poultry Club Meetings.  All of the chickens are bathed, trimmed, and ready to go. 

 

Now it's my turn to do some work and pack us up for the show.  There will be vendors at the show I'm pretty certain but the food will most likely be more of the "fast food" variety which doesn't always sit well on kids with nervous tummies!  I'm going to pack some snacks and healthy lunches since it's likely going to be a long (exciting) day!  Fruits, Veggies, Larabars, LOTS of water bottles, Whole Grain fresh Chicken Salad Wraps, all things to sustain them and keep them well hydrated so they feel healthy and energized for all of the fun!  Of course, I'm also packing LOTS of hand sanitizer!

 

For the chickens:  cages, pine chips, scratch, and a gallon of water, these are always provided but you may want to take your own because it's madness when you coop in and I like to have ours readily available.  I prefer to keep our chickens on their normal diet, this eliminates any problems with stomach upset and I'm a freak about biosecurity.  With that in mind, I also bring paper towels and Oxine to clean the cages before putting our chickens in them.  The cages have been cleaned but as I said, I'm a biosecurity nut so I have my kids or I clean the cages ourselves just before putting our birds in.  We bring our pine chips- I don't want them getting sneezy or any upper respiratory issues right before seeing the judge- put those in along with some plastic or disposable cups (from home) with their food and water (again from home.) 

That has me packing: chicken feed (I put some in gallon size Ziploc bags), a jug of water, 2 small bowls (one for water, one for feed), pine chips, Oxine (or you can make a disinfectant with 1 part Clorox/ 4 parts water), paper towels, and baby wipes in my large recycled bag.  The baby wipes are to clean any poop or debris our chickens might get on them while waiting for the judges.  Chickens poop...A LOT ... and they really don't care if they step in it or not.  Featherlegs are particularly challenging in regards to keeping their feet clean so that's where baby/dog wipes work GREAT! 

 I think we're ready!  At dinner, we're going to quiz, quiz, and have some fun QUIZZING :)!  Dinnertime is great because my husband gets involved and the kids LOVE that!  Afterall, as a homeschooling mom, they get tired of listening to me quiz them on everything!  Dad makes it fun and it excites them for him to take an interest!  Wish us luck! <3

 

 If you love keeping up with the latest photos and chick news at The Egg Basket but haven't Liked us on Facebook yet, head on over and check us out! We're constantly posting and displaying new information and photographs so join us! We're going to try to upload photos from the show and our rankings!  I'll also post their results (even if there aren't any!) in a blog post next week!

Love,

Tiff