Big Bomber The Momma

[dinosaw]

Oh no!, more pics of hens with their chicks.Sorry!. If you had ever seen this Light Sussex hurtling down towards you wings furiously flapping you would know why she got the nickname "Big Bomber". I've never kept large breeds like Brahmas or Jerseys for comparison, but she is a big hen, bigger than any of my other Sussex by some way. Not an ideal time for her to have been sitting and she was in a bit of distress with the heat just when they started to hatch but she did a good job of being patient while the last chick fluffed up before leaving the nest. She has lost a lot of weight in three weeks. As top hen none of the other chickens have dared to touch the chicks even when they got separated for a while, so it seems that this summers experiment is telling me that it's ok to leave the top couple of birds to hatch in situ with the flock but not anything lower down the pecking order.

 

[Marigold]

Fantastic pics, what a lovely setup for them. Her expression in that first photo reminds me of Arlene Foster on the steps of No.10 - no messing!

 

[dinosaw]

Her expression in that first photo reminds me of Arlene Foster on the steps of No.10 - no messing!

"Two billion mealworms or your not touching my chicks"

Your not wrong there, she is like that chicks or not, remember when she arrived she just took over immediately sending the established birds running for cover. The Count came up to her and did a little dance and got drop kicked and pecked for his trouble, shuffled away crestfallen as he has never been one for fighting with the hens to dominate them. I reckon if he hadn't seen off that peacock a few days later she wouldn't be letting him tread her to this day.

 

[bigyetiman]

Lovely pics, we have a similar big Light Sussex who is a real diva, no bombing about for her, much too busy keeping herself looking good and avoiding anything that just might make her dirty

 

[Hen-Gen]

So who's the daddy?

 

[dinosaw]

So who's the daddy?

That would be this scruffbag.

 

[Evie]

Her expression in that first photo reminds me of Arlene Foster on the steps of No.10 - no messing!

"Two billion mealworms or your not touching my chicks"

Your not wrong there, she is like that chicks or not, remember when she arrived she just took over immediately sending the established birds running for cover. The Count came up to her and did a little dance and got drop kicked and pecked for his trouble, shuffled away crestfallen as he has never been one for fighting with the hens to dominate them. I reckon if he hadn't seen off that peacock a few days later she wouldn't be letting him tread her to this day.

Brilliant! :mrgreen:

 

[poachedegg]

She looks wonderful..but not the sort of bird you'd like to meet up a dark alley.

 

[Hen-Gen]

Well I'm really interested to see how the chicks feather out. Genetics has been a life long passion from which I continue to learn. Can I just confirm that he is a white Russian Orloff?

 

[Minorcafan]

Lovely family

 

[dinosaw]

Well I'm really interested to see how the chicks feather out. Genetics has been a life long passion from which I continue to learn. Can I just confirm that he is a white Russian Orloff?

He is indeed, the chicks will not just be Orloff x Sussex as it was a mixed clutch she was sat on, most likely to be x Exchequer Leghorn too. We did have a couple of lads resulting from Orloff x Lt Sussex last year and they turned out to black and white. The girl resulting from the Exchequer Leghorn cross last year turned out jet black and was awful in terms of temperament. Photo of one of the lads below.