A friend of mine was talking about her recent trip to a historic ranch (that is still running) in Texas and it gave me the idea to do a series of posts here about famous ranches (working or not). So, our next ranching topic will be ranches!

Leghorn chickens originally came from northern Italy and were brought to American by Captain Gates in 1852.

These are not heavy birds – the standard male weighs about 6 lbs and the female weighs about 4.5 lbs.

There are several varieties of the breed – white, red, black tailed red, light brown, dark brown, black, blue, buff, Columbian, buff Columbian, barred, exchequer and silver.

They lay about 280 white eggs per year.

One of the most famous Leghorns is the Looney Toons Foghorn Leghorn character.

Good sites to visit for more info:

http://www.the-coop.org/leghorn/history.html

Photo Credits:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leghorn_(chicken)

Although the name Chantecler is common, this breed is actually quite rare. They are a Canadian breed, developed to withstand the cold winters and have an excellent egg production (about 5 eggs a week).

Brother Wilfrid of Quebec spent 9 years developing the breed and giving it a name from a popular French fable about a rooster named Chantecler who was in love with a golden pheasant.

It’s a heavier bird (plenty of insulation) with smaller combs and wattles to endure frosty days. A standard male weighs between 3.4 to 3.9 kg (about 9 lbs) and a hen 2.5 to 3 kg (about 6.5 lbs).

Hens lay about 210 light brown eggs a year.

Good sites to visit for more info:

http://www.chanteclerchicken.com/

http://www.cfagrf.com/Chantecler_chicken.htm

Photo Credits:

http://www.mypetchicken.com/chicken-breeds/Chantecler-B27.aspx

http://www.cfagrf.com/Chantecler_chicken.htm

We’re going to discuss a few of the popular breeds of chickens, starting with the Barnevelder.

It’s a friendly and calm breed which originated from District of Barneveld, Holland. These birds, nicknamed “Barnies”, spend large amounts of time grooming and make good show birds.

They lay almost 200 dark brown eggs a year.

The breed became standardized in 1910 and in 1921 The Association of Barneveld Breeders was established.



There are several varieties of Barnevelders including Black, White, Dark Brown, Blue, Silver, and Double-Laced (feather pattern).

The typical male weighs between 3.2 and 3.8 kg while the hen weighs a much lighter 2.3 to 2.7 kg.


Photo Credits:

http://www.backyardchickens.com/breeds/barnevelder/8165

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnevelder

All About Eggs…

A female chicken (a hen) can start to lay eggs around 5 or 6 months old.

Females can lay eggs every 1-3 days, depending on the breed. Production decreases as the hen gets older. Her peak years are between 1 and 4. Chickens can live over 8 years.

A female can lay (unfertilized) eggs without a rooster. Fertilized eggs will turn into baby chicks if kept warm.

Different breeds produce different colored eggs. We will explore this further when we analyze each breed.

Inside the hen, a oocyte or yolk is formed during ovulation. The yolk then moves down the oviduct inside the hen, gets covered with the vitelline membrane, get covered with egg-white or albumin, and eventually, just before it is laid, a hard shell of calcite forms around it to protect the egg during laying.

If the egg was fertilized and kept warm, the baby chick inside actually eats the yolk while it grows. The chick incubates inside the egg for 21 days and then it pecks its way out of the shell to hatch.

What is a chicken?

A chicken, or fowl, is a bird that is raised for food or entertainment. People eat the meat of the bird or the eggs. Some cultures eat every part, even the legs. Other cultures only eat the breast meat (which you can find in the grocery labelled as “all-white meat”).

A baby chicken is a chick.

A female chicken is a hen. Someone once asked me if a guinea hen is the same thing and it is not – it’s a different species and they really look different.

A male chicken is called a cockerel until it’s first birthday, then it’s called a cock or rooster. A capon is a young castrated male (less than one year). Processed chickens usually don’t see their seventh month birthdays. The adult male has a red comb.

Continuing the spirit of ranching, our next topic will focus all about raising chickens. Baby chicks (like the one in this picture) are soooo cute and soft! Different breeds have different temperments and mannerisms that make them interesting.
I’ll go over the different breeds and characteristics as well as steps to raising healthy chickens.

Horse (DK Eyewitness Books) by Juliet Clutton-Brock

I love the DK Eyewitness books for their amazing color photographs and details. “Horse” is no different. Full of beautiful detail and information, it’s a handy reference for your horse/ranching library.
Little factoids through the book:

• The temperature inside the furnace for making horse shoes is over 2000 degrees F
• A male horse will sniff a female horse’s urine to see if she is in heat or not – quite unromantic!
• Smallest horse is the Falabella (7.2 hh or 30 inches)
• Largest horse is the Shire (16.2 hh or 66 inches)
• A herd of horses is usually led by a mare. She keeps others in order with the bite threat.
• A horse drinks at least 44 pints of water a day
• The highest jump was 8 ft 1.25 inches
• A horse can run up to 43 mph

Caring For My Horse by Toni Webber

I really like how detailed this book is and amount of information she presents from living quarters to health conditions to taking care of daily needs. This is an excellent reference book for those just looking for a horse or even those who already owning a horse.

Plants that are Poisonous to Horses:

• Bracken
• Yew
• Ragwort
• Deadly night shade
• Red Maple
• Horsetail
• Black locust
• White snakeroot

Items in your grooming box:

• Dandy brush
• Body brush
• Water brush
• Curry comb
• Hoof pick
• Sponges

Horseback Riding for Dummies by Audrey Pavia

A basic guidebook that goes over the general information on riding
as well as details about different breeds of horses and their colorings. The book talks about both Western riding style and English riding style.

Types of gaits: (in increasing speed)

• Walk
• Jog (Western riding) or Trot (English riding)
• Lope (Western riding) or Canter (English riding)
• Gallop

Colors of Horses:

• Chestnut (reddish)
• Bay (brown with black hair and legs)
• Brown
• Black
• Gray
• Dun (gold, reddish or tan with black/brown mane and
  tail)
• Buckskin
• Palomino (golden body with white mane and tail)

Dun:

Palomino: