All posts tagged: carbon footprint

Trust

πŸ’™TrustπŸ’™

We handle every single animal on our land. I can turn my back to any rooster, bend down in-front of and pick up one of their hens without fear of being attacked. Any of our birds can be flipped upside down, held comfortably on one arm, pet, adored and then respectfully released back into the field.

πŸ’™
Learning the language of animals is something that cannot be taught in a book, it is all field experience. A simple call or stance speaks volumes to me about a birds mood. Each breed has a temperamental theme and each bird within that breed has its own character. I had a gorgeous Marans cockerel last year that did not physically do anything to me but every time I went to feed the flock I could feel that he was thinking about chasing me off. I would stop my feeding, crouch down, look at him and throw the same energy back at him, he would casually strut away knowing his place but even that exchange was one I did not want to breed so let him go. Chickens and roosters in particular are quite emotionally loud if we listen. We start each breeding group with 10 boys and narrow it down to two or three whose personality we want to pass on to future generations.
πŸ’™
It is our hope that over the years we will be able to educate folks that roosters and chickens are safe to be around. There is no reason to keep a mean rooster in your life when there are plenty of good reliable ones that can step up to protect your flock.

πŸ’™
Pictured here is one of our Sage Egger roosters. Sage Eggers are one of the breeds we have available in our 2019 lineup of birds. He is a gorgeous boy with exceptional creole patterning on his saddle feathers. Fun fact, the saddle feathers on roosters are used for fly fishing.

 

alchemist_farmTrust
read more

The Making of Blue

πŸ¦‹The Making Of BlueπŸ¦‹
πŸ¦‹Selective BreedingπŸ¦‹
.
Many people ask what kind of quail lay our blue speckled eggs. The answer is a domesticated coturnix quail. The blue egg layers come in a feather types and are the size of traditional coturnix pharoh quail you may have seen folks keep as pets.
πŸ¦‹
This photo illustrates how the blue eggs were achieved overtime with selective breeding. From left to right we can see the closest egg to us was laid with a heavy bloom, next is an egg with a blue tint followed by a white egg with a slight blue tint then more and more blue saturation of color as the line continues.
πŸ¦‹
I love playing with egg colors and and the quail allow me to achieve colors that could take a lifetime with chickens. It takes an average of 5 1/2 months for a chicken to lay. It takes 6-8 weeks from birth for a quail to begin laying.
πŸ¦‹
With every egg selected and incubated we are creating something beautiful. Our pairing with nature and gift to all of you!
πŸ¦‹
We are done shipping quail chicks for 2018 but we will be shipping fertile hatching eggs of both the blue and brown speckled quail eggs if you would like to try to hatch them at home! ❀️

alchemist_farmThe Making of Blue
read more