Annabelle may think she’s a dog, but even I don’t know what’s going on in the chicken house.
The banty hen is sitting on three eggs.
You’d think that was almost not even worth the trouble, but she has been wanting to sit on a nest since she was big enough to fly up into the nesting boxes. I had three banty eggs in the incubator this spring and not one banty egg hatched, so I don’t have high hopes for her nest.
She will sit on it to the death, though. It’s been almost three weeks, so I’ll know soon if she is doing anything productive or just living out her fantasies.
Meanwhile, something did hatch in the chicken house–wild baby birds!!
There are three baby birds in one of the nesting boxes. My question? How are they getting out of there? I hope mama bird can figure out how to lead the way when they fledge.
What I do know? I’m not feeding them!
Meanwhile, back in the chicken yard, I kept looking and looking at this one little chick from the bunch I hatched out of the incubator. It just didn’t look right. Something was weird…..
Do you see what I see?
Do you see that tuft on the top of its head?
Do you see its nearly naked neck?
The eggs I hatched out of the incubator came from my original chickens, which came from the nearby chicken farm. They keep a grand mix of chicken breeds over there. They order every year from Murray McMurray, playing around with different breeds. They also let them intermingle and hatch out mixes. So, the chickens I got from them are a mix, and an unknown mix at that. They do have some Turkens (Naked Necks) over there, but none of my chickens turned out to be Naked Necks (and I wasn’t particularly wanting any, either).
But in the next generation, hatching out their eggs, the genes rose to the top and I got one.
It’s a mix, of course, not a full Turken, but it’s definitely got some Turken in it.
Turkens are a bit of a novelty chicken. This is what they look like full-grown. (See the odd chicken in the middle of the photo below?) They come in assorted colors.
I regret to announce that Stringtown Rising Farm is no longer 100 percent cute. We now sport a hideous novelty.
We have a Naked Necker!
Sue says:
I agree -Turkens are pretty ugly-they remind me of vultures.
Well, maybe yours will get better looking with age???
On July 2, 2009 at 2:51 am
Dawn says:
Whatever happened to the little chick with the splayed legs?
On July 2, 2009 at 3:09 am
SarahKoski says:
Dawn: Check out Suzanne’s recent Q and A, and the answer to comment #20. https://chickensintheroad.com/blog/2009/06/22/q-a/
On July 2, 2009 at 3:19 am
Box Call says:
A naked necker with an Elvis haircut. As Jed Clampett would say,”Wee doggies, ain’t that somethin.” Maybe this naked necker won’t look so much like a buzzard….don’t eat the eggs though; you never really no where ugly will rub off!
On July 2, 2009 at 3:23 am
Sheila Z says:
It’s only a semi naked neck, so that makes it only semi ugly. I agree though, I think the naked neck look is particularly homely. Repulsive really. I told my sister I wouldn’t take one as a gift. I feel the same way about hairless dogs and cats. It just aint right.
On July 2, 2009 at 3:42 am
Fran says:
Don’t say that, she may hear us!!! She’s cute in her on way :dancingmonster: :yes:
On July 2, 2009 at 4:06 am
trish from "grow lettuce grow" says:
wow!!!!!
On July 2, 2009 at 4:44 am
Kelleh says:
Vulture Chicken for the win!
On July 2, 2009 at 5:01 am
Lynda Dunham-Watkins says:
I’ve never seen a chicken with a naked neck! Makes wringing it easier! LOL I know you don’t. My grandmother did.Not a pretty sight!
On July 2, 2009 at 5:26 am
Will says:
Shall we call him streaker, the naked neck?
On July 2, 2009 at 5:40 am
Beth says:
Am I the only one who thinks he’s cute?? Of course I’m not terribly interested in owning necked necks. But I did hear that they are supposed to be one of the sweetest breeds out there. Guess they figure they ought to have SOMETHING going for them!
On July 2, 2009 at 5:54 am
Remudamom says:
If the eggs are good I’ll bet your banty will hatch them out. You can candle them to see. One of my banties hatched four out of six, and another is setting some guinea eggs. You can begin counting days the first night she stays on the nest and doesn’t roost. If yours has been there 21 days something should be happening today or tomorrow. Good luck!
On July 2, 2009 at 6:03 am
Ang. says:
You either love them or you don’t. I happen to love my Turken. She is sweet, a fighter (survived a coon attack) and lays me the biggest, brown eggs. In fact, I just posted a picture of her on my blog a few days agon. I think your little topknot turken is cute! Ship him to Illinois. He (she?) could have a lovely life with my old gal.
On July 2, 2009 at 6:07 am
flutterby says:
Naked chicken neck?… You could tie a nice, red, country bandanna around it.
On July 2, 2009 at 6:22 am
Sunny says:
Better 1 hen on 3 eggs than 3 hens on 1 nest like i had 🙂
On July 2, 2009 at 6:39 am
Heidi says:
The good thing is that if she has feathers on her neck now, she’ll never truly have a naked neck. My turken started out as the nicest and sweetest chicken in my whole flock. Now she’s at the top of the pecking order and boy does she run a tight ship in that coop of hers!
On July 2, 2009 at 6:40 am
Christine says:
Well at least she’s good looking on a turken scale. I’m not a huge fan of turkens, I don’t even think their mamas think they’re cute.
On July 2, 2009 at 6:51 am
Molly says:
I hear that Turkens are really great chickens. My aunt keeps two and they are her favourites! One of them wants nothing more than to be carried around.
On July 2, 2009 at 7:08 am
Claudia W. says:
And I was just going to say her Momma thinks she’s cute!
What a wonderful mix of chickens you have. Keeps it interesting!
On July 2, 2009 at 7:13 am
Nancy in Atlanta says:
At least you’ll always know if she washed the back of her neck. And since all those in the know above say turkens are sweet chicks, maybe she’ll become a porch chicken?
On July 2, 2009 at 7:45 am
Jo says:
Whoa, that full grown Turken IS pretty hideous!!! Looks like you have a vulture! But I wouldn’t say the little Turken is hideous, just yet.
On July 2, 2009 at 8:53 am
Mother Hen says:
Ewwwwwwwwww!
On July 2, 2009 at 9:00 am
Carolina Trekker says:
Little Naked Chicken in Italian is PICCOLO NUDO POLLO. Say that five times fast? I have never seen a Naked Neck Chicken, but her nother would say TI AMO PICCOLO POLLO (I Love You Little Chicken.)
On July 2, 2009 at 9:11 am
Wheezay says:
it’s cute..in an ugly sorta way. :chicken:
On July 2, 2009 at 9:24 am
Sheryl says:
Awww! I think he’s really cute! Poor little thing, his owner/mommy thinks he’s ugly! He looks sweet!
On July 2, 2009 at 9:43 am
Kacey says:
Hm, poor little unloved ugly chicken…maybe he’ll cuten up? (is TOO a phrase!)
On July 2, 2009 at 9:52 am
catslady says:
Maybe the ugly “duckling” will grow up to be a swan lol or maybe not.
On July 2, 2009 at 10:21 am
Mary says:
You amaze me with your photos. I’m still trying to take a picture of a bird at my birdbath. :snuggle:
On July 2, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Lola-Dawn says:
We had a naked necker once. He also had dwarf legs! We called him Baldy, and he was the biggest EMBARRASSMENT! He was, shall we say, an EXTREMELY amorous rooster … extreme to the point of attempting to get amorous with ANYTHING that moved, including large neighbourhood dogs, garden hoes, and tractor tires. Winter arrived before I could knit him a little chicken muffler for his naked neck, and he didn’t survive the cold. We were actually a little relieved! I know that sounds terrible.
On July 2, 2009 at 12:35 pm
Donna says:
Have you had TurDucken? It is a novelty here…they stuff a turkey with a Duck and then put stuffing in it…I’ve had it and nothing to write home about.
Looks like you have some good fried chicken dinners coming up!
On July 2, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Estella says:
I had never seen a picture of a naked necked chicken before.
On July 2, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Shell says:
Looks like it may be crossed with Silkie with that head tuft. Does it have extra toes as well?
On July 2, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Suzanne McMinn says:
I don’t know! I didn’t think to look at its toes!
On July 3, 2009 at 4:27 am
Shannon says:
Bantys are the best! I have one that hatched 5 chicks and a duckling this morning 😉 I definitely would not want a Turken, but that one isn’t so bad.
On July 2, 2009 at 3:48 pm
cranberry says:
Never heard of a turken, but she looks like a turkey, kind of, but with a mohawk! Next you need some of those chickens with the pom-pom’s on their head, so cute! :heart:
On July 2, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Mrs. M says:
Oh I think it’s a precious bird! You have a wonderful blog here. I am so glad Joan at https://3girlsmeandarecipe.blogspot.com/ posted about you.
~Mrs. M
On July 2, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Ellen says:
Gasp! So mean!!! Poor little thing : ) I bet it has a little heart of GOLD.
On July 3, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Mary says:
How in the hell did you get your goat in your car? You always amaze me.
On July 11, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Bev says:
Hold onto her belly for a little while…..see if you can feel it kicking
On July 11, 2009 at 5:37 pm
whaledancer says:
“Hideous” is a little harsh, don’t you think? May you can think of it as natural air-conditioning. It kind of reminds me of teenage boys when they hit that awkward, skinny stage where they’re all neck, adam’s apple, and knees.
I’ve heard that naked-necks are sweet, friendly, hardy birds, and good layers. Looks aren’t everything.
On October 22, 2010 at 6:39 pm
EMarie says:
I agree with you Beth; I think he’s very cute…special. :chicken:
On October 2, 2011 at 3:02 pm