Come on Springtime!
As January is drawing to a close, things are busy in M&M land. Mike is pushing over 250 chicks and just now mating up Big Black Cochins. He feels he has some of the best birds he has ever bred from in this years matings. That’s saying something as this line all started 10 years ago with a pair of young Blacks I bought him as a gift from Dustin Wilson at the Wisconsin International. It was a sneaky way to get him back going again in LF Cochins. I created a monster and these birds are reminiscent of the blacks that roamed our mentor, the late, great Ed Miller’s farm in My. Vernon, Ohio back in the 1970’s. I am sure even grumpy old Ed is smiling down on us.
I have several White Chantecler bantams hatched out and just now getting Cochin bantam eggs in the incubator. Several projects starting, one is the recreation of Silver Pencilled Cochin Bantam line derived from our Partridge and White crosses. We have an exceptional Silver Pencilled male that Mike got last year and he is on pure Partridge hens. We also have two Silver Pencilled females on a pure Partridge cock. Fertile eggs are in the incubator and look forward to the hatches. The next is the result of a gift from a friend, Rhonda Smith, of a trio of White Sultans that are 1/2 LF and 1/2 Bantams. I had zero luck obtaining any Sultan Bantam stock as most breeders have issues with productivity, hatchability, and fertility. Time will tell, but crossing to another breed to bring down size and improve type and all three things mentioned above. Working with advice from Emily Shoop and Keith Wagoner to make it happen. The last one is Buff Chantecler bantams, got a hen crossed to Whites and waiting on the young pure Buffs to lay.
Mike, Ron Patterson, Emily Shoop And I are headed to Ft. Payne, Alabama next weekend to the show. We are taking a van load. Emily is in the ABA Judges Apprenticeship Program and Ron is in the APA Judges Apprenticeship Program so they get to do some learning from the fine lineup of judges schedule to work.
That’s about it for now, we will have a report from the show on here as well as the M&M Facebook page. Ron is coming off his historical Champion LF and Reserve Champion LF, Reserve of Show win in Lake City, Florida and we had Best FL in one show and Reserve on another so excitement and anticipation is high!
Matt Lhamon