Finnie- Finally A Journal

[Finnie]

Didn't you end up with a purple egg layer out of your breeding a couple years back?

I did. But she was the only one. All of her sisters laid lighter brown eggs. I never even figured out which one of them was the Purple Egger. As I needed to reduce my rooster numbers, I didn’t keep their father. (Black Copper Marans) Now the only “Purple Egger” I have left is their mother. I think she is 5 or 6 years old. I still get a really dark brown egg from her a few times a week.

Last year I hatched out a bunch of chicks from her eggs, the good purple eggs (before I sold that one) and some Buff Brahma eggs that were lighter in color but did exhibit the plum type cast. But the roosters in that pen at the time were not dark laying breeds. They were Swedish Flower Hen, Lavender Orpington and I think a mixed breed. So not surprisingly none of those daughters lay purple eggs. There are 2 or 3 light eggs that look like they have a purple hue to them when I’m getting them out of the nest box, but when I look at them in the house, they are just regular brown eggs.

I decided to put the purple egger project on hold for now because I have too many other breeds to work with. I do like to keep Langshans, so maybe some day if I find myself with some good candidates to work with I will try again. But the Langshans I ordered from MMM last year either aren’t laying yet or their eggs are light brown.

 

[Finnie]

I would love to see them!

I’m sure I will post photos if I have any luck with that project. Looking at the one-week-old chicks, I think I can see a couple with frizzle feathers. It usually takes a couple of weeks to know for sure.

 

[farmerjan]

Langshans lay a light brown egg... all the standards and bantams I have had laid a light brown egg... and for their size, the large fowl lay what I would call a small sized egg.... compared to the overall size of the bird. The bantams lay a decent sized egg for their size, but I was disappointed by the size eggs of the large fowl. Still love their stature... Just got a pair of black langshan bantams this past weekend with the large fowl buff leghorns I got...

 

[Finnie]

Langshans lay a light brown egg... all the standards and bantams I have had laid a light brown egg... and for their size, the large fowl lay what I would call a small sized egg.... compared to the overall size of the bird. The bantams lay a decent sized egg for their size, but I was disappointed by the size eggs of the large fowl. Still love their stature... Just got a pair of black langshan bantams this past weekend with the large fowl buff leghorns I got...

I’m glad you have Langshans again! I know you like them. From my past Langshans, I’ve had some that laid light and some that laid dark. Quite dark, but not as dark as a Marans. I’ve noticed the same thing that their eggs are not as large as say a barred rock.

Most of my Langshans have come from Murray McMurray except for my first two who came from a show breeder. Those two lived the longest- just shy of their 9th birthday. But, I could never get their eggs to hatch. Sometimes infertile and the ones that were fertile just quit at different points.

The ones I got from MMM a long time ago bred well and I had their offspring for 8 years. But the new chicks I ordered last year just don’t look as nice. I will probably look for exhibition birds some day.

 

[fuzzi]

... Just got a pair of black langshan bantams this past weekend with the large fowl buff leghorns I got...

They were pretty, as well.

 

[Finnie]

I haven’t written in this journal in a long time. I don’t have very good luck with setting African Violet leaves and getting the babies to reach adulthood. I get tons of sprouts, but not many grow big enough to put into pots. And it seems like when I do pot them, it kills a lot of them off. But I was noticing lately that I have a lot of baby plants that are blooming for the first (and some for the second) time. So I wanted to record it here. (I probably shouldn’t. I’ll jinx them and they’ll all die.)

The bottom row and two on the second to bottom row I bought as adult plants. Everything else is babies I raised from leaf cuttings. But I’m really even pleased with the bought ones, because they are coming into bloom again, and my track record with purchased plants is that they are in bloom when I buy them but they never bloom again. So this is exciting!

I hope it means that I’m finally doing something right. I keep learning and tweaking. Sometimes it helps and sometimes it makes things worse.

 

[fuzzi]

I haven’t written in this journal in a long time. I don’t have very good luck with setting African Violet leaves and getting the babies to reach adulthood. I get tons of sprouts, but not many grow big enough to put into pots. And it seems like when I do pot them, it kills a lot of them off. But I was noticing lately that I have a lot of baby plants that are blooming for the first (and some for the second) time. So I wanted to record it here. (I probably shouldn’t. I’ll jinx them and they’ll all die.)
View attachment 122894
The bottom row and two on the second to bottom row I bought as adult plants. Everything else is babies I raised from leaf cuttings. But I’m really even pleased with the bought ones, because they are coming into bloom again, and my track record with purchased plants is that they are in bloom when I buy them but they never bloom again. So this is exciting!

I hope it means that I’m finally doing something right. I keep learning and tweaking. Sometimes it helps and sometimes it makes things worse.

Oh, I used to grow African violets, yours are so beautiful!

 

[Finnie]

Oh, I used to grow African violets, yours are so beautiful!

Thank you!

 

[SageHill]

Super nice!!! Love them. Mine would love to go vacation with you

 

[Baymule]

Once upon a time, I had gobs of houseplants. My favorites were African violets. One of my friends took me to a grower that had several greenhouses of nothing but African Violets, all colors, styles and even varigated leaves. It was like Utopia for African Violets. Be proud of your babies and congratulations on all the beautiful blooms!