Black & Blue Copper Marans

I have some great news from the incubator front! I have assured three pure blood lines of black and blue French Copper Marans for a April and May hatches! These birds are gorgeous! Chicks are guaranteed to have black or blue colouration from day-one. They are the french variety that lays darker chocolaty eggs, has beautiful copper hackles and feathered feet.

I will post updates on my Maran hatches throughout the season. They will be available on a per-hatch basis, if not already ordered before April 1st. They will be priced according to the hatch rate. Photos and videos to come!

Chicks are born black or blue-ish with white markings and bums!

Easter is Almost here...

Our early Easter is almost here! I thought I'd post some beautiful egg-decorating imagery to inspire you to create some beautiful eggs. I've also posted some links to some great websites where you can learn to use the same techniques, who knew watercolour paint could be the easiest way? As a artist I find any holiday a justification to spend hours crafting home-made decorations.

Make stripes with tape or watercolors! You can use white crayons to protect the egg from dyes also!

Some beautiful speckled eggs using pastel floral colours, light blue and green dyes with gold paint splatter. Black eggs give a chalk paint look, you can use chalk or white paint to make designs. Make eggs with contrasting silhouettes using dyes and tape. 

Plain dye and white paint my simple pretty easter eggs! Try out natural dyes and sticking natural leaves to make a pattern on your eggs. Using a fine-tip black marker or paint brush, use your calligraphy skills to create mini-egg graphic master peices!

Watercolour Easter Eggs How-To

Ombre Easter Eggs with Gold Splatter

Natural Vegetable Dyed Eggs

Chalk-Board Eggs and Other Ideas

Washi Tape Eggs

Happy 1st Day of Spring!

Spring is finally here... at least on paper it seems to be.  It might not look like spring outside, but the season only brings us closer to that summer weather we all love. Spring mean rejuvenation and new life, very soon I will have my first hatches underway and we can enjoy our spring chicks! To put us all in the spring chick mood I thought I would share some adorable chick pictures with you!

This set of beautiful photos are from home and lifestyle blogger Heather Bullard, she has taken some amazing photos of her chicks over the years and I always swoon back to them. They are of her new Ameraucana Chicks, note the colouration and cute puffy cheeks! Heather also has one of the most amazing chicken coops, ever. Click here to check it out!

Check back in soon for my Easter Egg post!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's day! Did you know there are no Irish chicken breeds? Many breeds were developed in Europe and the British Isles, but none specifically in Ireland. Summer Girl Chicks wishes everyone a wonderful St. Patrick's day! Such a green day reminds me of the wonderful green and olive eggs to come! Fresh clover makes a great fresh feed for chickens!

Crazy Characters!

Some chickens are born with the innate ability to take life in stride and not so seriously and sometimes that's exactly what us humans need strutting around the backyard. These chickens are amazing, project breeders all over North America have developed some of the funkiest chickens around, and I will be lucky enough to hatch some out in June for you!

Frizzles, Sizzles (Frizzle x Silkie Cross) & Tolbunt Polish.

Limited Quantity & Availability. June 2013.

Lavender Hens...

Lavender represents beauty, softness, a fragrant scent, and now a genetic strain of chickens, developed to be tinted with sweet lavender and grey. The two most popular breeds offered in Lavender are Ameraucana and Orpingtons. Somewhere between blue and silver these soft tinted birds are a unique variation on the breeds themselves. Still laying the breed distinct egg colour, yet more showy with it's lavender plumage.

Once you've added lavender hen's to your flock, why not take the theme further by planting lavender around your coop, it's chicken proof, drought tolerant, attracts bees, and deters pests, not to mention it smells great, and one shake of the plant is a great way to perfume the entrance of your coop. In southern France, lavender bouquets are used to deter scorpions and spiders from entering by the windows. Lavender is a great herb, with a bounty of uses, why not plan to plant some with your chickens this spring?

Go pick up some seed or plants this spring from your local garden center, and enjoy the smells and benefits of lavender. Can't wait for spring!

Lavender Ameraucana & Orpington Chicks Available this Summer 2013.
Limited Availability.

Paypal Now Available!

I have now set-up Paypal payment invoices for customers who want to pay with Credit or Interac. It takes 5 minutes and is very safe and easy. This will be available through email invoice methods only. After you receive your PDF invoice, you can contact me for a Paypal invoice.

Click the "Make an Order!" page to read more about using Paypal with me.

You can also visit the Paypal website to learn more.

Ameraucana, Araucana & Easter-Eggers?

There are so many chicken breeds nowadays it's hard to divide one from the other. I've been receiving lots of questions and requests about the fabulous blue-egg layers that I've decided to clear things up, once and for all. Hopefully you'll learn something new and fall in love with one of these amazing breeds.

Ameraucana as seen in two left photos in a buff colour, the Araucana is on right.

I've seen so many versions of the name written, sometimes I question my own knowledge, but I've been reading about chicken breeds long enough to give you a brief overview of the types of blue-green egg layers. Starting with the Ameraucana.

Ameraucana

Americana, Amaroucana, Emerikana... no, it's Ameraucana. The standard blue-green egg layer, the breed that's rocking the backyard flocks everywhere with it's lovely disposition and beautiful eggs.
The breed originated in the USA in the 1970's when project breeders wanted a standard sized breed that layed blue-green eggs. They used Araucana and standard breeds to create the Ameraucana, that would productively produce and lay large sized eggs. They come in a wide variety of colours, and always carry the "chipmonk" cheeks and muffs, and have blue-grey skin. They have no comb, which makes them great for cold weather. This is a pure-breed, not a mix.

This is the typical colour pattern for Easter Eggers

Araucana

People always think that the Ameraucana and Araucana are the same breed. They simply are not. The Auraucana originated hundreads of years ago in Chile, and where slowly introduced to other Spanish colonies and cross-bred to eventually create the Ameraucana. The Araucana are rumpless and have feathers that stick off the cheeks like protruding ears. They are smaller in size, and lay blue-tinted eggs.

Easter-Eggers

Easter-Eggers are mixed breeds, a combination of an Ameraucana and any other breed. They often carry the characteristics of Ameraucana with the puffy cheeks and occasionally sporting muffs. The typically lay more green or tinted eggs in a variety of colours, hense "Easter-Egger". F2 birds almost always lay green eggs, where as the first cross generation lay anything from pink to green-blue eggs. The colours depend on the breeding combination, and many many crosses can be found. Like any hybrid, this breed is less prone to decease and genetic problems.

Examples of Easter-Eggers, often look very simular to Ameraucana

Olive-Eggers

Olive eggers are a new development that aims to create a breed that lays olive coloured eggs. This is done by cross breeding Ameraucana with Marans, Welsummers or Penedesenca, which are dark egg layers. This creates a bird that lays dark greeny-olive eggs. After a second generation is created the eggs are even darker and more olive toned. Breeders believe that they can now create a breed that lays even brighter green eggs with some more research and time. I am fortunate to have access to F2 Olive-Egger eggs this season.

March Update: About Me

Hello! Thanks for tuning into the March Update. I though that I would start by putting a face to the name of Summer Girl Chicks. Hi, I'm Meredith. I've been receiving some absurd requests and weird questions so I thought I would give some insight into who I am, and stop all the silliness!
I am a University Student. I'm finishing my degree in Education and Fine Arts. I am moving to Guelph, Ontario to start a new degree in Horticulture, Urban Agriculture and continue my art practice.

I decided to start Summer Girl Chicks to extend and expand my hobby and supply small-time flocks with Rare and Heritage breed poultry. I love supporting my local community and supporting urban homesteading. It's just little me, running this tiny business, behind a desk and computer and the incubators. Because I'm still in my final semester in Montreal, I can't start hatching and importing until the end of April, no exceptions. Which means I cannot guarantee any chicks will arrive until mid-May, or later depending on when you sent in your order.

I always answer my emails as soon as possible you can contact me through the "Contact" page.

I am located in Guelph, and I am not in a position to ship live chicks. This might be something I would consider in the seasons to come. When you choose to order chicks from me, you will receive high quality organically reared chicks, and a custom service. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding. Check back soon for more updates!

Check out the "Future" page for breeds that may become available this summer on a hatch-n-sell basis.

Cheers,

Meredith