Keep Cluckin

08/13/2025

Good evening! Some may know this, but I am also serving as the VP, web designer, and editor for the Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities.

We would love to see some new members, but most importantly please check out the updated 2025 Critical Breeds list!

SPPA 2025 Critical List Breed Pre-1701Ancient & Rare 1701 - 1900Old & Rare Post 1900Modern & Rare Varieties Included (all included unless specified) Chickens - Large Fowl American GamesX AnconasX AndaulsiansX AraucanaX Aseel/AsilX BarnevelderX BrabanterX BrahmaX BrakelX BredaX BresseX BuckeyeX Calif...

04/15/2025

We all sit with our beliefs about keeping poultry. Things that work well for me, I share and spread like an evangelist and things that don’t work, I prefer never to speak of again. Being wrong can be painful, especially when the lives and welfare of animals are at stake. Gamefowl mistakes can be deadly, but even backyard flock keepers have to make decisions that could be life or death. It’s a big responsibility.

Dr. Adam Grant suggests that being in “scientist mode” can reveal truths we never would have discovered if we kept following the exact same routine just because it works. “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” is a phrase better applied to a well functioning machine than to the delicate dance of raising livestock. There’s so many nuances in each individual flock and of the property they are on. There’s no chance a one size fits all approach is going to be the best option. Test your own hypotheses, create your own playbook, forgive yourself for the mistakes you make along the way. Those mistakes could become the foundation for the best year of poultry keeping you’ve ever had.

It’s only when we stop changing, stop examining our own protocols, and stop thinking like scientists that we plateau. Maybe the better option is choosing to be a life long novice. Maybe we should find joy and excitement in being wrong. We could choose to be curious how other people do things differently than us. This year I choose to be a backyard poultry scientist. No degree required.

04/09/2025

Everything will not go as planned all of the time. Poultry keeping is about learning, adapting, pivoting, winning, losing, celebrating, experimenting, and never settling (plus so much more). It’s like there’s a ticker tape constantly running of things that are working and not working, things that can be improved, things that are a work in progress, and the few things you can sit back and breathe a sigh of relief that it worked perfectly.

My last hatch in my new fool proof (nothing is fool proof) Hatching Time incubator had some kind of humidity issue I hadn’t had before. I changed some minor things and apparently it was enough to upset the balance. Most of these chicks got half zipped in their eggs and I didn’t discover it until far too late. Toes and ankles all crooked. Disaster. Fast pivot. I tried vet wrap, it failed, I considered taping cardboard on but it seemed doomed from the start…fortunately for good poultry friends, Katti Perry showed me this trick and it worked! I changed the tape twice a day for 2 days with their toes straightened out. It gave them duck feet and forced their little ankles straightened too. All but one too severe to correct. The other chicks look completely normal now, no tape, straight toes, and thriving. 🎢 Just sharing the ride.

03/31/2025

The time has come! Kelly Mug “coal miner mug” American game and Shamo eggs are ready to 🚢 or be picked up. Juveniles will soon follow. If you are interested in any of these things please send an email to.
[email protected]
You can also PM but I have a harder time keeping track of what’s coming or going. I will be figuring out where people are located and might have a meet up spot for juvenile pick ups in Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, and/or Illinois.

I will not ship birds at this time. There’s just too much funny business happening with usps I won’t risk their lives over it.

03/25/2025

Anyone born in the 1900s remember Pinky and the Brain? Well that’s how I’ve felt the last several weeks except I am both Pinky AND the Brain 😆 and I’m not trying to take over the world, I am just trying to do something innovative and eclectic with my chicken rearing that no one else seems to have done.

I want my shamos to live a life of sunshine and grass. I want them to have room to flap their wings everyday without brushing the sides of a cage, I want them to court their females with the most flamboyant dance they can muster, I want them to crow exuberantly every morning because they get to live another day in shamo paradise.

What does this mean? Simply put, it means a mobile structure for the growing season that can be safely secured in a sacrifice area for winter. I will spare you the laundry list of other criteria.

I write this here today as a reminder to my future self that it wasn’t easy getting to a point of synergy. It took time, ingenuity, frustration, failures, and faith. But I know future self is going to be so proud for the distance I traveled to create a stable and joyful future for my breed.

03/21/2025

My Suscovich style tractor grow out pens for this year’s hatches. Males in one, females in another, there will be electric netting around them as well. I’m so eager to raise my grow outs on pasture and observe their development.

Last year my nicest shamos were raised with the layer/american game flock and allowed to range with them. This was a flawed system as there was too much food competition and it created stress. I couldn’t efficiently manage different feed requirements and it was too difficult to handle them everyday as they took on characteristics of the American gamefowl they were with and became flighty. My shamos raised in a growout coop withh a smallll yard depleted the grass quickly and seemed to develop slower.

Stay tuned for more updates on how I’m utilizing my The The Livestock Conservancy microgrant. Find out more about raising shamos and applying for a microgrant on the latest episode of Coffee with the Chicken Ladies

02/24/2025

Want stronger plants, animals, soil, and crops? Easy solution…pour Fertrell over everything 💁‍♀️

02/21/2025

Thinking about adding shamo or other gamefowl to your homestead? Candid conversation and lots of laughter on this podcast with Reec Swiney! I’d say we had a great time! Thanks for having me 🙂

Podcast Episode · Eggcellent Adventures with Reec Swiney · 02/14/2025 · 40m

02/12/2025

Taking a note from Craigs Cochins and sharing a morning thought. I have been invited to do another podcast today called Eggcellent Adventures with Reec Swiney and these things always get me thinking about my WHY.

I started breeding shamos before I was interested in showing birds. I was captivated by their character and place in history. All the way back to Temminck's Giant Junglefowl, the mysterious (and likely mythical) Gallus giganteus, the story of these massive birds is very intriguing. They don't behave much like chickens, look exactly like chickens, or even interact with humans like chickens. I wanted to preserve the genetics of this bird and share their giganteus personalities with the world.

Now there's a saying that circulates in food preservation and canning circles "my kitchen, my rules". This means the person sharing their recipe or technique is aware they are not following the rules and guidelines set forth by the FDA or USDA. However, their great great grandma lived to be 103 and passed down all her best recipes and it is with great pride people will share these. We call that rebel canning.

The world of chickens has rebels as well. Those of us that dive into out of print breeding manuals and gamefowl history. Who look to historic paintings in our breed's country of origin before turning to the standard of perfection. The very nature of the gamefowl breeder is to be a rebel. We are keeping genetics alive and cherishing the nature of birds that many don't find very likeable. Plenty of people are not interested in being a rebel. They look only to the ABA and APA for their rules and guidelines and they like it that way. No problem, there's room for both.

Your yard your rules. It is possible to see great value in organizations like the APA and embrace the pearls of wisdom that lie outside the box. I am very grateful the APA exists and unifies us as poultry breeders. I also have my own WHY and my why cannot be contained in the pages of one book. It doesn't fit in a paragraph description and can't be captured in one artist's rendition of my breed. My why is to protect the timeless spirit of the shamo. An ancient breed that reaches beyond the confines of any organization. A genetic treasure worthy of being protected.