And Turkens

These very strange looking chicks are turkens. I ordered chicks (I believe I already blogged about that) and in the shipment were 5 of these really, REALLY strange looking nakked-neck chicks, 1 blonde, 1 reddish, and 3 black. In this pic you can see two of the blacks and the blonde one. Look closely, you can see they have no feathers from 1/2 way down their heads, leaving a topknot, to their shoulders. They look like something created bt Dr Seuss...on acid. However, apparently they ARE a heavy breed, good layers of large brown eggs and make a fine, big roaster, growing to an average of 6 lbs! Their feathering derives from a recessive gene, their name from the fact that at first people thought they were a crossbreed between chickens and turkeys, from the nekkid neck and the large size. Not so, they are all chicken.