http://www.watercolorcreekfarm.com/

Watercolor Creek Farm, Linden, NC (2026)

06/13/2026

It's a little bitter sweet laying this Perendale fleece out on my skirting table today.

On days as hot as this one, escaping to the cellar of my 1920's house to skirt fleece is a nice reprieve. "Skirting" a fleece is the process of removing any of the undesirable parts of the fleece (manure, second cuts, britching, and the neck area that's usually heavy with VM or vegetable matter/hay, etc). It's the first step in preparing a raw fleece for further processing

This fleece comes from "Clove", who we lost this year after she had an extremely difficult lambing. Despite being present for the birth and immediate veterinary intervention, we couldn't save her. While that was tough, the "sweet" part is this last fleece she gave us.

The crimp, staple length, color variation, and softeness is lovely! It's going to be a really enjoyable fleece to hand spin. I'd like to make it available to someone that has a great project in mind for it. This fleece is available to reserve and ship out this week. (UPDATE: Claimed)

06/11/2026

This breed has been a real challenge for me as a breeder to get right. Here's another example pullet from my "outcross" pen.

Unlike solid colored birds that have just one color variable and no pattern to worry about, Blue Laced Red Wyandottes have a pattern AND color that are tough to get right all in one bird!

There is a lot that can go wrong....
The color can get too light or too dark (It's really common for the red to get too light and look brassy or orange)
The pattern can get messy (or even disappear! As was the case with some of my BLRW)..All the while you don't want to lose a good body type and adhere to the production standards of the breed.

Blue Laced Red Wyandottes should have "mahogany" color red centers to their feathers rimmed in lacing that has even thickness. In an effort to get all the right pieces to come together in the same bird, I chose to outcross bloodlines.

Outcrossing bloodlines sounds like it would have the most advantages, but in reality, but can also create a lot of challenges. Instead of working with a pool of genetics, you create an ocean of genetics and a lot of variation when you bring birds together from a completely unrelated background. If you choose to outcross, it requires a lot of hatching to find the right offspring to move your program forward.

To create this pullet, I started with outcrossing one unrelated hen to a male from my "main line" of Blue Laced Red Wyandottes. Each generation, I selected a new male from my main line to cross over the outcrossed female offspring. This is the fourth generation of that project and I'm beginning to see a few of the offspring have all the right things come together.

I'm very encouraged by this pullet. She is starting another juvenile molt and beginning to reveal some of her true color and pattern. The newest feathers are the ones on her shoulders. I like the dark red centers and even thickness of the lacing. Her comb is also correct and her legs are a nice bright yellow.

I'll continue watching her to see if the pattern covers her entire body and waiting to see how her body shapes up.

(P.S. I have a few BLRW breeders ready to move along to a new program. PM for details)

06/10/2026

(UPDATE- SOLD)Available: Sebastopols (info below)

-One year old male
-One year old females (2 available)
-3 month old male

The one year olds are a brother and sisters to the female pictured.
**Please note: I do not have any fall photos of them from last fall in full feather. However, they are very similar to the pictured female. They are currently in their post-breeding molt and not at all in their "ball gowns".

** Females must go with a male. They will not be sold separately. This is to maintain the balance of sexes in my own flock and be fair to my own geese.

They are for pickup only or may travel with a transporter. If choosing to use a transporter, you will need to source your own transporter and quotes for the trip. (I realize sometimes time is needed to make travel plans. I will hold geese for you while you make arrangements, but only with full payment.)

Pickup is near Bunnlevel, NC
Watercolor Creek Farm- NPIP/AI clean (55-1701). MG and MS tested clean

⭐Special note: I've received over 250 messages in the last week from interested Sebastopol buyers. Most of them all have the same idea...
They want to see them in full feather, so they plan to wait until the fall to try to pick the best ones for their flock.

Fair warning: That plan has a high probability of resulting in no geese being available when you want them. 😬
I have a small flock and with so many having the same idea, there's just not enough to go around. Each year there is always a scramble to get breeding age geese just before the next season begins and very often by that point, there are no more to be found.
Please don't buy if you aren't ready! But if you know you want geese before next breeding season, please don't wait!

PM for any details or questions not listed here

06/09/2026

We have one spare set of Silver Laced Wyandotte hatching eggs and a set of Blue Laced Red Wyandottes ready to ship TODAY to maintain freshness through shipping.

UPDATE: SOLD

Watercolor Creek Farm- NPIP/AI clean, MG and MS tested clean

PM for details

06/05/2026

In a last minute hail Mary effort this breeding season...we have a CONFIRMED pregnancy by Golden Coins X Doras Berry Finest (Wimpys Little Step, Custom Red Berry, Conquistador Whiz)

It's a bit of a story 😆
After flushing a beautiful embryo by Best Shine, our recipient mare didn't take. With our breeding season ending June 1st and only a few weeks left, I made the quick decision to bring Ruby (Doras Berry Finest) in for an ICSI aspiration. While an embryo flush usually only yields one embryo at a time and has a lot of potential failure points in the process, I took a chance that ICSI might give us more than one embryo and a few possible attempts at transferring an embryo before the season ended...

It DID.
We had a successful ICSI aspiration that resulted in TWO frozen embryos by Golden Coins. Equine IVF was awesome to work with and they hustled to get one of those embryos shipped out to the recipient mare facility. With just a few days left before June 1st, the embryo was thawed and transferred into a recipient mare. A beautiful embryo showed up on ultrasound today, confirming the pregnancy stuck this time. Praise the Lord!

06/04/2026

Can you spot the problem with this Sebastopol's wing? (I'll circle it in the comments)

"Twisted tip" is a common wing problem in Sebastopols. Sometimes, when a bird is growing in new wing feathers (such as growing juveniles or adults in molt), the heavy blood filled feathers and twisted shafts of the feathers will cause the very tip of the wing to turn out away from their body. Many times you can recognize it as a little tuft of feathers on the side of a goose's body because the exposed wing feathers break off. (Not to be confused with "angel wing". That discussion is beyond the scope of this short post).

The breed standard calls it "undesirable" but "tolerable", as it's something that happens commonly when trying to maintain curly feathers in a breed. The silver lining is that it doesn't cause any discomfort to the goose. However, as a breeder, I still want to see my geese have structurally correct wings.

⭐....So, what can be done about it? Can it be prevented?
I have raised four different bloodlines of Sebastopols. Of the four, one line produces twisted tip eventually in 70% of individuals while another bloodline produces it in only 2% of individuals. All of them were raised in the same environment with the same feed. It's my observation that twisted tip appears to have a very strong genetic link, that could also be exacerbated by diet. (I'll address the diet component at a later time).

Every Sebastopol breeder will tolerate or handle twisted tip in their own way. My approach is to continue to use some individuals from the bloodline that produces twisted tip at a higher rate, but improve them with "compensation breeding" (See other post about "Compensation Breeding" for a definition and details). I pair individuals from the high frequency TT bloodline with individuals of the line that almost never produces it. The partner I pair them with must not develop twisted tip for at least two seasons of hard molts before I will consider pairing them with a member of the bloodline that does produce TT at a higher rate. The offspring that get the best traits from both parents continue on to the next generation.

I could have culled out the line that produces TT completely from my program. However, knowing that the Sebastopol genetic pool is already rather small, my goal instead is to preserve a large pool of genetics, while still reducing the incidence of twisted tip. The high producing TT bloodline still has some great qualities to offer that should be preserved.

06/03/2026

History minute: Did you know...

Lawns were established as status symbols in the 17th and 18th centuries. They were evidence that you were wealthy enough to own land that wasn't under cultivation or grazing management, as well as pay the staff necessary to maintain them.

We embrace peasant status around here 😆

06/03/2026

(SOLD) Current Wyandotte Availability:

1 Silver Laced Wyandotte pullet (6 weeks old)- 2️⃣5️⃣

1 Blue Laced Red Wyandotte pullet, SPLASH phase (3 weeks old)- 2️⃣5️⃣

1Blue Laced Red Wyandotte pullet, BLACK phase (6 weeks)- Free

1 Silver Laced Wyandotte pullet (6 weeks)- Free

1 Blue Laced Red Wyandotte cockerel, BLUE phase (8 months old)

All are currently housed outside with no additional heat supplementation needed.

Watercolor Creek Farm- Linden, NC
NPIP/AI Clean and additionally tested for MG and MS tested through Rollins Lab

Local pickup ONLY. I am unable to travel to meet.
PM for additional details

06/02/2026

The 2026 Sebastopol goslings are all spoken for. I will have adults coming available as I comb through the flock and make my breeding selections for the 2027 season.

If you're new to geese, it's important to know that they are seasonal layers. In our area, breeding season typically runs from late February to mid May.

**Sebastopols are VERY popular with scammers right now, so PLEASE be careful if you see Sebastopol eggs or goslings being offered outside of their typical breeding season.

06/01/2026

Meet one of my ugliest Wyandottes, who also happens to be one of my best.

This lady is a five year old Blue Laced Red Wyandotte. Even at her older age, she's laying 3-4 eggs per week (and they hatch!).

Several years ago, she threw herself into the side of her coop to get away from a lawn mower, resulting in this fun, lopsided comb. (Now she's on pasture where the only "lawnmower" she will ever encounter again is a horse, sheep, or goose 😊)

Before the accident, she had a nicely shaped comb with good texture. The rough face texture and gnarly looking legs and feet are due to her age. But, under all of that age, lies great color and lacing. She will continue to stay on in a breeding pen until she retires and beyond. Her genetics for production, longevity, and breed type are that valuable to me.

An interesting observation I've made about the BLRW is that they begin to fade in the summer and just before molt. A nice blue starts to look like a dull grey as the feathers age and are subject to sun. Breeding makes the lacing on the hen's backs and males' chests messy. Now through molt is a difficult time to evaluate your older breeders and make decisions about whether to keep them on as a future breeder or to let them go. This hen will stay until her days are over, but most of my other breeders will be under review as we approach fall.

Watercolor Creek Farm

06/13/2026

06/11/2026

06/10/2026

06/09/2026

06/05/2026

06/04/2026

06/03/2026

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06/02/2026

06/01/2026

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