Dear George, Here is a brief breed history and the Standard, with colour standards for Silberhalsig and Goldhalsig. Hope it helps! Best wishes, Richard ________________________ From the website of the breed club "The Association of Breeders of Kraienkoeppe and Bantam Kraienkoeppe" (http://www.kraienkoeppe.de/) History of the Association The Association of Breeders of Kraienkoeppe and Bantam Kraienkoeppe is an association with a very long tradition. It was founded in Essen on 24 January 1932. The mission of our association is the breeding, preservation, and promotion of the breed of chicken known as the Kraienkoeppe large fowl and bantam. Today, one finds Kraienkoeppe and bantam Kaienkoeppe at many large and smaller poultry shows, some of wonderful quality. The cradle of Kraienkoeppe is in the German/Dutch border region, in the East Dutch province of Twente in Enschede, Ahaus, and county of Bentheim where even today one finds the most breeds. The foundation breeds that went to create the Kraienkoppe were probably Maylay, Belgian Game, Dutch landraces, and Leghorns. The brothers Lazonder were also the first to show the Kraienkoppe at a poultry show in Holland in 1885. In Germany, the first time they were shown was a bigger show, the German Poultry Youth Show in Hanover in 1925. The new breed achieved the general recognition from the poultry breeders, and the animals were now shown at all leading poultry shows in Germany. In the year 1926 the breed was accepted into the German Poultry Breed Standard. After that, the Association of the Kraienkoeppe was founded in 1932. The Association made it mission the breeding and promotion of Kraienkoeppe. The first special show for the breed in Germany took place on the 12-13th of November, 1932 in Hamm/Westfalia. The first recognized colour was the Silverhalsig. But soon a Goldhasig variety was attempted. This colour was recognized in 1929/1930. Following the trend of the time, at the turn of the 20th century the bantamization of all breeds was attempted. At the beginnings of the 40s breeders began to create the Silverhalsig Kraienkoeppe bantams in the Dutch border area. But because of the War, the Associations activities and therefore also the Kraienkoeppe was almost completely set aside. On November 28, 1948 the Kraienkoeppe breeders met in West Germany at the Country Poultry Show in Duesseldorf and revived the Association. Also in the former East Germany, the breeders began to organize themselves again. On December 11, 1949 the Special Association of Kraienkoeppe and Batam Kraienkoeppe was founded in Erfurt, and the breeding of our beloved breed could be continued. After the import of breeding stock and hatching eggs from the Netherlands, the breeders Peil, Ahlbrand, and Berger were successful in achieving recognition of the Silberhalsig bantam Kraienkoppe in Germany. It was accepted into the German Standard on Oct. 19, 1956. In Holland, the following colours are also recognized for the large Kraienkoppe: beside the main colours of Silver- and Goldhasig, the Blue-goldhasig, the Blue-silverhasig, and the Red Pyle. For the batams, in 2003, beside the main colours of Silver-and Goldhalsig, the Red Pyle was also recognized in Holland. In the works are many more colours (especially thw Dutch breeders): crele, white, Orangehalsig, barred, silver wheaten. The Breed Standard (from: http://www.ac-bueroservice.de/gefluegel/kraienkoeppe.htm) Origin: In the Bentheim area, both sides of the German/Dutch border. 1925 was the first time it was shown in Germany. Breeding Goal: An early maturing laying hen with 180-200 eggs in the first year of lay, 150-160 in the second year; non-broody; very rich in tender white meat; minimum weight for hatching eggs is 58-60 grams; shell colour: white to tinted. General Impression: A sleek, powerful type of country chicken, giving the impression of a game bird; especially in the head, and then carriage, and thighs; the tail that is set wide and carried attached; tight feathering, which gives them protection from moisture; feathers on both sides of the quill are narrow; a trusting but very lively temperament. Standard weights: Rooster (2.5-3.0 kg), Hen (2.0-2.5 kg). Breed Characteristic: Rooster Trunk: powerfully built, sleekly elongated, with broad shoulders, upright, elongated carriage; hold themselves like a game bird. Back: good, medium-long, straight, barely narrows from the powerful, wide shoulders to the back; lightly slopes, with a wide, rich (but not too long) saddle. Tail: A bit more than medium-long, with a pronounced tail angle; it carries the feathers lightly spread, with a lot of rounded, hard-shafted sickle feathers which lean toward the body in a beautiful semi-circle; set wide. Breast: wide, full, carried somewhat high and bulging slightly towards the front. Stomach: pretty wide, fully developed. Wings: pretty long, slightly open, but not carried lose/floppy; they lay close to the body; the wing tips are under the saddle feathers. Head: short, wide, rounded, with small brow ridges, and a mares neck (Translators note: where the hackle feathers curve out from the head, like a mane like a good Orloff rooster) Face: red, fine skinned, free of feathers, short. Eye: vivacious, fiery, yellow-red to red, deep set. Beak: short, strong, yellow; horn-striped Comb: not too narrow, laying well on the head, a knot of flesh on the front part of the skull; in the shape of a half, rather long strawberry; shouldnt go on past middle of eye; in a well-bred specimen it has tiny points. Ear lobes: small, red. Wattles: very short, do not obscure the red throat. Throat: A little more than medium-long, powerful; feathers are not too long in the hackle; the hackle really highlights the mares neck, and does not cover the shoulders due to the short feathers. Thighs: muscular, pronounced forward placement with smooth feathers. Legs: good; medium-long, slim; unfeathered, yellow without red stripes. Feathers: tight, no fluffy or loose plumage. Breed Characteristics: The Hen The powerful, slender trunk is carried almost horizontal; she shows a well-developed laying stomach that reaches far toward the back; a tail that is carried slightly open (spread), easily visible thighs, hard plumage, the comb is pretty small; wattles almost invisible; ear lobes small and red -- if pale like a game bird, this is not a fault. COLOUR STANDARDS (For good pictures of specimens of the colour names, see http://www.gefluegel.org/kenn.html) Silberhalsig Rooster: Head: white; hackle is silver-white with pronounced black shaft line; back, shoulders and saddle are pure silver white, but with pronounced shaft lines; the wing covers are silver-white; cover feathers (Binden) are black with green sheen. The secondaries are white on the outside, but black on the inside and tip; the primaries are black with narrow white outer edges; the breast, stomach, and thighs are black; the tail is deep black with green sheen on the sickles. Hen: head is silver-grey; hackle is silver-white with black or grey shaft lines; back, shoulders, and wings are grey with a fine silver-grey sprinkles and white feather shaft; and so every feather shows a narrow light silver-grey edge. No "Flitter" (light, shiny, unmarked edge of a speckled feather). Breast, powerful, salmon-colured; stomach moving toward tail a light ash-grey; tail is black-grey, looking as if sprinkled with flour. Goldhalsig: Rooster: head, orange-red; hackle, with black or grey shaft lines; wing bows and back are gold-red; saddle feathers are gold-yellow with weak shaft lines; wing covers are gold-red with black cover feathers with green sheen; secondaries are brown on the outside, black on the inside and the tip; primaries are black with narrow brown outer edges; breast is black; rest of feathers are black; sickles have green sheen. Hen: gold-yellow head; hackle is gold-yellow with black or grey shaft lines; the body feathers are of a light brown main colour colour tone even throughout, with fine black stripes or peppering; every feather has a yellow shaft and fine, equally wide narrow gold-yellow edges, with no Flitter; breast is salmon coloured; stomach and toward tail are brownish to ash-grey; tail is black with brown marks. Major faults: short or narrow trunk; thin or short neck; too high or too low position; Maylay back; wings that hand down, are floppy; a steep tail or one that has few feathers or is flat; white or grey speckles in dark feathers; either a plump or narrow pointy narrow head; an abnormal comb; wattles that are large; fish eyes; plumage that is soft and fluffy; narrow sickles; duck-footedness; cowlicks in the neck feathers; twisted feathers; COLOUR FAULTS For Silverhalsig: a rich, strong grey shaft line; a too long shaft line; black dots in the hackle; any impurities in the white brown, red, yellow tones; faded colour, or rust colour in the body feathers; neck without marks; mistakes in the salmon breast. For Goldhasig: if it has one coloured, dark, or straw coloured hackle; impure marking; brown breast; if instead of a salmon breast, visible white fluff at the bottom of the feather shaft is visible; black dots in the hackle; back dots in any feather; noticeable rust colour.

Hi Bunnycat, first, did you buy this from a commerical grower or someone on ebay? In either case, with King's Ransom someone could have made an honest mistake. Playful Spectrum sounds like the plant has a problem. A healthy Playful Spectrum does has a med. to dark green color to the leaves depending on light conditions.Contact the seller,they should be willing to replace the plant(s) that you have purchased. If you purchased it on ebay and are interested in getting quality plants again, please contact me and I will give you the name of some growers who I have dealt with for quite awhile and have never had a problem with.If there is a mistake or plant is beyond saving they will be more than happy to replace it. I also have Playful Spectrum coming up now from leaves so if you are willing to wait, I could send you one when big enough. You would just have to pay postage.

Actually, I'm planning on drying the bamboo and lashing it together to make a fence to keep the deer out. My garden is very small, so I want to have just a few sticks to get started. I love bamboo, but I'm not around enough to make sure it doesn't take over (:( ). (BTW--totally unrelated--is all bamboo edible? or just some species?)

No I don't want to go back to the days pre computer. I wrote my masters thesis on an electric typewriter with carbon paper. Computers are a god send, sometimes. I don't know if others are like me - but when I say I miss library cards, Readers Guide to Periodicals and such, I am really saying that I miss the magic libraries once held for me as a child and young adult. For a lonely child who often didn't fit in, it was a place that opened up the world for me. I think of how I used to browse the shelves at the library. I'd start with the As and look for books that intrigued me. I ended up picking some classic literature, good literature, and just plain good reads that I never would have found if those books were culled because no one was checking them out. Now, these types of books are so seldom on the shelves or seldom recommended, that I do my browsing at the local indie rather than going to the library. Then there is the culling of staff, and the lack of personal attention. I still remember a wonderful lady named Pricilla McCloud, the children's librarian who later became the head librarian at our branch. I could always depend on her help when I wanted books on a subject, or just 'whats a good book I should read" and she'd find a few which would lead her to more ideas... Librarians like her knew my name, knew my interests, knew what authors might intrigue me. Now, the librarians are replaced by computer check out machines. There is one librarian at the reference desk who is usually helping out folk on the public computers. >public libraries are meant to serve the public. By and large, that same public is checking out the bestsellers rather than classics and when space is limited, such as at a smaller branch, it only makes sense that the shelf space is dedicated to books that patrons will read bookmom I agree to an extent. However the library should still have good copies of the books that have been popular in years passed (not necessarily books that anyone 'should' read) or at the very least books that are being required by school districts. And they should have librarians who know what's out there, ones who are available to help the public that they are catering to. Unfortunately budget cuts in our community have severly slashed the libraries ability to run. There is a bond election in May that will determine whether or not two of the three libraries in our area will close. And this is such a conservative area that I suspect it will fail.