Cubalaya Thread For Sharing Pics and Discussing Our Birds - Page 86

Hi gallorojo. Is this the thread you told me to post my follow up on?   In your response to my question on the other thread, you said to get CubayaIas from Ideal or Sandhill.  Is there any other source for Cubayalas other Ideal or Sand Hill?  I ordered 25 chicks each from them this spring and only ended up getting 7 chicks from Ideal. I am not sure what the problem is but I really don't want to waste another year hoping to get chicks from them.  I got four roos and three hens.  I would like to breed them to increase my flock but I would like to do it with birds of a different gene line.  What do suggest?

Ok, I think you have a basis to start with as it stands now. Keep your best 2 cockerels, and all the pullets.  Either make 2 breeding pens, or one, and rotate the males thru the pullets every few days. Hatch as many as you can, cull hard, keep the best.  You should have enough diversity genetically to go a few years since you got from a hatchery.  As for breeder sources, there is a good breeder in TX, but it may be hard to get stock from this person. Ask around on here, maybe someone will ship you birds. Also there is a yahoo breeders group, you want the all lower case one. Start going to shows in your area, see who is showing them, and make friends with them!!!  If you can get birds locally, all the better!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jungleexplorer   Is there any other source for Cubayalas other Ideal or Sand Hill?  I ordered 25 chicks each from them this spring and only ended up getting 7 chicks from Ideal.

Meaning between the two hatcheries and a total order for 50 birds, only Ideal was able to ship and they only had 7?  WOW. I guess I'm lucky I got the two I ordered from Ideal (received mid June).

Did you order straight run or pullets? I'm guessing straight run given the ratio you received. I know sexing isn't perfect but if they only managed < 50% they wouldn't be selling sexed birds at all, there would be too many complaints. 

These are the 2 pullets I got, they are 14 weeks in the photos. I ordered "blue red" but Fay is a splash red. She is getting more red as she "ages". They don't list this color as one you can order.

Sorry for Peep being fuzzy so you can't clearly see her head and beak, but it is the only side shot of the batch.

There are pictures of them at 10 weeks on page 80 (post 793). I don't know how well they conform to the breed standard but they definitely have "lobster" tails and they never raise them.

Bruce

Thanks for the advice.  Where do you find out about local shows?

Have you ever heard of John & Suzanne Hayes, at Xtreme Game Birds and Poultry in Elgin, Texas?  I just found their site and they have Cubalayas and are close enough for me to drive to (250 miles).   Thanks again 

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruceha2000 

 

Meaning between the two hatcheries and a total order for 50 birds, only Ideal was able to ship and they only had 7?  WOW. I guess I'm lucky I got the two I ordered from Ideal (received mid June).

 

Did you order straight run or pullets? I'm guessing straight run given the ratio you received. I know sexing isn't perfect but if they only managed < 50% they wouldn't be selling sexed birds at all, there would be too many complaints. 

 

These are the 2 pullets I got, they are 14 weeks in the photos. I ordered "blue red" but Fay is a splash red. She is getting more red as she "ages". They don't list this color as one you can order.

 

 

Sorry for Peep being fuzzy so you can't clearly see her head and beak, but it is the only side shot of the batch.

 

 

There are pictures of them at 10 weeks on page 80 (post 793). I don't know how well they conform to the breed standard but they definitely have "lobster" tails and they never raise them.

 

 

Bruce

I ordered straight run.  I actually ordered 50 chicks from Sandhill (25 Cubalayas and 25 Ameraucanas).  They cashed my check in June when they were supposed to ship me my chicks.  They never shipped a single chick and I finally got my money back last week after many unanswered emails.  But they did include a letter of apology, saying they had experienced a death in the family over the summer that set them back.  I have tried to contact them to see if we could work a deal for next year but they have not answered my email.  I did not want to start with so few birds, but unless I can find some somewhere else, I guess my three little hens will have to work overtime.  I don't know anything about what Cubalayas are supposed to look like at three months, but I think I got some good chicks from Ideal.  Here are some pics I just took.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gallorojo 

Sandhills can be tricky to deal with, but they are very small, good people. I have never had a problem, but I ordered in January to ship early April. That is really what you need to do with any rare breed from any hatchery. As for your birds, if the top pullet keeps her tail like that all the time she is a cull, very high tail. The cockerel may have a good tail, the spread is very good. His head is pretty good as well. The pullet is a blue red, the cockerel a blue golden duckwing. Both have white legs and red eyes, which is good. You want the tails to be well spread and below the horizontal. Seen from above should resemble a lobster or shrimp tail. Just breed from the best you have. You don't need lots of birds to hatch a lot of chicks. I only used 8 hens and 2 cockerels this year and I hatched around 70 chicks, and that's only using hens to hatch, if you used an incubator, you could hatch many more.

That is the impression I got about Sandhill.  It was my first time to deal with them.  If they would have just communicated with me that they were having difficulties, I would have let them hold on to my money until next year. Here is another pic of her (I think). All three of my pullets look identical (at least to me).