The Aloha Chicken Project

[draye]

Do you think someone on the NN thread here on BYC might want to swap eggs with you?  If you say you're looking for some Buffs and Reds?  Worth a shot, right?  

Maybe, a lot of those folks are usually breeding for certain colors, might be worth a try.

 

[alohachickens]

Just wanted to share a bunch of photos of the current Aloha flock. Chicks are selling great locally. I've hatched HUNDREDS and cannot keep them in stock!

Working on the new coops (finally) and soon as those are done will have many more options for breeder pens and can raise specific crosses. Right now it's still a mishmash of about 80 random hens and roosters running about! Here are some photos of the current flock:













































I have not been posting much here lately, because of family issues (my Mom was diagnosed with cancer last March, prayers are always welcome) but know the Aloha project is still going strong. Just a little quieter than before. LOL.

 

[HEChicken]

I've been absent from BYC for awhile but decided to check back in and give a non-update on where I am at with my piece of this project. Which isn't that far along, frustratingly. In April '13 I took possession of 15 Exchequer Leghorn chicks from Ideal. I grew them out that spring, summer and fall and had hopes they might by laying in time to incubate some over the winter. However they were slow to start laying (8 months old) and after laying only a handful of eggs between them, quit for the winter. They were one of the last to start up in Spring '14. But once they did, I segregated them in a pen with my NH Rooster. Although they are my only white egg layers, my rooster apparently did not favor them because the first batch I tried to incubate were all infertile. By segregating them, and setting another incubator full, I was able to get....wait for it.....4 chicks to hatch. Out of 20 eggs. This is an incubator that normally gives me almost a 100% hatch rate. The remaining eggs from that batch were all clear.

I gave the 4 chicks to two different broody hens to raise, killing two birds with one stone [no pun intended]: I broke two broodies and I didn't have to run a brooder to raise them myself. When they were 10 days old, one of the chicks wandered too close to a third hen whose chick had just hatched. The hen was in super protective mode and mortally wounded the chick. I had no choice but to euthanize it. So I was down to three chicks and wouldn't you know? All three were pullets. They grew up over the summer and fall last year and I have yet to see one in a nest box. However I feel sure that if they are not yet laying they soon will (must have got the Exchequer Leghorn gene for slow start to laying!)

However even once they do start to lay, there isn't going to be much I can do with their eggs until I can hatch and raise a cockerel to sexual maturity. So, it will be another year before I can even get to my second generation at this rate.

The EL's have not yet started laying since quitting last fall. Once they do, I will segregate them with a NH rooster in my hoop coop until I am certain their eggs are fertile. Hopefully this time I will get both a better fertility rate and a bigger selection of chicks to raise and with any luck, will even get a cockerel out of the bunch.

Anyway, this is sort of a ho-hum update on my lack of progress. Who knew a chicken project could go THIS slowly???

 

[draye]

I've been absent from BYC for awhile but decided to check back in and give a non-update on where I am at with my piece of this project.  Which isn't that far along, frustratingly.  In April '13 I took possession of 15 Exchequer Leghorn chicks from Ideal.  I grew them out that spring, summer and fall and had hopes they might by laying in time to incubate some over the winter.  However they were slow to start laying (8 months old) and after laying only a handful of eggs between them, quit for the winter.  They were one of the last to start up in Spring '14.  But once they did, I segregated them in a pen with my NH Rooster.  Although they are my only white egg layers, my rooster apparently did not favor them because the first batch I tried to incubate were all infertile.  By segregating them, and setting another incubator full, I was able to get....wait for it.....4 chicks to hatch.  Out of 20 eggs.  This is an incubator that normally gives me almost a 100% hatch rate.  The remaining eggs from that batch were all clear.  

I gave the 4 chicks to two different broody hens to raise, killing two birds with one stone [no pun intended]: I broke two broodies and I didn't have to run a brooder to raise them myself.  When they were 10 days old, one of the chicks wandered too close to a third hen whose chick had just hatched.  The hen was in super protective mode and mortally wounded the chick.  I had no choice but to euthanize it.  So I was down to three chicks and wouldn't you know?  All three were pullets.  They grew up over the summer and fall last year and I have yet to see one in a nest box.  However I feel sure that if they are not yet laying they soon will (must have got the Exchequer Leghorn gene for slow start to laying!)

However even once they do start to lay, there isn't going to be much I can do with their eggs until I can hatch and raise a cockerel to sexual maturity.  So, it will be another year before I can even get to my second generation at this rate.

The EL's have not yet started laying since quitting last fall.  Once they do, I will segregate them with a NH rooster in my hoop coop until I am certain their eggs are fertile.  Hopefully this time I will get both a better fertility rate and a bigger selection of chicks to raise and with any luck, will even get a cockerel out of the bunch.

Anyway, this is sort of a ho-hum update on my lack of progress.  Who knew a chicken project could go THIS slowly???

Crossing fingers for you. Sorry about your lack of luck so far. I'm waiting for some Aloha Turkrn (Naked Neck) eggs from Somer.

 

[alohachickens]

I've been absent from BYC for awhile but decided to check back in and give a non-update on where I am at with my piece of this project. Which isn't that far along, frustratingly. In April '13 I took possession of 15 Exchequer Leghorn chicks from Ideal. I grew them out that spring, summer and fall and had hopes they might by laying in time to incubate some over the winter. However they were slow to start laying (8 months old) and after laying only a handful of eggs between them, quit for the winter. They were one of the last to start up in Spring '14. But once they did, I segregated them in a pen with my NH Rooster. Although they are my only white egg layers, my rooster apparently did not favor them because the first batch I tried to incubate were all infertile. By segregating them, and setting another incubator full, I was able to get....wait for it.....4 chicks to hatch. Out of 20 eggs. This is an incubator that normally gives me almost a 100% hatch rate. The remaining eggs from that batch were all clear.

I gave the 4 chicks to two different broody hens to raise, killing two birds with one stone [no pun intended]: I broke two broodies and I didn't have to run a brooder to raise them myself. When they were 10 days old, one of the chicks wandered too close to a third hen whose chick had just hatched. The hen was in super protective mode and mortally wounded the chick. I had no choice but to euthanize it. So I was down to three chicks and wouldn't you know? All three were pullets. They grew up over the summer and fall last year and I have yet to see one in a nest box. However I feel sure that if they are not yet laying they soon will (must have got the Exchequer Leghorn gene for slow start to laying!)

However even once they do start to lay, there isn't going to be much I can do with their eggs until I can hatch and raise a cockerel to sexual maturity. So, it will be another year before I can even get to my second generation at this rate.

The EL's have not yet started laying since quitting last fall. Once they do, I will segregate them with a NH rooster in my hoop coop until I am certain their eggs are fertile. Hopefully this time I will get both a better fertility rate and a bigger selection of chicks to raise and with any luck, will even get a cockerel out of the bunch.

Anyway, this is sort of a ho-hum update on my lack of progress. Who knew a chicken project could go THIS slowly???

That kind of makes me wonder if there has been some issues with Ideal.

I have ordered before from Ideal, and the chicks were GREAT. The Exchequers that I got back in 2008 or 2009 were fabulous layers! Tons of white eggs, in all temps. The other breeds that I got with them, were also great chicks.

Then, I got on the waiting list for Ideal Sussex, because I'd seen some online that had TONS of white. I had to wait a while? It's hard for me to remember now (because the last year has been so odd) so I had to look on my messages. Thank goodness I never clean out the Inbox!

Ok, so APRIL 2013 is when I got Sussex from Ideal. And for some weird reason, they also sent a different person's order?!?!? Some breed I'd never heard of.

So, I had two boxes of chicks - one of Sussex, that I expected. And a box of 25 something-else's that I called and told Ideal about. They told me to keep both boxes and they would refund re-ship the other person's order.

This is where it gets weird . . .

I was hatching my own chicks like crazy - healthy robust Alohas - and I didn't want my new Sussex to get mixed up with the sale Alohas. So a kind BYC'er in my area agreed to raise the Sussex. I picked up the chicks from the Post Office, and left the box of mystery chicks at my Mom's (who has no birds) and ran the other box to this BYC'ers house, where he was going to raise them in a coop where he'd had no issues or illness.

I took the "mystery box" home with me. Neither box had any chicks removed or whatnot - and both boxes went to different homes (mine and his) with no issues of sick chicks.

Chicks began dying, both places. At my house, they were dropping like flies. At his house, they were dying but slower. He put them on Tylan. I gave away the mystery ones on Craigslist.

Meanwhile, the Alohas who had been raised in the batch before, were healthy and fine. I sterilized the brooder, and raised more. Zero deaths. ONLY the 2013 Ideal chicks had these deaths. Same feed, same brooders, same month! They were weak, sickly, would gasp and spasm and then die.

My personal thoughts? Something funky happened at Ideal. Other friends in my area had GREAT experiences there in other orders.

Maybe we got a bad batch? Something was going around? I don't know. ANYWAY - my big order of 25 Ideal Sussex chicks that cost me $80? Ended up with a whopping 3 live hens. Whoo-hoo. The rest all died by the time they reached 3 months. That's just freaky, considering I raised about 100 Aloha chicks and only lost about 6. (Four of those on the day we hit 116.)

 

[5moore]

Heyyyyyy, you forgot me! I am still breeding the Alohas. They are my MAIN birds. It's just been too cold to do much. The last batch I hatched I kept 4 hens and one rooster. The hens started to lay two weeks once in a while. Like I said, it is VERY cold here right now. I'll post some pics of the roo and pullets when I get a chance.

 

[buddy phoenix]

Marking my spot

 

[alohachickens]

Heyyyyyy, you forgot me! I am still breeding the Alohas. They are my MAIN birds. It's just been too cold to do much. The last batch I hatched I kept 4 hens and one rooster. The hens started to lay two weeks once in a while. Like I said, it is VERY cold here right now. I'll post some pics of the roo and pullets when I get a chance.

You need some fresh blood when I get the pens set up and we can figure out crosses that will best improve what you've already got there. I don't normally do shipped eggs, but considering you already have a "base" of Alohas alredy there, maybe even having me send you a box of eggs would be a good idea? Most shipped eggs have dismal hatch rates. Like, I consider myself lucky to get five chicks to hatch out of a dozen shipped eggs. Five is not enough to start a new Aloha program. But, it could be enough to get your existing program a booster? Especially if I pick out a select group that has what you need. (And then I'd add some random eggs from the other coop because why not?)

If you have a moment, post pics of your hens and roo, and let's see if there is anything I have that could help give your program a boost. I have one tiny breeder pen of sorts, that I'm going to contain the Turkens in soon for Draye. When I'm done with that, maybe I can set aside a few for you. (This pen is only 5 x 8 feet so it's only good for maybe four hens and a rooster. But for now, it's the only breeder pen that I have set up.)

Half of the new coop is done, but we decided to go ahead and paint it before assembly. Since it's metal and HUGE that is going to be a "process".

My boyfriend will work on that end of this month . . . so hopefully by first week of March I'll have at least one other 16 x 16 coop. I was going to contain all the various Sussex in there first, and hatch out some huge "size improvers" that won't carry spots but will make sure I have light-colored giant hens that I can give to my friends who currently have tiny (but super colorful) Aloha roosters.

Then I'll mix up the big Sussex hens with the colorful Aloha roos, and the big Buff Sussex rooster with the little colorful Aloha hens, and raise those batches together for next year's stock!

That's the plan, anyway! LOL.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Hey guys, I'm still around too!

Like HEChicken, not making much progress but I have some really nice Buff Sussex, and am obtaining some quality Speckled Sussex from the same place I got the Buff in Colorado. I plan to cross the two once I've grown out the Speckleds. I bought some nice Speckled Sussex from a different breeder last year but they all died of some mysterious ailment that didn't effect any of my other birds. The other half of the group was raised by a friend and she had the same result. Anyway, my goal is to end up with some Mille Sussex that are structurally sound and large birds. Then I can ship some to Sommer to use with her Alohas. I love these Buff Sussex birds, they are so big, round and fluffy with great temperaments. Anyway, not much happening, just a lot of hurry up and wait!

Karen

 

[5moore]

Sommer this is my breeding flock. I know it's not a glamorous shot but it shows their colors/patterns well. I lost one of the whiter mottled hens Saturday night to a possum. So I have two of the darker red mottled and two of the whiter mottled.

The following pictures are of what is in my grow out pen. There is one rooster that looks just like my main roo and 4 pullets that are so far the darker red mottled.




This picture is horrible but, the pullet in the very front and then you can see two of them on the back row (4th and 5th bird from left). There are 4 pullets, the other one is hiding. lol A couple of them have been laying for a couple weeks.



What I was planning on doing was putting the older roo over these pullets and the younger roo over the older hens. We bought a Dickey incubator and I'm ready to get it fired up! So what do you think?