And so it begins...

[LaurenRitz]

I have a breeding project, to create a landrace breed that actually thrives here. I want a large dual purpose breed with hens that go broody, for sustainability, dark or mottled for predator evasion, cold and heat tolerant, good foragers, etc.

The breeds I chose to work with are:

Bielefelder (roo)
Mottled Java
Black Australorp
Jersey Giant

And today....

The Mottled Java is broody! I have separated out 10 eggs for her, 2 from each of the five hens. I'll wait a couple more days before I give her the eggs.

The project moves forward!

 

[AidKD]

Keep us posted on how it works!

 

[LaurenRitz]

The Mottled Java turned out to not be a good mother. She went broody and stayed broody but would leave her nest for hours at a time, kicked the eggs around, etc.

A snake got her eggs and I thought she had broken, but I don't think she was eating or drinking and she died last week.

Currently the BA and one of the JG's are sitting on eggs and sticking. One is on day 17 and the other on day 12. I gave both 4 eggs.

When the BA was off her nest yesterday I removed two more eggs, both small pullet eggs but one is developing nicely. I have it in a makeshift incubator in the house.

I have added an RIR to the program, and I have a 2nd gen roo that is a Biel-Dominique cross. That will add in the possibility of rose comb as well as excellent foraging ability.

The roo is currently 17 weeks and I'm not sure how long I should wait before introducing him.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I let the Biel x Dominique boys out, and I'm pretty impressed. Not only do they seem to prefer foraging, but they're polite to the other chickens. They'll tit-bit for the girls, but if the girls show no interest they accept it, don't chase them down or try to gang up on them.

They had a single minor tiff with the primary roo, and since then everything has been calm.

One has a rose comb so wide he can't see in front of him and tends to attack anything that approaches from the front.

The Mottled Java died, apparently unable to regulate her broody cycle. She wouldn't break and died on the nest.

The oldest BA pullet is in the process of weaning her chicks at 5 weeks.

Current mixes are Biel x Dominique, Biel x BA, and JG x RIR.

 

[LaurenRitz]

One of the girls hatched out 4 chicks. Two died within a day of hatch, apparently crushed when the other birds jumped down from the roost.

Another was killed, I think by a snake, and the last was killed by a possum.

Another hatched four and one was taken by a dog. A third hatched one.

We currently have 4 Biel crosses between 8 and 10 weeks, 2 of them cockerels. We also have two JG x RiR crosses that are currently 10 and 12 weeks. The JG x RIR cockerel will be the roo for the 2nd population group.

The Biel rooster has been replaced by 2 Biel x Dominique cockerels, at about 30 weeks. They're polite, don't chase the girls down, and if the girls say no they accept it.