Auburn Javas?

[henaynei]

I know this an old thread but I was searching for breeds I would eventually like to keep and Java was one of them, and I love the red-brown color.

Is anyone still raising this breed and color? Do they do well in warmer climates? I live in Eastern NC and it gets pretty hot and humid here in the summer.

I'm in North Western NC. I know the Javas are said to be cold hardy. I think, with well ventilated accommodations and good husbandry, they can handle the heat as well.

I am also looking for Auburn Java breeders as I am planning on getting chicks this coming spring. Starting with about 15 birds.

I have started getting my infrastructure together: chickshaw, feeder, waterer, broody box, feed, electric Premier 1 fence, etc.... some I have, most I still have to acquire. I've done a lot of research, mostly on YouTube. Joel Salatin, Justin Rhodes and many others. I will be pasturing my birds with rotation on my very small front yard. I've about 2 acres but almost all of it is extremely steep and wooded. I'll make choices about modifying that after I get some time with these birds under my belt I'm aiming at permaculturing.

I hope you find a good breeder for your stock

 

[henaynei]

Well, I took the plunge! I just paid for my first 36 Auburn Java eggs from Behl Farms/Lyle Behl. He is an expert on Auburn Javas and has been working with a few other breeders to recover and set the gene type so that they can be entered in the APA SOP.

I should be getting the eggs the first week of April. My only regret is that I didn't get them 2-3 months ago so that they would be near laying by now. But given I'm such a newbie at this it is probably a good thing I'm trying to incubate in more temperate weather

I'll let you know my success/failure rate with this my first incubation!!

 

[henaynei]

I have commented on the auburn java before and from what I can see; there is great variability in the birds. If auburn was a true variety, then all the males would look very much similar and all the females would do the same. I have seen this variability in working with the genes responsible for spangling and the buff varieties.

If you look at Soaring Chicks juvenile birds you will see what I am talking about, There are all kinds of gene combinations that are segregating in the offspring.

I have looked at the birds on line form Behl Farm- the female in the picture does not look spangled; she appears to have incomplete single lacing. Birds that do not have all the genes they need for spangling will have spangles on the breast not the cup shaped false spangles that appear on the bird in the picture. The females in the pen appear to have spangling.

Everybody can do what they want and think what they want to think but I very skeptical of this auburn variety. I just do not want fanciers to be believe they have a variety when it appears that there is not such a thing.


Rsf31tmp,

If you cross the red bird ( looks like a RIR) with the male in the picture, it is difficult to predict what you will produce. The male is not homozygous for all the genes he needs to be golden spangled and it is difficult to say what he is actually carrying.

Tim

 

[Tiegrsi]

Well, I took the plunge! I just paid for my first 36 Auburn Java eggs from Behl Farms/Lyle Behl. He is an expert on Auburn Javas and has been working with a few other breeders to recover and set the gene type so that they can be entered in the APA SOP.

I should be getting the eggs the first week of April. My only regret is that I didn't get them 2-3 months ago so that they would be near laying by now. But given I'm such a newbie at this it is probably a good thing I'm trying to incubate in more temperate weather

I'll let you know my success/failure rate with this my first incubation!!

Congratulations! I hope you have a great turn-out and I am interested to see what you've got! I wound up getting Marans for production purposes, but I have a whole bunch of other breeds for their egg colors for now. I hope the Auburns can be brought back for good, as they are gorgeous birds!

 

[henaynei]

Tiegrsi thank you
I've raised other animals but never chickens
We're hoping to move toward homesteading, in small steps

 

[Tiegrsi]

Tiegrsi thank you
I've raised other animals but never chickens
We're hoping to move toward homesteading, in small steps

We are doing the same! Its a lot of learning. I love making things myself from scratch, though, despite the extra effort it takes. We are hoping to be able to buy our own land within the next ten years and raise most of our own food as well as make many of out own necessities.

Are you still in western NC?

 

[henaynei]

We are doing the same! Its a lot of learning. I love making things myself from scratch, though, despite the extra effort it takes. We are hoping to be able to buy our own land within the next ten years and raise most of our own food as well as make many of out own necessities.

Are you still in western NC?

Yes, still in my 2 acres of very hilly and wooded in Ashe county. Beautiful but very little area is chicken friendly
Solutions:
Get a couple of goats and rotate them around the property to get rid of kudzu and bring under growth down to chicken level
OR
rent or barter with neighbor to use their empty flat pasture to pasture rotate the chickens
OR
just keep rotating the chickens on my small area of flat-ish ground every 3-4 weeks (to give ground/vegetation time to recover)

 

[Tiegrsi]

Yes, still in my 2 acres of very hilly and wooded in Ashe county. Beautiful but very little area is chicken friendly

Solutions:
Get a couple of goats and rotate them around the property to get rid of kudzu and bring under growth down to chicken level
OR
rent or barter with neighbor to use their empty flat pasture to pasture rotate the chickens
OR
just keep rotating the chickens on my small area of flat-ish ground every 3-4 weeks (to give ground/vegetation time to recover)

Go for the goats, and get a dairy variety so you can have the added benefit of fresh milk, along with meat or income from their offspring. We would like goats. Right now we only have about 3/4 of an acre and we are renting here in Eastern NC.

 

[henaynei]

Go for the goats, and get a dairy variety so you can have the added benefit of fresh milk, along with meat or income from their offspring. We would like goats. Right now we only have about 3/4 of an acre and we are renting here in Eastern NC.

That's what I'd like to do - but restraining myself to that this slowly so I don't crash and burn as so many do.
Later this year or next spring if I have this under my belt I'll get some dairy goats

 

[Tiegrsi]

That's what I'd like to do - but restraining myself to that this slowly so I don't crash and burn as so many do.
Later this year or next spring if I have this under my belt I'll get some dairy goats

Wise choice. We kind of jumped in with both feet, but it was a small puddle. I'd had chickens before, though just for meat and eggs and not for breeding.We've also both done quite a bit of gardening in the past. This year I have chicks, incubating eggs, breeding birds, laying birds, and a rabbit, plus a large garden (or rather, many small gardens). By next year I hope to be breeding meat rabbits as well, but that's about as much as our little plot of land can support. We're also learning to do things ourselves, like...make our own household cleaners, keep pests away naturally, fix our own vehicles and mechanical things. Last year I learned how to spin my own yarn and carve my own wooden spoons! We'd also like to eventually go solar, though that is quite a difficult project because of the expense and the fact that my boyfriend's job is completely computer-based so there is always something running here.