Australorps breed Thread
- Thread starter call ducks
- Start date
I personal would like to get started sooner..but the weather in new England can be pretty brutal...yes Most Big Shows start Sept On Throu Lot of early Winter...I can only Speak for myself and my own …experience..had babies huddled around heaters most of the winter one year..that wasnt A Good Idea..at The time I Thought It Was...the older birds know the drill and do it well.....did read ray Connor liked to show his at 5 to 7 months depending..that kind of stuck with me..doesn't work work with big orps thou..those look better at 10 + months.
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I had already made my yearly chick purchase but when I walked into the feed store a week later I couldn't say no to getting 6 black australorps! Can't wait to see how these, hopefully girls, develop!
If they were sold as pullets, they will be at least 85% correct.
Congrats! Are they Hatchery or from a local breeder?
- Feb 20, 2013
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G'day,
I’ve had a long thought about how to improve your Australorps from a showing perspective. You basically can only work with what you have as they can’t be imported from Australia, but I’m still unsure of the export factor from England and Canada.
If I was in the USA I would try to improve them over 3 or 4 generations with a little experiment. I would get the best trio of typey show Black Australorps (1 male and 2 females) that I could source from a good successful show breeder / exhibitor. I would then get their equivalent in Black Langshans, not the Croad or German type, but plain Black Langshans that I have seen in pictures from show reports on other sites.
I would then cross breed them. Australorp Male over Langshan Females and vice-versa. I would then select a quad of each of the best Australorp type progeny and line-breed them over two or three generations. You would only select your Australorp progeny, particularly the stud males, with Black (or very Dark Brown) eyes and not plain brown eyes to give them a better chance of correct eye colour.
The Langshan blood would certainly tighten the feather and maintain and improve the beetle green sheen. The head would evenly sort itself out without the fly away of the comb of the Langshan. The Australorps line would soon sort out the V shape of the Langshan, and work itself into the type and conformation of an Australorp.
The gypsy faces in your current Australorps would be eventually neutralised by the clean faces of the Langshans. I reckon you could do this with both Large and Bantams and my observations of the pictures I have seen might just shock a few of you into the quality of the eventual progeny.
What have you got to lose?
Kind regards,
Ross
I’ve had a long thought about how to improve your Australorps from a showing perspective. You basically can only work with what you have as they can’t be imported from Australia, but I’m still unsure of the export factor from England and Canada.
If I was in the USA I would try to improve them over 3 or 4 generations with a little experiment. I would get the best trio of typey show Black Australorps (1 male and 2 females) that I could source from a good successful show breeder / exhibitor. I would then get their equivalent in Black Langshans, not the Croad or German type, but plain Black Langshans that I have seen in pictures from show reports on other sites.
I would then cross breed them. Australorp Male over Langshan Females and vice-versa. I would then select a quad of each of the best Australorp type progeny and line-breed them over two or three generations. You would only select your Australorp progeny, particularly the stud males, with Black (or very Dark Brown) eyes and not plain brown eyes to give them a better chance of correct eye colour.
The Langshan blood would certainly tighten the feather and maintain and improve the beetle green sheen. The head would evenly sort itself out without the fly away of the comb of the Langshan. The Australorps line would soon sort out the V shape of the Langshan, and work itself into the type and conformation of an Australorp.
The gypsy faces in your current Australorps would be eventually neutralised by the clean faces of the Langshans. I reckon you could do this with both Large and Bantams and my observations of the pictures I have seen might just shock a few of you into the quality of the eventual progeny.
What have you got to lose?
Kind regards,
Ross
I have a friend who is doing just that Ross..pretty impressive results..he adds 1 blk orp to the mix for bit more round
Ross, this exactly what i had in mind! Im glad to see someone of your caliber mention this! I dont feel like id be taking a step backwards now!
- Feb 20, 2013
- 92
- 8
- 63
G'day Aveca,
I personally wouldn't be adding Black Orpington into that mix. The reason is because the feather structure of the Orpington is way too fluffy and loose, especially the underbody, and that in itself is difficult to breed out. The lack of good quailty sheen also would slightly dilute the formation of a strong beetle green sheen. The Orpington blood might also make the bird a little too large, which is way over the standards weight specifications.
What we need in good show quality Australorps is that tightness in feather and neatness in the finish.
That;s just my thoughts.
Regards,
Ross
- Feb 20, 2013
- 92
- 8
- 63
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