Australorps breed Thread

[groche]

Isn't it funny...ray Connor said in hi book he couldn't care less about those freckles on the foot sole but some judges do..

Spot on, Aveca. Unfortunately, our SOP does state "....soles and toenails white." BUT, as those of us with Ray's book know, he tells us that, although a point might be deducted from the 5 allocated to legs and feet in our SOP, it shouldn't be seen as a reason for rejection or disqualification. More importantly, he tells us that if we eliminate black spots from the soles, the offspring will lose some of the strength of color in the shanks, which can become blue or dull, and the flights will contain more and more white. We'd be crazy not to take on board the experience of long term, successful breeders. Lot of trial and error involved in reinventing the wheel! Hope I'm not frightening off those who just want to breed a few nice birds, it's just that to create a line of consistantly SQ birds is a great challenge and certainly not simply a case of putting a couple of good birds together. Chook genetics make it much more complex. Mind you, breeding for a bit of fun can be a bit of fun! Who knows what will pop out?
Cheers Geoff

 

[WVDan44]

Cuba, hope you took the "tough cookie" comment as a positive. All genuine breeders dislike fad and 'pretty bird' judges.

Hello Geoff and Cuba,

absolutely do take that comment in a positive manner as I have only respect and encouragement for your keen insight and talent as a judge of poultry. I thought I made that abundantly clear in my post, but I am only too happy for the opportunity to restate it.

WVDan

 

[groche]

Hello Geoff and Cuba,

absolutely do take that comment in a positive manner as I have only respect and encouragement for your keen insight and talent as a judge of poultry. I thought I made that abundantly clear in my post, but I am only too happy for the opportunity to restate it.

WVDan

I was talking about my comment, Dan. Sorry, mate.
cheers Geoff

 

[tigercreek]

Wow that was a long post, sorry about that!

I thought it was just about the right length!...stan

 

[RattlesnakeRidgeWV]

Stan,
Your babies are 3 weeks old tomorrow and boy are they in the ugly duckling phase!!! On Monday I hatch out 22 of my Urch line BA's and 6 EE's for the "Boss".
I just set another 36 BA's, SLW's, and EE's today. How have you been doing with hatching? I am seriously thinking about selling my Foley SLW flock and try Dominiques for something different.
Kurt

 

[tigercreek]

Kurt,
The hatching has not been going too well. Never does this time of year. I grow them to lockdown and then they never pip, or pip and don't zip. It's the lack of humidity here this time of year. It will get better in another month. I still have a dozen Aussie chicks and that many Dels also though. One problem is that I have a big old redwood hatcher that I incubate in and the humidity does not come up from pipping and zipping like it does in a smaller one. I have a very large water pan with towels and sponges and 30% humidity at lockdown......Doms are nice, but I just got my first pair of Cubalayas. I am thinking they will be pretty nice dual purpose, self sufficent birds. Time will tell, but they are beauties.......stan

 

[WVDan44]

I thought it was just about the right length!...stan

X2
WVDan

 

[WVDan44]

I was talking about my comment, Dan. Sorry, mate.
cheers Geoff

All is well and good, my friend! Glad you are on here.

 

[WVDan44]

Kurt,
The hatching has not been going too well. Never does this time of year. I grow them to lockdown and then they never pip, or pip and don't zip. It's the lack of humidity here this time of year. It will get better in another month. I still have a dozen Aussie chicks and that many Dels also though. One problem is that I have a big old redwood hatcher that I incubate in and the humidity does not come up from pipping and zipping like it does in a smaller one. I have a very large water pan with towels and sponges and 30% humidity at lockdown......Doms are nice, but I just got my first pair of Cubalayas. I am thinking they will be pretty nice dual purpose, self sufficent birds. Time will tell, but they are beauties.......stan

Stan -

I just had the same experience with my first of the year. 14 day candling showed 8 clear eggs out of 18, of the ten remaining, only five hatched and two of those I had to assist. Fortunately, all are doing well. I'm working on the humidity problem and may have if figured out.

 

[RattlesnakeRidgeWV]

Well guys,
Humidity is a real problem and different parts of the country really needs some adjusting, it is always different. I have used a Genesis 1588 for the last 3 years and this is what I do.
Collected eggs are kept for 7 days between 50 and 65 degrees and rotated on a different angle thru-out the day in egg cartons.
Day one to 18 are on an automatic turner and I keep humidity around 40 which is supposed to be too low, but works for me.
Day 18 is my lockdown which means turner out and they lay on the wire or in an upright position (both work for me) and I bump up humidity to 65 or 70 percent.(It will always increase as they start hatching and I don't worry about it) NOTE: If your humidity is too low they will shrink wrap and not get out. If humidity is too high they can drown.
This is the way I do it and it works for me, but may not work for you. It is worth a try if you are really having bad hatches. It does take some tweeking for your location.
ALL BETS ARE OFF FOR SHIPPED EGGS, THANKS TO THE POST OFFICE!
Kurt
PS My temp is always a solid 100 degrees.