Australorps breed Thread

[aveca]

Sorry, Aveca, can't resist! Don't reckon you'd make it down south to 'pinch' my birds. More likely you'd be up north, oohing and ahing, 'consumating' your long distance 'affair' with old Ray!

Cheers Geoff

LOL ...indeed..I am the president of the american ray connor fan club...

 

[WVDan44]

Dan,
I think you're correct re gender input to combs. My understanding is that each parent contributes one each of the two genes that control comb type. This is also supported by our experience. Doesn't help much when trying to breed better combs. Too much 'pot luck' until you have an established line, and even then......! On the other hand, Ray Connor suggests that, re 'defluffing', we should " select that extremely tight feathered male first, otherwise, if you have a bit of loose feathering develop in your females it quickly becomes difficult to find a tight feathered male.An Australorp must be tight feathered..."
Cheers Geoff

Geoff

Excellent point. I will definitely add this to my notes of wisdom that I glean from here.

Hope your heat wave has lessened. It is a bummer when having to stay inside because it's too hot. It's much easier for me to accept having to stay inside because it's too cold.

 

[aveca]

Excellent info Geoff..I read in my ray connor fan club book..about when they inducted Australorp into the standard..queensland held out thier vote until it was written into the standard that it was a requirement to have the tighter feather..How do we get a bit more depth of body ?

 

[ronott1]

I found a place in her in California that has Black Australorps. She has been breeding them for 30 years and she said they lay nearly all year long--best layers she ever had and she has always had them at her place.

They are probably Utility lines but I can't wait to get those hatching eggs!

 

[aveca]

Sounds like some good ones Ronott1..Somone told me that when the origional austraslorp imports came over..they were the record egg layers..Some went to Mass..some to california..then everyone kind of lost track of the origional lines..Wouldnt it be something if that was one of those lines..

 

[ronott1]

Sounds like some good ones Ronott1..Somone told me that when the origional austraslorp imports came over..they were the record egg layers..Some went to Mass..some to california..then everyone kind of lost track of the origional lines..Wouldnt it be something if that was one of those lines..

Yes, you could be very correct! This is what she said in an email"


They are of unknown bloodlines from various breeders, not hatcheries. I've
raised them for several years so cannot tell you exactly from where they
originated. I bred and showed dogs for 30 years so like to have nice
chickens too. I do not show them. I look for the best layers and
conformationaly correct birds to keep for breeding purposes. Of all the
breeds we have, the Australorps are probably the best layers as far as eggs
per year. Though I've had other breeds as well, I've kept them as a constant
in the flock for the last 30 years. Very reliable.

 

[aveca]

Well, Im really excited for you..I would love to see some pictures of them when you get them going..You just have to wonder if they might be from those origional birds

I know I have posted this befor , but the story I read on an Australian site a long time ago was Some people in Australia were trying to bring thier record egg layers back home to Australia from America ..But no one knew exactly where they went outside of Mass and Calif...Somone in those 2 places with very deep pockets bought the record egg layers when they were setting records long time ago , and that parent flock and brought them here..It was a little competative thing..east coast west coast thing..Then when people stared moving into industrial revolution and away from farming..they dissappeared ..no one can tell anything more than they were absorbed into different flocks and even a bit of them in hatchery birds...We tried to find that site again, but were told over time people lost interest so It was deleted..Otherwise I would post it again for you,,It was interesting.
One of the reasons Queesnland held out for the tighter feather was they are known to be much better egg layers than the poofier birds like Orps..They were OK with the deeper shape but absolutle NO to the loose orp type feather.

There was a guy on that site called himself "ancient australorp" If you wanted to know anything about australorp , he knew it..

 

[WVDan44]

I'm getting 6 to 8 a day right now out of 10 layers. All of these in the photo except the three darkest ones are out of BAs. I love the beautiful creamy beige tint of an Australorp egg. They vary slightly in color, size and shape, making it fairly easy to match the egg to the hen that laid it. I'd generally rate them as large but not jumbo usually. I've given a couple of dozen away to close friends and relatives and everyone raves about them. I can't wait till the days get longer and they get cranked up. Between the 'bator and the fridge, I will have a use for all of them. Friends and relatives will have to do without!

 

[ronott1]

Well, Im really excited for you..I would love to see some pictures of them when you get them going..You just have to wonder if they might be from those origional birds

I know I have posted this befor , but the story I read on an Australian site a long time ago was Some people in Australia were trying to bring thier record egg layers back home to Australia from America ..But no one knew exactly where they went outside of Mass and Calif...Somone in those 2 places with very deep pockets bought the record egg layers when they were setting records long time ago , and that parent flock and brought them here..It was a little competative thing..east coast west coast thing..Then when people stared moving into industrial revolution and away from farming..they dissappeared ..no one can tell anything more than they were absorbed into different flocks and even a bit of them in hatchery birds...We tried to find that site again, but were told over time people lost interest so It was deleted..Otherwise I would post it again for you,,It was interesting.
One of the reasons Queesnland held out for the tighter feather was they are known to be much better egg layers than the poofier birds like Orps..They were OK with the deeper shape but absolutle NO to the loose orp type feather.

There was a guy on that site called himself "ancient australorp" If you wanted to know anything about australorp , he knew it..

I do remember the post about the BAs going to CA. I am very excited about it. I may even have a place to keep a roo or two!

I will keep you all posted.

 

[Melabella]

I'm getting 6 to 8 a day right now out of 10 layers. All of these in the photo except the three darkest ones are out of BAs. I love the beautiful creamy beige tint of an Australorp egg. They vary slightly in color, size and shape, making it fairly easy to match the egg to the hen that laid it. I'd generally rate them as large but not jumbo usually. I've given a couple of dozen away to close friends and relatives and everyone raves about them. I can't wait till the days get longer and they get cranked up. Between the 'bator and the fridge, I will have a use for all of them. Friends and relatives will have to do without!

Wonderful photo. I am getting the same amounts from my 9 layers of which two are BA's. One of the BA's is much slower developing than her breed partner who is all ready laying. Her egg is the lightest of all my brown egg layers, and I too love the hue of brown it is. It's almost like a shade of very light pink. Only thing is, she lays a very narrow egg. Today's egg from her was very large, and as I suspected, it was a double yoker. I took a picture of it, and will post it when I get it off of my phone. Question is, with these narrow eggs she lays, can that be a sign of some sort of problem inside? Her anatomy being a bit narrow, and could she be prone to egg laying issues? Getting egg bound? I thought the shape would get more conventional as she got a bit more into laying, but so far, with the six weeks she has been laying, no change. Thanks for any insights,

MB