Australorps breed Thread

[MeanV2]

I got the same advise Dan..an old poultry breeder told me it costs as much to feed a bad bird as it does to feed a good one..he also told me dont rush judgement because they grow and change and I have a culled a few that never should have left here..lessons learned..

I am going to keep as many as I can because I am sure it is easy to get rid of one you should keep. I have heard that from several places. The speed at which the BA's I have are changing is amazing. Some of the ones I was High on 4 weeks ago are not even getting a second look now. I am curious what the next 4 to 6 weeks will bring.

Dan

 

[Vamvakas]

How do like Urch BA's Kurt?

 

[plantcityhomestead]

MeanV2.
Dan, Right now I still have Urch, Hupp and Tigercreek Lines separated. Against my better judgement I will try crossing some of the best to see what I get this winter. My breeding pens have been shut down for quite a while now. People keep calling me for babies and I am fresh out.
I do have a 21 week old Blue Australorp cockerel that I want to sell who really turned out nice, but I have not decided on a price yet. I would rather have someone come get him instead of the inflated shipping cost,he is from my Hupp Line. In the past I have driven many miles for a bird I liked that someone had.
Kurt

Kurt, I have the Tigercreek Australorps too. Are you having problems with the combs? If you were going to introduce either the Urch or Hupp lines to the Tigercreek, which would you choose? I sold almost all my chicks before a coyote got most of my hens, so I am not working with all the options I had hoped to have to straighten out the comb. If I decide to just work with this line, how many generations will it take to try to get it straightened out?

Cindy

 

[RattlesnakeRidgeWV]

Cindy,
Stan from Tigercreek told me he always had a problem with combs and was very surprised that MOJO had 4 points and COAL his brother had 5 points. When I contacted Stan originally I was looking for broader width birds which he had. When I bred them to two of my older Urch hens the babies turned out real good. I have not decided who I will mate next year with my splash and blues from Hupp yet. I think the trick with this mating is to get uniformity in your flock. If you mix lines it will take a while to get uniformity and weird things may crop up and that is the chance you take. That brings you back to line breeding the best of your flock for a few years to sort things out. It all depends on how much time and effort you want to put into it. The experts in the chicken world claim that they have bred the same line for decades, but I don't know how they pulled that off. That is why I am no expert. I just know what I like in my minds eye after studying the SOP over and over again.
Kurt

 

[RattlesnakeRidgeWV]

How do like Urch BA's Kurt?

I was very impressed with my Urch BA's from the beginning I only have 2 hens left and a couple of pullets that I kept for breeding projects.Predators and my customers got the rest. If I had the room I would order another 25 from him and be satisfied, but I got this hatching and breeding alien bug in my head!!! LOL Just line breed the best that you have for a couple of years and see how you do. Duane has been doing it for at least 50 years so how can we step into those shoes.
Kurt

 

[plantcityhomestead]

Cindy,
Stan from Tigercreek told me he always had a problem with combs and was very surprised that MOJO had 4 points and COAL his brother had 5 points. When I contacted Stan originally I was looking for broader width birds which he had. When I bred them to two of my older Urch hens the babies turned out real good. I have not decided who I will mate next year with my splash and blues from Hupp yet. I think the trick with this mating is to get uniformity in your flock. If you mix lines it will take a while to get uniformity and weird things may crop up and that is the chance you take. That brings you back to line breeding the best of your flock for a few years to sort things out. It all depends on how much time and effort you want to put into it. The experts in the chicken world claim that they have bred the same line for decades, but I don't know how they pulled that off. That is why I am no expert. I just know what I like in my minds eye after studying the SOP over and over again.
Kurt

Kurt, I like what your mind's eye sees, that is why I was asking. Your birds have the look I want to achieve. This is only the second year I have been working with the birds that I got from Stan, so I guess I just need some patience. Thank you for your input.

 

[sabur2332]

This is one of our 4 black Australorp hens. Her name is Bellina and easily the most docile of the group (as you can see here). They are all nearly 30 weeks old and only one is laying regularly (we did have a dwarf egg last week but so far no other signs that anyone else is laying.) The one who is started about two weeks ago and her comb/wattles are mature looking as Bellina's but Bellina seems to be content to not have her busy schedule disturbed by silly things like laying eggs. My fingers are crossed that we will get some healthy egg production before the cold Ohio winter sets in. But the other two have small, light colored combs yet and I'm not terribly encouraged about it happening soon.

By the way this is my first activity (not technically a post I realize) at BYC, my name is Sarah and my family and I live in town where we are allowed to raise chickens (with no laws against roosters, although I'm not trying to push the buck and got rid of the one we did have) My city is fairly conservative and people are just recently starting to raise chickens in their yards around here so I suspect more regulating is in the future. :-/ Anyways, this is my first experience with Ickes since I was a child and let me say the BA is in a different galaxy in terms of my experiences from my grandmothers flock of white chickens I remember.

Anyways, Howdy!

This is one the girls investigating a tomato worm I gifted them from my tomato plants! You're welcome, ladies!

 

[ronott1]

This is one of our 4 black Australorp hens. Her name is Bellina and easily the most docile of the group (as you can see here). They are all nearly 30 weeks old and only one is laying regularly (we did have a dwarf egg last week but so far no other signs that anyone else is laying.) The one who is started about two weeks ago and her comb/wattles are mature looking as Bellina's but Bellina seems to be content to not have her busy schedule disturbed by silly things like laying eggs. My fingers are crossed that we will get some healthy egg production before the cold Ohio winter sets in. But the other two have small, light colored combs yet and I'm not terribly encouraged about it happening soon.

By the way this is my first activity (not technically a post I realize) at BYC, my name is Sarah and my family and I live in town where we are allowed to raise chickens (with no laws against roosters, although I'm not trying to push the buck and got rid of the one we did have) My city is fairly conservative and people are just recently starting to raise chickens in their yards around here so I suspect more regulating is in the future. :-/ Anyways, this is my first experience with Ickes since I was a child and let me say the BA is in a different galaxy in terms of my experiences from my grandmothers flock of white chickens I remember.

Anyways, Howdy!


This is one the girls investigating a tomato worm I gifted them from my tomato plants! You're welcome, ladies!

You will love the eggs they will lay for you!

 

[DeesHens]

Hello & welcome sabur2332.

Enjoyed the pic of the cute little girl holding the BA. Neat to see youngsters involved with chickens.

Hey everyone. I kinda got side tracked for awhile but got caught up on your posts today. Always a joy to see pics of your BA's and hear how you are doing with yours.
I need to take some new pics of mine to post here soon. Yeh, I know they aren't gorgeous like Kurt's or Ron's.

They have the squirrel tails Kurt hates among other flaws.

Don't compare with the likes of yours but know you understand they are mine and I love them.

Hope to see some eggs in the next few weeks.

Mine are enjoying lots of goodies from our garden these days. They go bonkers over split open cucumbers and tomatoes as well as chard. They don't like strawberries which seems weird.
The growing season was off this year so our zucchini are tiny. So we don't have the usual big ones to share with the chickens which we normally have done. Too bad as during the winter months they really enjoy them. Fall is in the air so preparing for winter is on my mind.

Take care everyone.
~Dee~

 

[Gramma Chick]

This is one of our 4 black Australorp hens. Her name is Bellina and easily the most docile of the group (as you can see here).

Welcome !
It qualifies as a Post ...You dont have to start a thread
2 Adorable chicks ..I would call this pic Love my Australorps