Australorps breed Thread

[DeesHens]

Hi to my old friends from this thread. Have been offline for a while. Lost both my parents last year so I've been preoccupied. They were both 90, so there's hope for me yet! For those who don't know me, I'm an Aussie, but have never claimed to be a BA expert. I'm passionate about the breed though and an avid learner. I'm happy to share what I've learned with my American friends. Hope to learn from you guys too! Haven't bred so many BA's this season. My new cockerel, from the breeder of my avatar bird, was bred late, so was a little small and had been in a cockerel cage all summer. Still cost $150 though! Understandably, he took a while to start firing live bullets, so the birds I bred from my best pullets were hatched late. Late hatching's not desirable for breeds where large size is significant. I'm about 1000 posts behind, but someone mentioned that their young birds were very slow to tailfeather up. The young birds from this cross have been similar. This didn't occur with my original blood. I'll post some pics. The older ones seem to be coming good. A juvenile BA is rarely very attractive as they seem to be slower to feather up than some other breeds. Most seem kinda gawky!
Anyway, I should share some of what I've learned during my absence. Breeding blue BA's is just a bit 'messy' for me, but I do think a nicely laced blue is a beautiful bird. George Norman, arguably Australia's best current breeder, suggests that the better blues come from the mating of black to "white sport (flea bitten)". ('splash?', or vice versa. Both should be blue bred. "When both are carrying blue genes all blue chickens bred should be 25% very light blue, 24% very dark blue and 50% the correct blue. There is no doubt the better blues are acquired from these matings." I'd love to post the entire article but I've just joined the Aussie Club and don't want to get chucked out over copyright stuff! The Australorp Club of Australia website is good with lots of pics of quality BA's, even if the forum is disappointingly inactive.
Cheers Geoff from Aus

Hello Geoff. It is great to see you here once again. I dare say we have all missed your informative posts. I have learned much from you and look forward to hearing more. Always a treat to read your experiences as your write ups are always full of interesting points. I especially enjoy viewing pics of the Australian BA's as so few in the USA come close to the unique beauty of them. But having said that it is also true that some of the folks on this thread do have some of the finest looking USA BA's around. It is very exciting to see more folks getting interested in the breed. I wish I was young and healthy so I could take on breeding. But instead I enjoy watching and learning from the many folks here. It is quite a treat and honor to watch their progress as many so willingly share like yourself. Anyway, I mostly just wanted to say how glad I am to see you here again. All my best. ~Dee~

 

[groche]

Some of my Australorp L/F

 

[groche]

Thanks Dee. I'm glad you find some of my stuff interesting.
Cheers Geoff

 

[CastleFarmUK]

Quote:
This is the Roo I started the strain with. He was Federation Welsh Champion a few years ago. I line bred all my birds from him on 4 different lines and in one line used a Welsh Black fowl (my own breed) to keep the feathers tighter. I have about 30 birds here at the moment in 4 breeding groups.

 

[hellbender]

This is the Roo I started the strain with. He was Federation Welsh Champion a few years ago. I line bred all my birds from him on 4 different lines and in one line used a Welsh Black fowl (my own breed) to keep the feathers tighter. I have about 30 birds here at the moment in 4 breeding groups.

Would to see pics of you Welsh Blacks.

 

[MeanV2]

Forgot to mention that I did catch up to Dan's wonderful BA pen. Congrats, mate!
Cheers Geoff

Thanks Geoff!! The Coop & Pen seem to be doing a Great job this winter as well!

Dan

 

[groche]

This is the Roo I started the strain with. He was Federation Welsh Champion a few years ago. I line bred all my birds from him on 4 different lines and in one line used a Welsh Black fowl (my own breed) to keep the feathers tighter. I have about 30 birds here at the moment in 4 breeding groups.

Shows where the good head points came from! Nice bird. I'd like to see a side on shot to resolve my query as to whether the British SOP calls for a flat back. A recent publication from Practical Poultry mag. clearly states that an Australorp should have a "wide, flat back". The "wide" part seemed ok, but I was surprised to read the "flat" bit. I'm not suggesting that your SOP is in any sense 'wrong'. We breed to what our own SOP requires of course.
Cheers Geoff

 

[groche]

Another word of wisdom from George Norman. Those breeding blues and blacks should be careful not to introduce any black chickens carrying blue genes into their blacks. " It will introduce some barring and purple tinge.......One of the great features of sound blacks is the solid black colour with its green sheen and once changed it is difficult to eliminate."
Cheers Geoff

 

[groche]

Australorps do not have red in the neck or feathers. Marans do. What do the feet look like?

Just caught up with this post and it's an issue that's interested me as I've bred a few cockerels with some red in the hackles. You may recall me mentioning in an early post that the green sheen on the original Cook Orp. was obtained by breeding from cocks with a little red in the hackle. Many breeders of breeds with black on them requiring a green sheen suggest the same thing. George Norman, breeder of Supreme Australorp of Show at our 2013 National titles, says " I prefer to introduce every 3-4 years a male that .... may have some red in his hackle feathers and perhaps saddle." His champion birds by the way are all descended from Ray Connor blood and Ray was a mentor.
Cheers Geoff

 

[groche]

Thanks Geoff!! The Coop & Pen seem to be doing a Great job this winter as well!

Dan

Cheers Dan. Need to have a closer look, but the pics of your birds you posted way back seem to show that you're really getting somewhere with them. I must say that I'm really impressed with how far so many of you have come from your Utility base. They're looking more and more like our exhibition strains. Good onyas!
Geoff