Australorps breed Thread

[aveca]

ours are in partial molt but still finding an egg a day from each..honest to god , they remind me of the old time cartoons of a hen and eggs just churning out like a factory..the blk orp has taken a break..shes molting, quiet and no eggs..

 

[kivi]

I wanted to post a picture of my Aussie. She is a hatchery chick not a show bird. She's my first aussie. I hope you don't mind my pic. I think from reading previous posts that her tail is not rounded enough but I still think sh

e is pretty. And she has a greenish blue sheen in the sun.

 

[ronott1]

I wanted to post a picture of my Aussie. She is a hatchery chick not a show bird. She's my first aussie. I hope you don't mind my pic. I think from reading previous posts that her tail is not rounded enough but I still think sh

e is pretty. And she has a greenish blue sheen in the sun.

Thank you for the Picture!

She is very sweet and friendly right? That is one thing that sticks with them regardless of where they come from. Mine are from Cackle hatchery and I love them!

Ron

 

[kivi]

I got her from chickens for back yards. I don't think there is a mean bone in her body.

She is a little shy but she holds her own with the other chickens. Which is good cause I thought she would be at the bottom of the pecking order with how quiet and docile that she is. She's a keeper.

 

[DeesHens]

I wanted to post a picture of my Aussie. She is a hatchery chick not a show bird. She's my first aussie. I hope you don't mind my pic. I think from reading previous posts that her tail is not rounded enough but I still think sh

e is pretty. And she has a greenish blue sheen in the sun.

I agree that indeed she is very pretty. I can't wait to get my BA pullet chicks next spring. Enjoyed your pic very much. So glad you shared it. Looks like I will also be obtaining my chicks via hatchery. Not sure about which one yet. Everything I have read about BA's sounds like the perfect hens for me. Anyway, nice to meet you.
~Dee~

 

[semillion2]

She is Beautiful! They also have the most wonderful personality, plus a very hardy bird.

 

[ronott1]

I got her from chickens for back yards. I don't think there is a mean bone in her body.

She is a little shy but she holds her own with the other chickens. Which is good cause I thought she would be at the bottom of the pecking order with how quiet and docile that she is. She's a keeper.

Quote:

She is Beautiful! They also have the most wonderful personality, plus a very hardy bird.

They are a nice balance between independence and friendliness.

Dee, you will really like having BAs.

Ron

 

[DeesHens]

Quote:

She is Beautiful! They also have the most wonderful personality, plus a very hardy bird.

They are a nice balance between independence and friendliness.

Dee, you will really like having BAs.

Ron

Sounds just perfect Ron. It is going to be a long winter waiting. I will try to keep busy doing my preparations for Mar/Apr chicks.
In the meanwhile, I hope everyone here will post lots of pics of their BA's. I absolutely enjoy seeing and hearing about them.

~Dee~

 

[huppfarm]

Last winter we had a few days below 22 degree's and I didn't even think to prepare for frozen combs, but somehow my males got through it. I guess I lucked out.

Walt

Howdy Walt, I have waited for the smoke to clear so as I could ask you a question about combs and the emphasis on the amount of points on a single comb.
In the SOP the Black Australorp is required to have 5 points. So I cull intensely for that amount but in doing so , there have been some outstanding birds with all the required traits needed for show quality birds. In some instances I cannot bring myself to cull them as they are too nice to eat, so I'm looking for more room in the runs to breed them to birds with less points to try and average out 5 pointers as chicks.
In the American Class, there are several breeds with a single comb that also are required to have a 5 point comb, all except the Jersey Giant which is required 6 points.
If this particular breed has a single comb as many other breeds do, why is it the exception to the rule?
I understand that more than the required amounts of points are not a disqualification, but points counted off at a poultry exhibit show, which can mean the difference between a grand champion of show or not.
Now this is where some smoke may rise again and hopefully not start any fires because this is only a question. I have studied both Black Australorp standards, American and Australian and come to find that there is some leeway in the Australian Standard as to the amount of points on the comb.
Why do the standards differ and who made the call to limit points on one single comb breed and not another breed with the same comb?

I look forward to your reply
Respectfully
Chet Hupp
Hupp farm

 

[huppfarm]

I get $5 for mine, and I raise decent birds, but do not show. I would not mind paying $7 for the quality of chicks Urch breeds. Sounds very reasonable to me too. You could order eggs for $25 add shipping $15, get maybe a 50% hatch and you have 6 chicks for $40 = $6.666 per chick......stan

We went halves on 25 chicks from Urch with another breeder freind of ours and it came out to $200. Out of the 25 birds after culling when they matured there were 4 Chickens left that we thought might be good enough for breeding but not for showing. The rest were eaten as the quality of those culls were bad.
Here is something to remember when purchasing some one elses birds. Unless you can actually go and pick out which breeding pens you want chicks from, there is no way of knowing what you will recieve and there is no such thing as getting all show quality chicks in a box.
You will need to pick and choose which birds have the best traits for show and breeding and which will be culled.
I raise very few "Show Quality" birds and I've been breeding since the mid 90's using the best possible stock I can find, sure the lines are from great breeders but that does not always mean your birds will be great. I have spent many hundreds of dollars bringing in good lines into my flock and once in a while a freak champion will show up. If you can afford to have a couple hundred chickens, your odds of having several champions will surface, so its all about the numbers and how much you can afford to feed and house them and how much room do you have to raise them. I live on 1/3 acre and raise no more than 30 adult birds at a time, so you can see that you need to have some type of formula to raise healthy happy chickens. Good luck to all and may you have great hatches!