Blue Andalusian thread!

[Rock N' Faverolles]

I thought I'd share a few pictures of mine.

This is a pullet hatched this past spring.

A cockerel that is in the breeding pen.

Some of my hens.

 

[Hens and Roos]

Very nice birds! Couple questions: Using the Blue X Blue matings do you run into problems with blue chicks not showing as good of lacing or crispness to the lacing after awhile- not quite sure if this is correct terminology? So you don't breed back to black at all, I have read other threads where they talk about breeding back to help maintain the blue coloring with some of the other blue breeds. Is it possible to work towards the well marked birds, like what your pictures are showing, from ones that aren't as well marked? My DD is using the ones we hatched and have as 4-H projects but is learning and working towards the SOP. Here are a couple pictures she took awhile ago, they 9 months to 1 year old now- feed back is welcome and let us know if better pictures are needed.

Here are the hens she has currently to work with:

This one is the most well marked of the hens:

Here is 1 of the roosters:

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:
Hens~

Stop it!!!!!!! I know your trying to get me hooked on these beautiful blue birds, aren't cha?

STOP IT!!!!!!!!

The lacing on these birds is fabulous!!!!

WoW! I should have stopped by this thread when you told me too Hens! They are striking! What color eggs? Are they good layers?
Sorry I know this has been answered but I didn't read the posts.....my bad...just cruised through looking at all the pretty pictures.

eta: I don't know anything about these birds so I don't know what their traits and characteristics are, but I do work with blue and I have found that I tend to lose crisp defined lacing in the blue to blue or splash to blue matings over a couple of years, I do find that breeding back a blue to a black will help this. I focused so hard on a good blue foundation that I lost some of the lacing. I am now working on breeding back to black and have also found that using my VERY DARK blue roo that looks almost black helps too.

 

[Hens and Roos]

Quote:
Hens~

Stop it!!!!!!! I know your trying to get me hooked on these beautiful blue birds, aren't cha?

STOP IT!!!!!!!!

The lacing on these birds is fabulous!!!!

WoW! I should have stopped by this thread when you told me too Hens! They are striking! What color eggs? Are they good layers?
Sorry I know this has been answered but I didn't read the posts.....my bad...just cruised through looking at all the pretty pictures.

eta: I don't know anything about these birds so I don't know what their traits and characteristics but I do work with blue and I have found that I tend to lose crisp defined lacing in the blue to blue or splash to blue matings over a couple of years, I do find that breeding back a blue to a black will help this. I focused so hard on a good blue foundation that I lost some of the lacing. I am now working on breeding back to black and have also found that using my VERY DARK blue roo that looks almost black helps too.

Hi Pink

see I told you to stop and look, as for the questions, they lay white eggs, we have 4 hens that could be laying... we get on average 2 eggs a day, I would have to look back at a months total to see what they have laid in a month. Our birds are just starting so we only have a few months to go off of. Maybe one of others who have had them for longer could give a better idea of their laying abilities.

 

[pinkchick]

Thanks for the info Hens! Are they flightly at all?

 

[Hens and Roos]

Quote:
I guess they can be, we haven't held the older ones alot and so it takes a bit to catch them, we have one rooster that I call "Freaky" which describes him to a T but once you pick them up they settle down. Now the chicks we just hatched are actually pretty mellow and don't always want to leave our hands when we go to put them down

 

[cochinman2005]

Rock N' Faverolles :

I thought I'd share a few pictures of mine.

This is a pullet hatched this past spring.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/44197_picture_497.jpg

A cockerel that is in the breeding pen.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/44197_2011_pen_2_male.jpg

Some of my hens.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/44197_2011_pen_2_hens.jpg

David,
Nice birds! Good lacing. Looks like we are battling some of the same flaws in the males. I am working to get the combs smaller and a little more refined. They are currently too beefy, and are more like Minorca combs than they should be. Also I find the males to be too shallow in the chest, although they do have good back angle as it appears your male in the photo does. Good lacing on your male's main tail feathers too.

I know a couple different long time Andalusian breeders and they normally just breed Blue X Blue. My pullets usually aren't as crisp in the lacing department as they will ultimately be as hens once they do their first complete molt, and it looks like your hens are good in the lacing department. I've kicked around trying a Splash X Black mating and even a Blue X Black mating, but haven't seen the need to do so yet. That pullet in the photo looks to have real good lacing withouth darkening up in the shoulder wing bay area. Where did your line originate from if I may ask?

As for the questions about temperament and egg laying. Very good layers of large white eggs. Once they kick into laying I usually get 8 -10 eggs a day from 10 birds. As chicks and young growers, very flighty. They do much better if allowed to free range on their own terms and once I get to the point where I let them out during the day, they calm right down. They are usually under foot and checking out whatever I am doing in the chicken yard. I keep all the males in separate pens once they reach a certain age. They will feather pick if kept in too large a group. Those new tail feathers look pretty tasty with the casings on them.

Breeding note. I do not hatch any chicks from pullet eggs. They are of course smaller eggs, and I like to hatch from either hens or wait until the pullets are laying nice big eggs. you start off with a bigger chick this way.
Tom​

 

[Rock N' Faverolles]

Quote:
I haven't as of yet ran into any problems with breeding blue x blue. I have read in old papers and books on the breed, and there are people who have raised them for 50 years or longer and that is all they have done is blue x blue. If you look at the other breeds, and everyone who suggests to use black or splash, tell me, are there birds really the correct color? I have yet to see any breed have has true blue as an Andalusian. It is possible to breed towards well marked birds using what you have. It may take awhile though. Generally, I'd suggest finding a good laced male that had dark base color and cross to the hens that are marked like yours. This usually helps improve the lacing. But what are your goals? Just a pretty blue bird, or an Andalusian with proper type and color? If both type and color, you have your work cut out for you.

David

 

[Rock N' Faverolles]

Quote:
Yes, I was thinking to myself the problems that need worked on. The combs in the males. The combs on my females are decent. My old cock bird has a good chest on him and I am putting him in with the hens pictured here eventually. Right now the hens are with that cockerel. I think I saw it in your birds, (maybe not), but I also am having to be careful as white is showing up in the face on some of the birds and you have to select against that. Plus as you can see in the pictures, the tails on the females. They aren't supposed to have the two top curved tails feathers. That is a White Faced Black Spanish trait. I am also on the look out for stubs as some of the pullets that were hatched last year had good amounts of it. Eventually we'll get them up to standard, just takes time. My stock came from Fred Zillich. You may not have recognized my username, but I've emailed you before about Fred's rose comb buff leghorns and your buff minorca project.

Mine also are great layers of large white eggs and are good winter layers. I can say the same about their temperment. As chicks, quite flighty, but as they get older they are quite docile and they'll eat out of your hand, etc. I try to not hatch from pullet eggs as well as I only set eggs that are weighed and are large.

David

 

[cochinman2005]

Rock N' Faverolles :

Quote:
Yes, I was thinking to myself the problems that need worked on. The combs in the males. The combs on my females are decent. My old cock bird has a good chest on him and I am putting him in with the hens pictured here eventually. Right now the hens are with that cockerel. I think I saw it in your birds, (maybe not), but I also am having to be careful as white is showing up in the face on some of the birds and you have to select against that. Plus as you can see in the pictures, the tails on the females. They aren't supposed to have the two top curved tails feathers. That is a White Faced Black Spanish trait. I am also on the look out for stubs as some of the pullets that were hatched last year had good amounts of it. Eventually we'll get them up to standard, just takes time. My stock came from Fred Zillich. You may not have recognized my username, but I've emailed you before about Fred's rose comb buff leghorns and your buff minorca project.

Mine also are great layers of large white eggs and are good winter layers. I can say the same about their temperment. As chicks, quite flighty, but as they get older they are quite docile and they'll eat out of your hand, etc. I try to not hatch from pullet eggs as well as I only set eggs that are weighed and are large.

David

David,

Yup. White in the face is an issue we need to select against. It's tough because I find that the better birds are the ones that show it. I used those hatchery birds specifically because they didn't have the white in the face and I have less of it in the 2010 hatch birds. It will take some time to overcome. I've had stubs pop up every now and again, but it doesn't appear to be much of an issue with this line. I am tryin to use a couple females with smaller combs this year in an effort to get the combs on the males down in size. The females at least contributes just as much as the males to this trait so I am planning to use a couple pullets whose combs don't lop completely back to the cock bird to see what that produces. I had to go back to your photos to check out the tail feathers on the females. Interesting.

Tom​