Blue Egg Layers from University of Arkansas

[GhostRider65]

and how about one of DR B  scaless geen birds

OMG That chicken is Nekid??????????? what on earth........... is that real? or is it a statue?

 

[checoukan]

OMG That chicken is Nekid??????????? what on earth........... is that real? or is it a statue?

yeah, it is a live chicken!! That's what I mean, no feather plucking here!!!

 

[GhostRider65]

Well sure would make cleaning and processing a breeze.... but man sorry JMHO but they are uglyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Sorry again. Kim

Also wouldn't they freeze in the winter even in a mild climate?????

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Again, not a Naked Neck. [From what I read] The bird pictured died young and left no offspring,

 

[GhostRider65]

WWW that's too bad, I hate to see any chicken go before they must and it would have been interesting to see a whole flock of them ugly chickens......Kim

 

[tadkerson]

Candling. The big commercial farms always have access to equipment that none of us can afford. I'm sure they aren't candling with a flashlight and a square of cardboard.

So it is very possible that they have equipment that can sort eggs by quality, even when the shells are dark. For all I know, they are using something different from candling. It's difficult to imagine that they are selling millions of eggs and a human being is sitting there looking at them one by one.

There is a person standing in a dark area, they look at 150 or or more eggs on a panel in front of them, they only take seconds to look at the eggs. The eggs are on a belt system with a strong light behind the eggs. The person picks out the bad eggs or electronically marks the eggs.. There are automated systems for grading eggs. There are also laser systems that use cameras and computers to pick out infertile eggs for a hatchery.

I am sure somebody is working on an automated system using cameras that will work as well as the human eye.

Tim

 

[draye]

My "B" blue eggs are due to hatch on the 4th or the 5th.

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

Quote:
Dr. Bramwell has an incubator/hatcher he uses at the Arkansas State Fair. These Naked chickens are very polular along with the Houdan/Silkies. Folks get to actually watch them hatch! This last year he brought some older Naked chickens to show off. He told us at the Incubation Seminar that if you can raise a Naked chick to maturity and get it to produce, you can traise anything. He mentioned one "friend" over in Oklahoma that had actually been able to raise some. I think he was talking about Banjo.

Well sure would make cleaning and processing a breeze.... but man sorry JMHO but they are uglyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Sorry again. Kim

Also wouldn't they freeze in the winter even in a mild climate?????

I can assure you, your chickens are just as U-G-L-Y-!.......if you removed all their feathers!

Yes, they must have a heat lamp in even mild climates. However the Israel Naked Chicken http://animal.discovery.com/news/briefs/200206/nakedchix.html has actually done well. It is a bit different in color to Dr. Bramwell's version. He is also not the creator. These were coming from a friend's flock being developed for Asian markets. Dr B thought it was neat so got some hatching eggs. Some have started calling these the Razorback! Not sure if the developer has named them anything.

Again, not a Naked Neck. [From what I read] The bird pictured died young and left no offspring,

Some do die young, but if given proper heat and nutrition, they can survive well. It was developed from a Naked Neck. Not all die young as he is still providing some folks with hatching eggs from his breeder flock.

My "B" blue eggs are due to hatch on the 4th or the 5th.

My "B" blue eggs are fertile. Candled them last night. They hatch 4/16.

Who else has some "B" or "L" eggs set from UA?

 

[wolftracks]

Been reading along and I guess I always think that doing a breeding like this will cause small egg ranchers and people offering something different in the egg basket to lose sales. Another way to get rid of backyard chickens. IDK Not that I think the Dr has this in mind, but someone will.

About egg candling. My mom was a candler for Safeway when I was a baby. She said once they actually stopped using candles she was out a job, because it was so much faster and easier with the new fangled stuff. LOL Yeah I know. I'm old! Thing is, there's always something new and better and easier, so they'll be able to candle blues like they do browns. If not now, probably by the time these birds grow in numbers and production takes off.

OK, my half cent, cause it wasn't worth 2.

BTW, no matter what I say, I'd take some of those in a heartbeat!

 

[OldChurchEggery1]

Wow, I'm surprised at the vitriol I see on this site sometimes. The pictures provided are meant to show the birds, not the facilities. Obviously, the close ups of the birds do not show the entire housing unit. If I took a camera and zoomed in on a dust bunny under my couch, would you assume my whole house is covered in filth? There are going to be more plops, feathers, etc. where the birds congregate, like near the water source and nest boxes as the pictures show. I think this is a unique opportunity for young people to see agricultural research in action. It's a good example of how selective breeding is still a viable option in a time when a good proportion of the public thinks animal research is completely absorbed in nothing but interspecies genetic modification. I applaud the good professor in opening his hard work to the public.