Breeding Sex Links - third generation

[Fred's Hens]

We're so involved with our Rock lines and our HRIR lines that we just didn't do a whole lot with this old project. It won't be going forward. I did put a Red over the best of the white birds and got males that looked like an ISA Brown female. The female, the lone female, is white with a bit of red streak the front of her neck. She's not a confident bird like her mother was. I don't know why. Luck of the draw. I was hoping for a replacement for the old girl, but it was not to be. Here she is standing behind her twin brother, the lone white cockerel. He went bye bye as I had no use for him.

So, this project ends. It ran its course. As I said, we're so busy with our SOP birds that there just isn't room at the inn for projects like this anymore.

 

[cmom]

I put a Red male with my White femaless and got ISA Brown looking females and ISA Brown looking males.

 

[ausrpned]

Hi

Photos are not showing at the moment.

Cheers

 

[cmom]

Hi

Photos are not showing at the moment.

Cheers

Must be your computer. Photos show up on mine ok. Cheers

 

[kingsfarm]

Fred, why have the pictures been removed of your third generation chickens? I am gradually converting my whole flock to Townley Hatchery Isa's...Will keep all my older hens (10 -2yr old Isa's).. have Buff Orps..Barred Rock..RIR..Astralorpes.. Thought I wanted the Black Astralorpes but am not really drawn to the color..they are beautiful and large (have 3 pullets and 1 Roo).. seperated all the roos (have huge beautiful BO) .. have only 2 with flock.(RIR and pure blk. astralorp)..am going into my 3rd year of keeping chickens and I love the ISA's, and their wonderful huge brown eggs....they are not a dual purpose chicken but have decided to keep the barred rocks for meat... will hold off on removing the astralorps until I see how the barred rocks weigh...does this sound like a good plan..? Will have Isa's for eggs and the two meat breeds.....Show pics please....

 

[Fred's Hens]

Folks, this is a very old thread. If links or the source of the photos change, they get lost here on BYC.

 

[ErniesFlock]

How come cant see any of the pictures?

Here are the grandmothers of the pure white hens pictured above. This photo was of my ISA from 3 years ago.






Again, here are their granddaughters today, breeding nothing but ISA back to ISA.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Folks, this is a very old thread. If links or the source of the photos change, they get lost here on BYC.

 

[ErniesFlock]

Sorry Fred I read your post about it being old after I posted... dammit I really wanted to see picturesd. I am in the middle of a ISA brown experiement. Alot of hunch and guess work at least when it comes to me as I am very amateur at breeding and because it was thoses 4 silly ISA's that got me into this chicken life in the first place I decided to try and understand them, the genes they are or could be hiding. I thought because they originated from France that perhaps the BCM may have some real estate in the secret recipe of the making of them. So my last breeding, I bred an BCM over an ISA brown and got 2 black & red females and 7 males that all resemble the ISA's. Where I go from here I am still deciding. I read on BYC in another interesting post someone described them as "half finished" type of breed. They may not be the Brad Pitt & Angelinas of the chicken world but they sure have alot of excellent qualities.

 

[Fred's Hens]

The ISA was/is a four way, four grandparent cross. It was one of the earliest super layers. Proprietary, of course. Breeding flocks owned and the chemistry patented or licensed, I'm sure.

In the mix is no doubt Sussex, Brown Leghorn, RIR, silver White Rock, etc, etc, It's all a guessing game. In the end, it doesn't matter because after one gets done making proprietary grandparents, the grand product is a blend of egg laying genetics, for certain.

When we take that apart, however, we lose, to a large degree, the vigor, egg size, early POL and all the other aspects of the final "nick" of the ISA project. However, we know we have birds that will be small, will be solid layers, well tempered, and other good virtues. Breeding out the White was fun. Pulling the red side of the mix was a dead end. The "red" has far too much Brown Leghorn and other dark laying heritage to make much of anything other than a reddish-brown laying mutt. A mutt that will never lay like an ISA.

The silver-white project was far more interesting and produced better birds. imho Solid layers, bigger bodied (when crossed back to a Rock) and longer life span. What I did not succeed in was getting rid of was the sussex styled head. I just couldn't put a Rock head on them, nor a Rock tail, in only 3 or 4 years. It would take much longer.

In the end, at my age, I wanted to spend my time and energies on true bred poultry. The projects are fun, but the pure bred, bred to Standard birds are way, way more enjoyable to me.

Good luck with your projects.