By Divine Design Farmstead • Hindsight is Always 2020

[RememberTheWay]

One more face to say, "Hello!" This morning from the Ermine Easter Egger Project Pen. This one appears to be a dominant White.

Update - Both chicks this far appear to be clean faced So they will not be suitable for moving forward in my breeding program....

 

[RememberTheWay]

Lavender Ameraucana's shown Above plus others not shown-

Hatch dates

Cockerels - April 21, 2024 (RSA- From Hatching Eggs from TFF)

Pullets- April 1, 2024 (Gainsboro, TN- Unnamed Farm)

Two of the cockerels have a comb issue that I need to research. The cockerel that doesn't have the comb issue is not my favorite when it comes to type. Will probably choose type over combs this season as combs are more easily fixed (I think).

Pullets are maturing in nicely enough for a start - treated for mites hoping Feathers will improve when they molt. It doesn't look like brittle feathers to me at this point but I'm keeping an eye on it with them being lavender birds.

Side note- for the sake of international simplicity I am choosing to call my United States "Self Blue" birds "Lavender" from here forward. The term "Self Blue", in my opinion, while technically correct here in the states when showing is not used in any other country , and it leads to massive confusion over what color a bird actually is genetically. Andalusian blue and lavender are two completely different genes that function in very different ways. One is incomplete dominant and the other is recessive as well as a host of other things. So for simplicity sake, I will only use "Lavender" from here forward to describe what would be called in the states a "self Blue" bird.

 

[RememberTheWay]

Photos marked to identify what breed.

I try my best to prevent illness on our farm through holistic management. One of the ways I accomplish this is to seed healthy gut Flora in my chicks so they have a robust microbiome. Yesterday, after milking the goats, the raw milk was given to the chicks here. As you can see in the pictures of the legbars, while some actually drank the raw milk most, took baths in it instead Raw milk is given here at days 3, 5, 7, 14, and 21 then periodically for the remainder of their lives here. This advice came from Jeff Mattocks at Fertrell Company via a podcast by Poultry Keepers 360. Both places I respect greatly and use their advice regularly.

 

[2ndTink]

One more face to say, "Hello!" This morning from the Ermine Easter Egger Project Pen. This one appears to be a dominant White.

Update - Both chicks this far appear to be clean faced So they will not be suitable for moving forward in my breeding program....

Can you cross them with checked birds and then weed then out? Or do you have enough stock to not use them for breeding at this point?

 

[RememberTheWay]

Can you cross them with checked birds and then weed then out? Or do you have enough stock to not use them for breeding at this point?

Yes- I could. I suspect my rooster has one gene for Muff/beard and I know the hens I'm using are heterozygous for MB. I was hoping to only move forward with birds that had MB. But I could end up "culling myself into a corner" I guess. This is a cockerel from one of the first few hatches I did. He is dominant White. He has Muffs And a beard just not super full. But his leg color isnt right he definitely is carrying yellow with blue- which gives him green The Ermine chick I posted pictures of appears so far to have blue shanks and white feet and it has Muffs and a beard so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[RememberTheWay]

The Isabella Silkie Cockerels I'm growing out currently to use in my porcelain MF satin project. *Camera/flash made them look more washed out then they actually are in person, they almost look white seeing them in these photos and they are definitely lavender.

 

[RememberTheWay]

Oldest Black split to Lavender Cockerel.

This guy is one of two (second pictured in next response- actually photos are taking a really long time to load so I will return later to finish) that are my best "type" silkies here. Pretty excited to get working with them. They need a bath, and can't wait to see how they continue to finish filling out

 

[RememberTheWay]

Second black split to lav silkie cockerel

Note- neither of their wings look great in these photos but they actually aren't terrible. One of splits actually had pretty nice wings when I checked. The Isabella boys wings look much better as far as angle, placement, and carriage but when checked they were much weaker in strength then the split boys. I have two favorites when it comes to cushions, one lav boy and one split. One of the Lavender boys also expresses red wattles and comb. All of the Lavender cockerels have lighter mulberry/red combs but two are better in that department.

One of my goals regarding every breed I work with here is making sure to breed towards exceptional production. To do so I plan to choose breeders that have wide pelvic bones and tail spreads as well as deep bodied birds. Not every I am starting with now is great so it will be a work in progress. One thing I have definitely observed is the males I find all over have not been selected for wide pelvic bones and most of them have had very narrow bones. I plan to improve that. My splash Ameraucana Cockerel is probably one of my widest boys concerning pelvic width. One of my widest girls especially in bantam breeds happens to be my mixed breed black bantam hen with lightly feathered legs. She is exceptionally wide and lays almost everyday. About 5-6 days a wk. She went broody late this summer, but picked up laying right after. (She only sat on one egg and it died, not sure I will let her hatch again or not)

 

[RememberTheWay]

Haven't decided if this one is a Pullet or not. Black split to lavender. Hatch 4-1-24 ( as well as the Isabella lavender boys)

 

[RememberTheWay]

So looking at the birds yesterday and considering my porcelain satin project, I need to decide how to proceed for adding mottling into the line. Currently, my choices, as far as females, all have different pros and cons, none of them are "perfect" (but are they ever really though?)

So, maybe someone can step in and help me make some decisions.

My Lavender Isabella cockerels are full silkies but none of them have great type. One of them has a much bigger crest and cushion, and I'm keeping my eye on him. I would prefer to start with a full lavender bird not a split so I have everyone split to lavender on my first cross instead of a small percentage of them. I planned to cross a lavender Cockerel with either a regular Mille Fleur hen or just a mottled hen. And then would breed those I selected from the first generation back to the father. Also, thinking I will run a parallel pen with the split roo at the same time. The choices for hens right now are as follows:

#1- I have one full mille fleur pullet that is a D'uccle (possibly a mix with Serama not entirely sure- hatched on another farm) She has Muffs and beard, light foot feathering, and is MF patterned. Bantam size will be correct. Cons- type is COMPLETELY different then what you would go for in a silkie. They are much more upright built. Her pattern, I think, will end up having too much white. Due to the amount of mottling she already shows pre molt. Also, I will have to battle straight and modified combs but that will be true no matter what I choose

#2- Black and white mottled Cochin (2 full mottled and I think I have one or two black split to mottling) - body type is closer to what I would look for in a silkie, much more low to the ground and horizontal build then the D'uccle. She also has a cushion instead of a full tail. Bantam size will stay right. Will still be battling straight combs, but she is also clean faced so I will have birds that don't express Muffs and beards too. There is also some debate in the project group over whether I will actually get decent pattern porcelain birds by using a mottled bird versus a MF patterned bird. Sidenote- these two particular hens also have a chance of being split to silkie feathering. They came from a line with silkie feathering and several of their siblings are actually fully expressed silkied cochins.

#3- Last choice, and also longest to fulfill, would be to wait and use the lavender mottled bantam cochins chicks I'm currently brooding as 2-3 wk olds. Cons would be that almost all of them appear to be males, only two of the seven look pullet to me, but that could be wrong. I will be waiting 8-12 months before I can even think about Hatching from them. I don't like Hatching pullet eggs. They're Bantam, so size would stay correct. Plus side is almost all are frizzle so I will be able to breed in the frizzle gene with them. Which I intend to do later anyways. They will definitely be used to darken the lavender gene later as well. They are all mottled or split to mottling. Using them for a future generation will take me back again with traits but I think the benefits (better mottling, better lavender, and frizzle) will all be worth it. These chicks are also much better type then the hens I currently have.

#4- And just a wild after thought really is that I also have a mottled Houdan. But it is male so it would have to be used second generation if I produce more lavender silkies first. Houdans have a V comb (not sure if it's dominant or not) they also have 5 toes and Muffs and beards. White skin. Totally different body type but are known for being great layers so that would definitely be nice.


#5- I have a handful (3) of way better type bantam cochins but none of them are MF or mottled. They are partridge. I think. From a different line then my others but they also could be spilt to mottling and split to silkied feathers. I also have 3-4 cockerels from this same hatch and two of my those are full pattern MF. They are boys though so I don't know how it helps at all