California - Northern

[tommysgirl]

My new babies!! 7 heatched so far...4 more eggs in the 'bator but I think only 2 will hatch. Any guesses on what color the yellow with the blue spots will be?

Very cute! Are you planning to keep any pullets? I am a fan of the spotted one. Did she tell you what color variety of Wyandotte is in the mix?

 

[SilkiesForEver]

Quote: I'm not involved in this, but thanks for posting that chart, Ron! I've always needed something like that.

 

[JDXX]

Sounds like you have a great plan in place. I look forward to seeing how your Silver Sussex and the rest do. Yes, my Dels come from @capayvalleychick . They are culls from her breeding program she has been raising Dels for years and her original birds I believe came from Land of Tobe (Braden) and Sand Hill. She started breeding to SOP a couple of years ago and I have a rooster and a hen from her. She got some really amazing chicks last spring from another source so she got rid most of her own original line. Lucky me.

I also have a couple of hatchery girls but one rarely lays...I think she is an internal layer...they other consistently gives me a medium sized pink egg. My breeder girl, Harriet, lays a to XL egg. I set a clutch of Harriet's eggs on Saturday. Most should be Dels because she lives with Ozzie but there will probably be a few red Sex links in there too since I also have a NH roo who sometimes ranges with her.

This is Harriet after our first rain

Harriet and Ozzie with Dottie in the back...Dottie is a hatchery girl

Dottie and Ozzie


Ozzie last summer


Ozzie and my internal layer Della


Ozzie is much more filled out now but this gives you an idea of his coloring.

I had to go outside and look at our Delaware hen (Miss Wibbles) after seeing these pics.


She looks more like Harriet than the others to me so maybe she isn't so bad.
We started of with two of these hens from a local Craigslist ad. One of them got taken by a dog. They were great layers and Miss Wibbles still lays pretty much every day. That started my chicken research (oh boy). I have veered away and got lost a few times (happy with what we have) but still want some good Delawares.
I can definitely see us doing some egg swapping in the near future.

 

[Audio51]

Quote:
I don;t really know what the parent colors are ....only that they are supoosed to be Cornish/Rock/Wyandotte crosses. I sent pics to the person I bought the eggs from and she said this:

"The yellow ones will be white with spots either blue or black..as adults they will be all white like a cornish. The dark ones will probably look like dark wyandotte's. The one with brown through it will have broken lace and be quite pretty too."

 

[ronott1]

I don;t really know what the parent colors are ....only that they are supoosed to be Cornish/Rock/Wyandotte crosses. I sent pics to the person I bought the eggs from and she said this:

"The yellow ones will be white with spots either blue or black..as adults they will be all white like a cornish. The dark ones will probably look like dark wyandotte's. The one with brown through it will have broken lace and be quite pretty too."

Keep us updated on what they feather out to look like. It does not sound like blue genetics if they will be white as adults though.

It will be nice to see how fast they grow and how big they are.

 

[tommysgirl]

I am uber tickled about my New Hampshire/Dorking crosses. I will keep the girls to POL at least and process the boy so I can tell people what they are like but then w/ future hatches I will market them. I think they will be good eating and great layers.

The NH CA grey babies are tops too. All 15 chicks from both broodies are hale and hearty!

Hatching some more CA Greys hopefully later this spring/summer so will keep one or more of those pullets too.

Around here most people want egg layers and are not into showing LF...I don't think there were more than a couple LF in the fair this past year. If I can get a little piece of that market it would make me happy!

I know a lot of you show and I love looking at your purebred show birds

I do want to keep working to have nicer and nicer Del stock...and getting a quality New Hampshire trio is now on my to-do list but I also am looking forward to all the sweet little mix chicks. I love this hobby!

 

[tommysgirl]

I don;t really know what the parent colors are ....only that they are supoosed to be Cornish/Rock/Wyandotte crosses. I sent pics to the person I bought the eggs from and she said this:

"The yellow ones will be white with spots either blue or black..as adults they will be all white like a cornish. The dark ones will probably look like dark wyandotte's. The one with brown through it will have broken lace and be quite pretty too."

ohhh la la pretty!!!

 

[caychris]

Let me ask a newbie question. What is the reasoning behind trio's.

 

[tommysgirl]

Let me ask a newbie question. What is the reasoning behind trio's.

There are probably many more but these spring to mind:

More genetic diversity than a pair...less wear and tear on the girls if they are confined to a pen with one rooster...One hen may have a stronger shape, another stronger coloring and you may want to ultimately breed their off spring and breeding half siblings is generally better (I think) than breeding siblings.

 

[caychris]

There are probably many more but these spring to mind:

More genetic diversity than a pair...less wear and tear on the girls if they are confined to a pen with one rooster...One hen may have a stronger shape, another stronger coloring and you may want to ultimately breed their off spring and breeding half siblings is generally better (I think) than breeding siblings.

I was just reading a bunch of stuff on how sexing and genetics works differently in birds than mammals. Was thinking that it also might also have something to do with Hens liking to have a buddy and possible broodiness.

Is a trio optimal then or would something like 4 hens and 1 roo also be good.