Check out my Aloha Chickens!

[alohachickens]

I've been working on a breeding project for a while now, a sort of "Swedish Spotted Hen" but an American version - started this a couple years ago when there were no Swedish Spotted in the U.S., I see that one farm has recently imported them, yay. I have been really quiet on here for a while, I had a bad run with illness that just about wiped out my whole program by taking out almost all of my winter hatchlings. Yikes. So I wanted to make sure these were really close to laying age before I posted any photos online. Now the oldest are about five months - they could start laying anytime next month!

Anyway, FINALLY starting to get somewhere! They are getting really consistent in color and body type. Now I have to get them even bigger and more of a Sussex/NHR/Buff Rock body type. But it's really encouraging so far! Please read my web site, and if you want to get involved, I should have eggs and chicks available soon as all these girls start laying, some should start in Oct. and it may be Dec. for the youngest ones to fully mature, but this spring I should be SWIMMING in eggs, if they continue to grow out as healthy as they have been so far. (Knock on wood.)

Latest Update: http://alohachickens.webs.com/september2010.htm

 

[ChooksChick]

Are you Tawny's sister?

 

[alohachickens]

Quote:
Hey, yeah, I am! She said she posted a link to my site on Facebook, but I'm not on Facebook yet!

 

[LuvMyPeeps7]

Pretty girls!

 

[alohachickens]

Oh, yeah - and the reason I didn't follow up on any of that from her Facebook thing, is because I was losing so many of my base stock here, and I wasn't sure if there was even going to BE an Aloha project this fall. I thought the whole project was sunk there for a while. I've totally been keeping quiet for months and months now, terrified of even the smallest sign of illness here! Only now when the older ones are almost of laying age am I peeking my head out a bit. In the meantime, I've been silently watching these beauties grow, too afraid to post pics for fear I'd jinx it!

I'm hoping to find some other folks on here who want to help me, because it's so scary having such a small number of these in existence. I haven't even had many eggs to share in the past, I had so darn few hens, so of course with just three laying hens, there were very few eggs - and then, the few eggs that I tried to ship to folks, well, you know how low fertility rates can be on shipped eggs? It wasn't a huge help. Hoping to find a few other people on here that are super-passionate about this breed idea. Hopefully as I make more and better progress, it might catch on, but I'm so afraid of having illness run through and destroy everything.

Although I have to say these guys are hardy birds, overall - I gave some chicks to another person, who had a bad illness run through, and so far the Alohas made it fine! I lost my "outside breeds" first this last weird wet winter. The Alohas have been the toughest ones. Which is awesome!!!

There are nine "Confetti" hens plus four Mottled hens that I'll for-sure be keeping, so if they can just survive to laying age, which is anywhere from Oct. to Dec. depending on the age of the pullet, I could be looking at maybe five dozen hatching eggs per week, once all are laying? Plus I have four outside/crossbred hens to improve size. Im getting really excited and holding my breath here . . . . can't wait to get those eggs in the 'bator!

 

[ChooksChick]

Delighted to meet you! I was laughing about this small world when she posted that, and I met her a ZILLION years ago in Lawrence.

I'm interested, but I have at least a dozen pens now, so I'll have to do some shuffling before I can help. I LOVE playing with genetics, so we can have a heyday together.

 

[WIChookchick]

I find it interesting that in the "standard" you don't want chickens with beards, but clearly many of yours have beards...
Will you change that standard?

 

[Firearia]

Wow, these are very lovely chickens! I hope one day I can have my own!

 

[Jen4]

Very Pretty.

 

[alohachickens]

Quote:
Yes, hopefully they'll look more like Buff Rocks, Sussex, or NHR type of body - kind of a "chicken-shaped" chicken! LOL!!! Someday!

Actually, the beards are kind of cute, and I certainly don't mind them, but I don't want folks to get too sidetracked onto other weird "add-ons" like fuzzy feet, floofy crests, or muffs - believe me, it's HARD ENOUGH just to get the neat colors! LOL! So kind of a K.I.S.S. thing - basic productive dual-purpose chicken body, but add cool colors on top. With emphasis on "productive". That's why I don't want to get too picky about egg color, leg color, muffs or not, etc. at this point. Right now, the eggs and birds need to be bigger overall, better egg and meat production. After I get size and color and productivity where it needs to be - that's when it will be time to cull out muffs or other minor faults. I'm kind of thinking that as I add more and more DNA from Buff Rock, NHR, Sussex, etc, that maybe the beards may go away kind of on their own?

The upright single comb that I'll be trying to get as this progresses - that's a total practicality thing there. The few upright comb chicks here, the combs on the baby roos just POP out there! With the pea combed ones, I've found some "sneaky roos" that look like hens . . . until I've fed it three months and then it starts crowing! Doh! I like the big upright combs because it does help me sex them much earlier!