Chicken Breeding Projects, For 2020!

[MysteryChicken]

Hello chicken peoples, I would like to hear your breeding projects for 2020?

Here's a couple projects I'll be working on, and/or continuing.
My 2020, Breeding Projects:
#1. Wheaten Crele Orpingtons
#2. Non-Fighting Muff GameFowl

My Future Breeding Projects:
#1. Crele Silkies
#2. Rainbow Laying Silkies
#3. Calico Silkies
#4. Improved Partridge Silkies
#5. Removing White From Dominate White Silkies
#6. Calico Orpingtons
#7. LF D'Uccles (Thought it would be awesome)
#8. New Silkie Color Mutations


Disclaimer
Be sure to treat everybody equally, no disrespect, or bullying will be tolerated.
Remember just have fun sharing your ideas for next year? Important to remember, we're all friends here to help each other?
Have fun, & have fun with each other is all I'm trying to say.
Questions are encouraged.

 

[HuffleClaw]

Making more silkie color mixes like these:
I also really like the broodiness in my current flock. Maybe breeding for that too.

(This first one is broody)

 

[MysteryChicken]

Here's a couple of my Project Wheaten Crele Orpingtons.

This boy is gonna be culled.

 

[HuffleClaw]

I really like the color on my Cockerel. He is the only silkie boy that hatched this year. All the rest were pullets. His dad is blue, mom is partridge.

 

[mandelyn]

I'll be looking for better feather color and feather quality on my Marans, I need more silver, cleaner blue and less fluff on them now that I'm satisfied with their type/size/features.

I'll be looking for the combs that stand up on the Bresse instead of giant flop combs, supposing that they have the type I'm after. The fullest body is more important then the comb but if I get the choice I'm opting for nice combs too. They've been getting pretty consistent and they're heavier in the chest than the birds I started with.

In the projects... that's where it's getting fun. All sorts of fun feathers are coming out. Body type is getting closer to dual purpose type structure. I've been looking for a certain "frame" and a flat walnut comb. The birds who have what I'm looking for are being advanced, some are being crossed with the Bresse to see if I can get their table qualities improved. I'll have to be picky with that to get the skin and development in there, though the fat content/type will be hard to pick for since I won't know who has it until dinner time.

These two were the best hybrid boys from last season, for the type I'm after and temperament.

I already have something like 60 chicks on the ground. More coming!

 

[I Love Layers]

I downsized my breeding flock of LF Cochins due to personal stuff this fall. But with that downsize I should end up with more uniform offspring. The one thing that should greatly improve with this is foot color. Another thing that will improve greatly is head shape

Here is one of my favorite hens, that I did keep, she has the best head out of all of the ones I did keep.

 

[mandelyn]

Wow, wonderful birds you're working on. I love the Marans, & your hybrids.
What's your hybrid mixed with? I see a GameFowl type appearance with them.

There's some Legbar, Twentse and Marans in those two boys.

This is grandpa bird, the Twentse. I couldn't get them to hatch pure so I started hybridizing from the rooster and then sold them on as lawn ornaments. Now that I'm coming into the 3rd generation and putting Hybrid to Hybrid I'm seeing some boys coming through without the barring and closer to that Twentse color, hoping for a keeper out of it.

 

[NNYchick]

I’ve decided that I’m focusing on line breeding my gray silkies. I have a few young paint silkies that I hatched this fall but I’ll reevaluate them in the fall to see if I do both varieties.
My cockerel Yeti

my hen Gracie

 

[rjohns39]

Yes... share your 2020 plans for them then

Well my goal is to split them each out into two breeding groups and increase their numbers. I've already got two orders for Hollands this spring.

 

[mandelyn]

Sometimes the genetics swing back hard towards the Legbar, like in this little girl. She has a flat comb and not a single comb. Hoping for blue eggs!