Quote:
Keep us updated. You have some beautiful birds.
Keep us updated. You have some beautiful birds.
Cochin Thread!!!
- Thread starter Settler'sDreamFarm
- Start date
OK, I've got a question that I'm sure only the gurus and old times can answer. I was lucky enough to acquire a small flock (?) well maybe more, a cockerel, a pullet, a roo and 5 hens of the bantam partridge variety. These are my all time favorite cochins; however as I've started to study them, I'm finding out that breeding them is not a simple matter. I was on one of the Australian sites a few days ago and saw that they recognize the double breeding practice with them. Does anyone in the US use this technique and if so, how/and where can I begin studying this. I don't want to ruin what I have as they are VERY nice, and I'm not sure how to select who for what. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. I would say that my hens are better, in general than the roos, however the mature roo is very striking. I think he may have a disqualifying issues though, but I'm hoping that I can just cull to eliminate it. He's magnificent otherwise.
Tom, you're breeding LF partridge, is the practice the same with them I assume?
Nancy
Tom, you're breeding LF partridge, is the practice the same with them I assume?
Nancy
Quote:
Hi Nancy,
I've asked the exact same question a couple of times here, because double-mating has also been advocated for Golden-Laced varieties. I found the below articles posted on another thread, which explain the theory of double mating. I haven't run into too many that seriously practice double-mating, especially as it relates to setting up totally separately breeding arrangements to produce the best males and the best females. But I think a lot of folks still practice it in theory - in that they know that putting the best males and best females together will NOT produce the same quality offspring.
That's what I find most difficult to comprehend - if you have a great male, what should you look for/avoid in the females if you want to continue producing great males. And conversely, if you have a great female, what should you look for/avoid in the males if you want to continue producing great females.
Partridge Varieties used to be among the top of Cochin varieties, along with White, Black and Buff. Possibly the reason we still don't see as many in the show rooms any more is because some of the breeding techniques required to produce such beautiful patterns has been lost in translation over the years.
I will be watching very closely for more in-depth responses to your post. Thanx for bringing the subject up again.
WHAT IS SINGLE MATING? The A.B.C. of Breeding Poultry for Exhibition, Egg-Production and Table Purposes
1919
In certain breeds the standard decrees that the characteristics
of the male and female should be different, which necessitates
double-mating, explained below. Where the standard for the
two sexes is practically the same, then single mating is sufficient.
By single mating I mean the breeding of both sexes as exhibition
specimens from one mating or single pen of birds.
WHAT IS DOUBLE MATING? The A.B.C. of Breeding Poultry for Exhibition, Egg-Production and Table Purposes
1919
Double-mating means the mating of two pens, one to produce
exhibition cockerels and the other exhibition pullets. This process
of breeding has done much to spoil many good old breeds, for
few little men have accommodation sufficient to keep two pens.
Many poultry fanciers give this double-mating question some
hard knocks, but we have only the Club Standards to blame. When
a new breed comes into being, the first desire of the faddists is to
draw up a standard that is hard to breed to. They contend that
it is better to have a breed that is difficult to obtain high-class
specimens of, than where we can easily breed winners. As things
are at present, double-mating is necessary in many breeds, and
I leave it at that.
In the case of laced varieties, such as the beautiful Gold and
Silver Laced Wyandottes, we have perforce to adopt the double mating
principles. If we mated the Palace winning Cock to the
Palace winning Pullet we should breed birds that were of very
inferior quality. By fitting up a cockerel-breeding pen and a pullet breeding
pen our chances are excellent. In the cockerel-breeding
pen of any variety the male will be a tip-top show specimen and
his mates females that are not show birds, but merely breeders
likely to throw high-class cockerels when mated to the exhibition
male. The pullets from this mating will, of course, be " duds
and not fit for show purposes. The females in the pullet-breeding
pen will all be first-class exhibition birds and the male not a show
bird, but a breeder most likely to breed tip-top exhibition pullets.
The cockerels from this mating will be " duds " and unfit for the
show bench. The whole modus operandi can be thinned down to
this :The cockerel-breeding male must possess all the necessary
characteristics to breed exhibition cockerels, whilst the pullet breeding
male must boast of those characteristics that will go to
breed exhibition pullets. The system is not so complicated as it
would appear at first sight and is interesting to follow out, but there
must, of course, be many " wasters " in the progenywhether
male or female respectively. In many cases fanciers are satisfied
with breeding one sex only and winning honors with same. They
specialize in pullets or cockerels, keeping the pullet-breeders or
cockerel-breeders only as the case may be. This naturally does
not entail so much work as would be necessary if the two sorts
were bred.
Hi Nancy,
I've asked the exact same question a couple of times here, because double-mating has also been advocated for Golden-Laced varieties. I found the below articles posted on another thread, which explain the theory of double mating. I haven't run into too many that seriously practice double-mating, especially as it relates to setting up totally separately breeding arrangements to produce the best males and the best females. But I think a lot of folks still practice it in theory - in that they know that putting the best males and best females together will NOT produce the same quality offspring.
That's what I find most difficult to comprehend - if you have a great male, what should you look for/avoid in the females if you want to continue producing great males. And conversely, if you have a great female, what should you look for/avoid in the males if you want to continue producing great females.
Partridge Varieties used to be among the top of Cochin varieties, along with White, Black and Buff. Possibly the reason we still don't see as many in the show rooms any more is because some of the breeding techniques required to produce such beautiful patterns has been lost in translation over the years.
I will be watching very closely for more in-depth responses to your post. Thanx for bringing the subject up again.
WHAT IS SINGLE MATING? The A.B.C. of Breeding Poultry for Exhibition, Egg-Production and Table Purposes
In certain breeds the standard decrees that the characteristics
of the male and female should be different, which necessitates
double-mating, explained below. Where the standard for the
two sexes is practically the same, then single mating is sufficient.
By single mating I mean the breeding of both sexes as exhibition
specimens from one mating or single pen of birds.
WHAT IS DOUBLE MATING? The A.B.C. of Breeding Poultry for Exhibition, Egg-Production and Table Purposes
Double-mating means the mating of two pens, one to produce
exhibition cockerels and the other exhibition pullets. This process
of breeding has done much to spoil many good old breeds, for
few little men have accommodation sufficient to keep two pens.
Many poultry fanciers give this double-mating question some
hard knocks, but we have only the Club Standards to blame. When
a new breed comes into being, the first desire of the faddists is to
draw up a standard that is hard to breed to. They contend that
it is better to have a breed that is difficult to obtain high-class
specimens of, than where we can easily breed winners. As things
are at present, double-mating is necessary in many breeds, and
I leave it at that.
In the case of laced varieties, such as the beautiful Gold and
Silver Laced Wyandottes, we have perforce to adopt the double mating
principles. If we mated the Palace winning Cock to the
Palace winning Pullet we should breed birds that were of very
inferior quality. By fitting up a cockerel-breeding pen and a pullet breeding
pen our chances are excellent. In the cockerel-breeding
pen of any variety the male will be a tip-top show specimen and
his mates females that are not show birds, but merely breeders
likely to throw high-class cockerels when mated to the exhibition
male. The pullets from this mating will, of course, be " duds
and not fit for show purposes. The females in the pullet-breeding
pen will all be first-class exhibition birds and the male not a show
bird, but a breeder most likely to breed tip-top exhibition pullets.
The cockerels from this mating will be " duds " and unfit for the
show bench. The whole modus operandi can be thinned down to
this :The cockerel-breeding male must possess all the necessary
characteristics to breed exhibition cockerels, whilst the pullet breeding
male must boast of those characteristics that will go to
breed exhibition pullets. The system is not so complicated as it
would appear at first sight and is interesting to follow out, but there
must, of course, be many " wasters " in the progenywhether
male or female respectively. In many cases fanciers are satisfied
with breeding one sex only and winning honors with same. They
specialize in pullets or cockerels, keeping the pullet-breeders or
cockerel-breeders only as the case may be. This naturally does
not entail so much work as would be necessary if the two sorts
were bred.
Hello,
Just wanted to check in, and post a couple pics, I took of Our LF Cochins, this morning.
We do breed nice pure, LF Cochins, in most colors.
And yes, we do have a couple of our 8-10 pound Cochin hens, in with our 14 pound Brahma roo. (gasp mutt chickens)
So, you will see him, in a couple of the pics.
Just wanted to check in, and post a couple pics, I took of Our LF Cochins, this morning.
We do breed nice pure, LF Cochins, in most colors.
And yes, we do have a couple of our 8-10 pound Cochin hens, in with our 14 pound Brahma roo. (gasp mutt chickens)
So, you will see him, in a couple of the pics.
Quote:
Nancy,
I have both Large and Bantam and the answer to your question is that you can breed both quality males and females from single mating. However, double mating will produce consistently greater quantities of better quality Partridge or Silver Penciled (Same pattern just gold vs. silver) offspring.
First and foremost type. If you don't have the type, then you don't have a Cochin, Wyandotte, Modern Game, etc. Assuming you have the type, and if you don't that's the first thing to work on over color, double mating is breeding to produce either cockerels or pullets or both using two different pens. For cockerels, you'd use the absolute best marked male you had but the pullets for a cockerel pen would carry less defined penciling and be mossy in the cushion. For breeding pullets, it's sort of the opposite, but in a male for a pullet breeding pen, some red ticking in the breast and thigh is usually beneficial, but you need to use the absolute best penciled pullets to produce good quality pullets.
In a male look for as crisp/clean edging on the hackles, saddles and tail coverts that you can find. Additionally, one of the big flaws I've noticed in breeding this color (mostly in the bantams) is shafting. Shafting is where the shaft of the feather is a lighter color than the web. What you'll see in the Partridge is that they'll have straw colored or red shafts, where they should be black. Tough to get rid of it gets a stronghold. In the pullets, if you can get a female Partridge to carry penciling all the way through the cushion, then you've got a definite breeder bird. There's a lot that's been written on double mating and what I've submitted here is just a little of the basics.
The bird in the photos I included are 1) a 2010 Large pullet. She has good hackle markings but get fairly mossy toward the cushion. She very large with a good Cochin skull and better than average type. It's important to note that she's two generations removed from a cross to Blacks. The Partridge are too small, and need help in the type department so I did a cross. It has also helped to darken them up in overall ground color; 2) 2010 Partridge Bantam pullet. She's too light in the hackle (too much like a straw color instead of mahogany) but she has pretty good penciling. Overall she's too light in ground color; and 3) 2008 Cock bird. He should carry a bit more black in the tail and hackle, which would help to darken him up a bit. He's pretty good in the type department and is one of the males I used for breeding this year.
The first 3 pens I had set up this year were focused on pullets. The last two that I am saving eggs from now are using a 2010 cockerel that has good ground color bred to two hens with less defined penciling. This should produce some decent cockerels.
Hope this helps.
Tom
Nancy,
I have both Large and Bantam and the answer to your question is that you can breed both quality males and females from single mating. However, double mating will produce consistently greater quantities of better quality Partridge or Silver Penciled (Same pattern just gold vs. silver) offspring.
First and foremost type. If you don't have the type, then you don't have a Cochin, Wyandotte, Modern Game, etc. Assuming you have the type, and if you don't that's the first thing to work on over color, double mating is breeding to produce either cockerels or pullets or both using two different pens. For cockerels, you'd use the absolute best marked male you had but the pullets for a cockerel pen would carry less defined penciling and be mossy in the cushion. For breeding pullets, it's sort of the opposite, but in a male for a pullet breeding pen, some red ticking in the breast and thigh is usually beneficial, but you need to use the absolute best penciled pullets to produce good quality pullets.
In a male look for as crisp/clean edging on the hackles, saddles and tail coverts that you can find. Additionally, one of the big flaws I've noticed in breeding this color (mostly in the bantams) is shafting. Shafting is where the shaft of the feather is a lighter color than the web. What you'll see in the Partridge is that they'll have straw colored or red shafts, where they should be black. Tough to get rid of it gets a stronghold. In the pullets, if you can get a female Partridge to carry penciling all the way through the cushion, then you've got a definite breeder bird. There's a lot that's been written on double mating and what I've submitted here is just a little of the basics.
The bird in the photos I included are 1) a 2010 Large pullet. She has good hackle markings but get fairly mossy toward the cushion. She very large with a good Cochin skull and better than average type. It's important to note that she's two generations removed from a cross to Blacks. The Partridge are too small, and need help in the type department so I did a cross. It has also helped to darken them up in overall ground color; 2) 2010 Partridge Bantam pullet. She's too light in the hackle (too much like a straw color instead of mahogany) but she has pretty good penciling. Overall she's too light in ground color; and 3) 2008 Cock bird. He should carry a bit more black in the tail and hackle, which would help to darken him up a bit. He's pretty good in the type department and is one of the males I used for breeding this year.
The first 3 pens I had set up this year were focused on pullets. The last two that I am saving eggs from now are using a 2010 cockerel that has good ground color bred to two hens with less defined penciling. This should produce some decent cockerels.
Hope this helps.
Tom
Last edited:
Quote:
Hi Nancy,
I've asked the exact same question a couple of times here, because double-mating has also been advocated for Golden-Laced varieties. I found the below articles posted on another thread, which explain the theory of double mating. I haven't run into too many that seriously practice double-mating, especially as it relates to setting up totally separately breeding arrangements to produce the best males and the best females. But I think a lot of folks still practice it in theory - in that they know that putting the best males and best females together will NOT produce the same quality offspring.
That's what I find most difficult to comprehend - if you have a great male, what should you look for/avoid in the females if you want to continue producing great males. And conversely, if you have a great female, what should you look for/avoid in the males if you want to continue producing great females.
Partridge Varieties used to be among the top of Cochin varieties, along with White, Black and Buff. Possibly the reason we still don't see as many in the show rooms any more is because some of the breeding techniques required to produce such beautiful patterns has been lost in translation over the years.
I will be watching very closely for more in-depth responses to your post. Thanx for bringing the subject up again.
WHAT IS SINGLE MATING? The A.B.C. of Breeding Poultry for Exhibition, Egg-Production and Table Purposes
1919
In certain breeds the standard decrees that the characteristics
of the male and female should be different, which necessitates
double-mating, explained below. Where the standard for the
two sexes is practically the same, then single mating is sufficient.
By single mating I mean the breeding of both sexes as exhibition
specimens from one mating or single pen of birds.
WHAT IS DOUBLE MATING? The A.B.C. of Breeding Poultry for Exhibition, Egg-Production and Table Purposes
1919
Double-mating means the mating of two pens, one to produce
exhibition cockerels and the other exhibition pullets. This process
of breeding has done much to spoil many good old breeds, for
few little men have accommodation sufficient to keep two pens.
Many poultry fanciers give this double-mating question some
hard knocks, but we have only the Club Standards to blame. When
a new breed comes into being, the first desire of the faddists is to
draw up a standard that is hard to breed to. They contend that
it is better to have a breed that is difficult to obtain high-class
specimens of, than where we can easily breed winners. As things
are at present, double-mating is necessary in many breeds, and
I leave it at that.
In the case of laced varieties, such as the beautiful Gold and
Silver Laced Wyandottes, we have perforce to adopt the double mating
principles. If we mated the Palace winning Cock to the
Palace winning Pullet we should breed birds that were of very
inferior quality. By fitting up a cockerel-breeding pen and a pullet breeding
pen our chances are excellent. In the cockerel-breeding
pen of any variety the male will be a tip-top show specimen and
his mates females that are not show birds, but merely breeders
likely to throw high-class cockerels when mated to the exhibition
male. The pullets from this mating will, of course, be " duds
and not fit for show purposes. The females in the pullet-breeding
pen will all be first-class exhibition birds and the male not a show
bird, but a breeder most likely to breed tip-top exhibition pullets.
The cockerels from this mating will be " duds " and unfit for the
show bench. The whole modus operandi can be thinned down to
this :The cockerel-breeding male must possess all the necessary
characteristics to breed exhibition cockerels, whilst the pullet breeding
male must boast of those characteristics that will go to
breed exhibition pullets. The system is not so complicated as it
would appear at first sight and is interesting to follow out, but there
must, of course, be many " wasters " in the progenywhether
male or female respectively. In many cases fanciers are satisfied
with breeding one sex only and winning honors with same. They
specialize in pullets or cockerels, keeping the pullet-breeders or
cockerel-breeders only as the case may be. This naturally does
not entail so much work as would be necessary if the two sorts
were bred.
Gail (is it, I hope I got that right. Please forgive me if I'm mistaken)and way, thank you VERY much for the plethora of information. This confirms my suspicion of what the technique is, but I'm fuzzy on how to make the choices of the breeders. I looked at your site and checked out your GL. They look really good to me, do you have an idea of how you're going to select your breeders to make the improvements that you identified.
Hi Nancy,
I've asked the exact same question a couple of times here, because double-mating has also been advocated for Golden-Laced varieties. I found the below articles posted on another thread, which explain the theory of double mating. I haven't run into too many that seriously practice double-mating, especially as it relates to setting up totally separately breeding arrangements to produce the best males and the best females. But I think a lot of folks still practice it in theory - in that they know that putting the best males and best females together will NOT produce the same quality offspring.
That's what I find most difficult to comprehend - if you have a great male, what should you look for/avoid in the females if you want to continue producing great males. And conversely, if you have a great female, what should you look for/avoid in the males if you want to continue producing great females.
Partridge Varieties used to be among the top of Cochin varieties, along with White, Black and Buff. Possibly the reason we still don't see as many in the show rooms any more is because some of the breeding techniques required to produce such beautiful patterns has been lost in translation over the years.
I will be watching very closely for more in-depth responses to your post. Thanx for bringing the subject up again.
WHAT IS SINGLE MATING? The A.B.C. of Breeding Poultry for Exhibition, Egg-Production and Table Purposes
In certain breeds the standard decrees that the characteristics
of the male and female should be different, which necessitates
double-mating, explained below. Where the standard for the
two sexes is practically the same, then single mating is sufficient.
By single mating I mean the breeding of both sexes as exhibition
specimens from one mating or single pen of birds.
WHAT IS DOUBLE MATING? The A.B.C. of Breeding Poultry for Exhibition, Egg-Production and Table Purposes
Double-mating means the mating of two pens, one to produce
exhibition cockerels and the other exhibition pullets. This process
of breeding has done much to spoil many good old breeds, for
few little men have accommodation sufficient to keep two pens.
Many poultry fanciers give this double-mating question some
hard knocks, but we have only the Club Standards to blame. When
a new breed comes into being, the first desire of the faddists is to
draw up a standard that is hard to breed to. They contend that
it is better to have a breed that is difficult to obtain high-class
specimens of, than where we can easily breed winners. As things
are at present, double-mating is necessary in many breeds, and
I leave it at that.
In the case of laced varieties, such as the beautiful Gold and
Silver Laced Wyandottes, we have perforce to adopt the double mating
principles. If we mated the Palace winning Cock to the
Palace winning Pullet we should breed birds that were of very
inferior quality. By fitting up a cockerel-breeding pen and a pullet breeding
pen our chances are excellent. In the cockerel-breeding
pen of any variety the male will be a tip-top show specimen and
his mates females that are not show birds, but merely breeders
likely to throw high-class cockerels when mated to the exhibition
male. The pullets from this mating will, of course, be " duds
and not fit for show purposes. The females in the pullet-breeding
pen will all be first-class exhibition birds and the male not a show
bird, but a breeder most likely to breed tip-top exhibition pullets.
The cockerels from this mating will be " duds " and unfit for the
show bench. The whole modus operandi can be thinned down to
this :The cockerel-breeding male must possess all the necessary
characteristics to breed exhibition cockerels, whilst the pullet breeding
male must boast of those characteristics that will go to
breed exhibition pullets. The system is not so complicated as it
would appear at first sight and is interesting to follow out, but there
must, of course, be many " wasters " in the progenywhether
male or female respectively. In many cases fanciers are satisfied
with breeding one sex only and winning honors with same. They
specialize in pullets or cockerels, keeping the pullet-breeders or
cockerel-breeders only as the case may be. This naturally does
not entail so much work as would be necessary if the two sorts
were bred.
Gail (is it, I hope I got that right. Please forgive me if I'm mistaken)and way, thank you VERY much for the plethora of information. This confirms my suspicion of what the technique is, but I'm fuzzy on how to make the choices of the breeders. I looked at your site and checked out your GL. They look really good to me, do you have an idea of how you're going to select your breeders to make the improvements that you identified.
Quote:
Nancy,
I have both Large and Bantam and the answer to your question is that while you can breed both quality males and females from single mating. However, double mating will produce consistently greater quantities of better quality Partridge or Silver Penciled (Same pattern just gold vs. silver) offspring.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/15970_dscn0767.jpg https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/15970_dscn0776.jpg https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/15970_dscn0618.jpg
First and foremost type. If you don't have the type, then you don't have a Cochin, Wyandotte, Modern Game, etc. Assuming you have the type, and if you don't that's the first thing to work on over color, double mating is breeding to produce either cockerels or pullets or both using two different pens. For cockerels, you'd use the absolute best marked male you had but the pullets for a cockerel pen would carry less defined penciling and be mossy in the cushion. For breeding pullets, it's sort of the opposite, but a in a male for a pullet breeding pen, some red ticking in the breast and thigh is usually beneficial, but you need to use the absolute best penciled pullets to produce good quality pullets.
To
In a male look for as crisp/clean edging on the hackles, saddles and tail coverts that you can find. Additionally, one of the big flaws I've noticed in breeding this color (mostly in the bantams) is shafting. Shafting is where the shaft of the feather is a lighter color thatn the web. What you'll see in the Partridge is that they'll have straw colored or red shafts, where they should be black. Tough to get rid of it gets a stronghold. In the pullets, if you can get a female Partridge to carry penciling all the way through the cushion, then you've got a definite breeder bird. There's a lot that's been written on double mating and what I've submitted here is just a little of the basics.
The bird in the photos I included are 1) a 2010 Large pullet. She has good hackle markings but get fairly mossy toward the cushion. She very large with a good Cochin skull and better than average type. It's important to note that she's two generations removed from a cross to Blacks. The Partridge are too small, and need help in the type department so I did a cross. It has also helped to darken them up in overall ground color; 2) 2010 Partridge Bantam pullet. She's too light in the hackle (too much like a straw color instead of mahogany) but she has pretty good penciling. Overall she's too light in ground color; and 3) 2008 Cock bird. He should carry a bit more black in the tail and hackle, which would help to darken him up a bit. He's pretty good in the type department and is one of the males I used for breeding this year.
The first 3 pens I had set up this year were focused on pullets. The last two that I am saving eggs from now are using a 2010 cockerel that has good ground color bred to two hens with less defined penciling. This should produce some decent cockerels.
Hope this helps.
Tom
Tom,
This helps immensely. The older bird that I have has the size, but he has one white primary feather on each wing. It's the very first/or last. (Not sure how they're counted) Now when I say older, I don't know how much older, I just know that he's older then the other male. Well, armed with this information I'm going to go out and take a really good look at what I've got, and try to get some pictures.
Nancy,
I have both Large and Bantam and the answer to your question is that while you can breed both quality males and females from single mating. However, double mating will produce consistently greater quantities of better quality Partridge or Silver Penciled (Same pattern just gold vs. silver) offspring.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/15970_dscn0767.jpg https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/15970_dscn0776.jpg https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/15970_dscn0618.jpg
First and foremost type. If you don't have the type, then you don't have a Cochin, Wyandotte, Modern Game, etc. Assuming you have the type, and if you don't that's the first thing to work on over color, double mating is breeding to produce either cockerels or pullets or both using two different pens. For cockerels, you'd use the absolute best marked male you had but the pullets for a cockerel pen would carry less defined penciling and be mossy in the cushion. For breeding pullets, it's sort of the opposite, but a in a male for a pullet breeding pen, some red ticking in the breast and thigh is usually beneficial, but you need to use the absolute best penciled pullets to produce good quality pullets.
To
In a male look for as crisp/clean edging on the hackles, saddles and tail coverts that you can find. Additionally, one of the big flaws I've noticed in breeding this color (mostly in the bantams) is shafting. Shafting is where the shaft of the feather is a lighter color thatn the web. What you'll see in the Partridge is that they'll have straw colored or red shafts, where they should be black. Tough to get rid of it gets a stronghold. In the pullets, if you can get a female Partridge to carry penciling all the way through the cushion, then you've got a definite breeder bird. There's a lot that's been written on double mating and what I've submitted here is just a little of the basics.
The bird in the photos I included are 1) a 2010 Large pullet. She has good hackle markings but get fairly mossy toward the cushion. She very large with a good Cochin skull and better than average type. It's important to note that she's two generations removed from a cross to Blacks. The Partridge are too small, and need help in the type department so I did a cross. It has also helped to darken them up in overall ground color; 2) 2010 Partridge Bantam pullet. She's too light in the hackle (too much like a straw color instead of mahogany) but she has pretty good penciling. Overall she's too light in ground color; and 3) 2008 Cock bird. He should carry a bit more black in the tail and hackle, which would help to darken him up a bit. He's pretty good in the type department and is one of the males I used for breeding this year.
The first 3 pens I had set up this year were focused on pullets. The last two that I am saving eggs from now are using a 2010 cockerel that has good ground color bred to two hens with less defined penciling. This should produce some decent cockerels.
Hope this helps.
Tom
Tom,
This helps immensely. The older bird that I have has the size, but he has one white primary feather on each wing. It's the very first/or last. (Not sure how they're counted) Now when I say older, I don't know how much older, I just know that he's older then the other male. Well, armed with this information I'm going to go out and take a really good look at what I've got, and try to get some pictures.
Quote:
My problem right now is not necessarily to CONTINUE breeding for the best females - I'm just trying to get to the point where I have what I would consider to be a good female. So my focus this year is improving the lacing on the females - and Tom has been wonderful there as to what will help me along those lines. If I don't see lacing improvement this year, then I'm going to have to think about crossing in another color variety - possibly either Buff Columbian or Silver Laced. It will set me back a generation or two, but there's really no sense in going forward and perpetuating bad lacing.
The essay Tom just posted is excellent - it should really help with your Partridge.
Can you post some pics of your Partridge?
My problem right now is not necessarily to CONTINUE breeding for the best females - I'm just trying to get to the point where I have what I would consider to be a good female. So my focus this year is improving the lacing on the females - and Tom has been wonderful there as to what will help me along those lines. If I don't see lacing improvement this year, then I'm going to have to think about crossing in another color variety - possibly either Buff Columbian or Silver Laced. It will set me back a generation or two, but there's really no sense in going forward and perpetuating bad lacing.
The essay Tom just posted is excellent - it should really help with your Partridge.
Can you post some pics of your Partridge?
Quote:
My problem right now is not necessarily to CONTINUE breeding for the best females - I'm just trying to get to the point where I have what I would consider to be a good female. So my focus this year is improving the lacing on the females - and Tom has been wonderful there as to what will help me along those lines. If I don't see lacing improvement this year, then I'm going to have to think about crossing in another color variety - possibly either Buff Columbian or Silver Laced. It will set me back a generation or two, but there's really no sense in going forward and perpetuating bad lacing.
The essay Tom just posted is excellent - it should really help with your Partridge.
Can you post some pics of your Partridge?
I'm just recovering from some kind of crud that had me down for a couple of days, but yes I will take pics ASAP.
My problem right now is not necessarily to CONTINUE breeding for the best females - I'm just trying to get to the point where I have what I would consider to be a good female. So my focus this year is improving the lacing on the females - and Tom has been wonderful there as to what will help me along those lines. If I don't see lacing improvement this year, then I'm going to have to think about crossing in another color variety - possibly either Buff Columbian or Silver Laced. It will set me back a generation or two, but there's really no sense in going forward and perpetuating bad lacing.
The essay Tom just posted is excellent - it should really help with your Partridge.
Can you post some pics of your Partridge?
I'm just recovering from some kind of crud that had me down for a couple of days, but yes I will take pics ASAP.
Day Light Saving Time begins on Sunday.
We still have plenty of snow here, but I've set up the lights on a timer to encourage my birds to lay.
It must have helped, because today I got my first egg from one of my six month old pullets!
Now all I need is warmer weather so that eggs have a better chance to be viable!
If anyone has some warm weather to spare, please send it to Maine!
We still have plenty of snow here, but I've set up the lights on a timer to encourage my birds to lay.
It must have helped, because today I got my first egg from one of my six month old pullets!
Now all I need is warmer weather so that eggs have a better chance to be viable!
If anyone has some warm weather to spare, please send it to Maine!
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