Creating the Corvalla! A chicken that looks like a crow

[Fae Forest Farm]

All my Sumatras look like fancy crows.

Old picture of my hen when she was young. Might get an updated picture today after coop cleaning.
View attachment 3033367Demon(He hates me)View attachment 3033368This is an older picture from last year.

Sumatras are definitely close! I just want to get closer!

 

[Fae Forest Farm]

I'll just note that yes, we talked about the Malays in your Malay thread. I'll keep on subject here. But back to crow-face. I think the Sumatra is too small of a beak. There are many types of crow, but when I think of Crow I think big, coal black, with a big beak am I wrong?

They do have a big beak, I just didn’t know I had “beak length” options as I’m not a professional breeder and don’t know every breed out there.

 

[Fae Forest Farm]

How goes the project?

Some of my F1 mixes just started laying and I’m waiting on a chick order of Sumatras and Cubalayas to be hatched and delivered. This project will likely take years though.

 

[Fae Forest Farm]

Remember, black absorbs heat from sun. I free range in central Florida. Black animals here feel the heat more in the summer. They need more shade. Good luck!

I’m in central Georgia with Ayam Cemanis, BCMarans and other black birds. They do just fine as long as they have shade and water, and in serious heat any bird should have shade, water and misting options. Aside from huge oak trees shading their foraging area (I have issues finding enough sunlight to garden), they can get under the raised house which is always nice and cool!

 

[Fae Forest Farm]

Just wondering if anyone else is onboard. I'll be watching.

I did share some things with another breeder and thought we started something together, but they don’t want a chicken as small as a crow and they want larger eggs so I told them if they don’t stick to crow or raven sizes they really aren’t following the goal for this new breed and the person should just have fun with Sumatra.

 

[Fae Forest Farm]

While trying to develop a chicken that looks like a crow is interesting one thought stuck out. Why people keep chickens. Usually eggs /and or meat is the answer. For me, it is eggs and tick control.
The size of the birds being bred seems smaller than a meat bird, and from what I know none of the parent breeds are good egg layers.
My thought would be in addition to looking like a crow the chicken should be a half decent egg layer.
We have hawks in abundance but thanks to lots of cover and hiding places and dogs that are very protective of the chickens, hawks aren't a big deal.
They also leave the bigger birds alone.

Cubalayas are used for meat and eggs, which will bump production. People keep guineas that don’t lay well and are noisy/annoying, people keep chickens just for their cool looks, and people eat plenty of small birds like quail and quail eggs. There are plenty of smaller breeds out there that do well, but this smallish breed will also help protect a flock since not everyone can have your exact setup. Corvalla won’t be for everyone, but I am aiming for a somewhat multipurpose bird. The priority is still going to be to guard a free ranging flock so to match a crow or raven, be a good forager and to alert the flock to threats.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

Why did you sad face all my posts?

 

[Fae Forest Farm]

Very interested in this project!
I think your biggest problem is going to be to get and keep the tail below horizontal. Free ranging various black breeds together will get you there the fastest. Get the lowest tailed ones you can find. Hens are pretty easy to get solid black, it's the roosters that show the brilliant color. For instance here is a cockerel I thought was going to be great with a low tail. The older he gets the higher his tail goes. I'm keeping him, but I was hoping his tail would stay down. View attachment 3042616View attachment 3042618

Yep! I had the same thought when I started this project - getting the tail down will be the biggest hurdle to breed for! Also the standard will be more in the hen than the rooster as roosters will have too long of a tail and bigger combs. Wish me luck! If you want to help breed for this project DM me.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

Orientals have a downward pointed tail.

 

[Fae Forest Farm]

Why did you sad face all my posts?

I sad faced all of the off topic posts since this isn’t a general chat as a hint no matter who they were from, but the ones that were actually about the correct subject got likes, loves and responses.