Cubalaya Thread For Sharing Pics and Discussing Our Birds

[gallorojo]

I had a couple questions. My SH Cubas are 12 weeks old now and I had a couple questions.

I have a white pullet that Is nice sized but has slate colored legs. Any chance that will change? If not, should she be culled?

I have a BBR cockerel that is the biggest and has the best tail in width and length. He has a small amount of what I would call spangling across his body. Is that common and will it go away as he ages?

Thanks in advance.

I feel I need to insert a comment in here. After having several years of working with spangling/mottling, I have realized a few things. Spangling/mottling is supposed to be RECESSIVE. Basically, it is, but, in most all cases I've seen where you are dealing with dominant and recessive traits, there is some small indicator of the buried recessive genes, very very few things are absolutely totally dominant or totally recessive. When you get a bird with minor spangling that goes away with age, that bird IS A CARRIER FOR RECESSIVE SPANGLING/ MOTTLING. If you mated two of the splits/carriers together, you should get 1/4 real spangleds out. I know from both communicating with most of you over the years, and from actually working with birds from most of you, that pretty much all the Cubalayas have spangling floating around in them, under the surface. I think few true spangled birds show up because you would have to do fairly close breeding, and even then, only a quarter would have ever have real spangling. Add to this the fact that white is a DQ on the Blacks and BB Reds, and something everyone struggles with, I suspect many/most of the carrier birds for spangling are culled out for white feathers and not even used in breeding, or, when spangleds are gotten by breeders, they are culled...

 

[saladin]

The Sandlapper Club held it's annual Double-Show this past Saturday.

In both shows I took Champion AOSB with a BBR Cubalaya.
In one of the shows I also took Res Lg Fowl with the Cube.

 

[cubalaya]

congrats saladin. i think carl brantley won the va show with an asil

 

[saladin]

Sounds right. When I talked with him the other night he said he was headed up your way.

 

[cubakid]

Still don't have any cockerels with tails yet! They are all getting seperated as I thin out the mess of Australorps.

 

[wood&feathers]

Just a few quick pics to update. I think one of the 2 week old chicks is showing more brown on the shoulders, and growing bigger than the other 2. One of the black probable females has a brown patch on her crown. All have the best carriage of any cubalayas we have hatched here. Thanks cubalaya!



Though not the tamest bird on our place, the broody pullet is teaching them to jump in my lap for treats.

 

[saladin]

I plan to have some chicks out 3 weeks from Saturday..... I won't be far behind you!

 

[wood&feathers]

Hope its warmer where you are, it is 24 F with 25 mph wind here. This is the first time any of my hens have chosen to brood so late. But she is in tip top condition -glowing really- and accepted my moving her off the porch into a brood box and run. I have the heat lamp in the run near the waterer, since a heated dog bowl is a drowning hazard. I thought about bringing them into the house but we are having family in for the holidays.

 

[cubalaya]

will wait until jan. or feb. before pulling out the incubator. hoping for more hen raised chicks this year. all our asils will be hen hatched.

 

[PrestonC]

Hi everybody, I've never considered having a couple of cubalayas before, but I was looking through my SOP book for about the twenty hundredth time and found myself staring at the cubalaya pics...

Sooooooo what are cubalayas like? Tame? Aggressive? What is their egg production like? Are they good show birds? Size? Cleanliness? What are words that would describe them???? Please be honest (I know what it's like to love and recommend a breed that I love but can have an attitude)

Oh, and just so I've got an idea, do y'all know of any breeders of these guys in Texas?

Thanks in advance!!!!!
Preston