Cubalaya Thread For Sharing Pics and Discussing Our Birds

[saladin]

I know I didn't get the number of Wheaten out that I expected. This year I seemed to have made the most progress with the Blacks and Blues.

Who knows what it will be next year.

 

[cubakid]

http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/4293591 I found this of a nice bantam pullet. Never heard of the owner. Anyone know if he still has them. Ill probably make some using my blues considering they are best in all areas except size, even my best 2010 male is a Wheaten out of the blue pen. i think i could do it. ill post some mini sports i hatched with weights soon.
Zach

ETA- Scroll to the Cuba Pullet

 

[cubakid]

Blue Wheaten Sport (possbily Blue Golden Sport)

His weight... a whopping 2lbs. 10oz. about 4-5 months old

 

[gallorojo]

Zach,
I've heard of him before. I think he made those bantams from scratch, not by downsizing LF. Excellent job based on the pullet pictured!! Here is an article about him. http://www.livingthecountrylife.com/animals/poultry/a-place-for-poultry/ There was a discussion elsewhere some time ago between Cuban Longtails and Saladin, and Saladin mentioned Mr. Bowsher.

Ok, so, my question for you, is about these small sports? I've had maybe 4 out of 60+ Cuba chicks this year that are incredibly tiny!! All are out of white x white matings. They are in some cases a quarter the size of their hatch-mates. I thought about killing them, they seem so terribly small. Is this sort of thing what you are seeing? Is this how bantams could be made? If I ( or Zach!) try to make bantams from these, will they be weak, or will they just be small? I've never had these mini sports show up before this year. I'll put up a pic of one here.

Mini chick, use my hand for scale.

Regular size chick, use my hand for scale. Same hatch date, not same parents.

 

[gallorojo]

That is a crazy looking cockerel!! You never know what to expect from the cubas it seems!!!

 

[cubakid]

If you want bantams i would go with the way of breeding smallest to smallest at the latter end of the year so they dont have much time to mature. i have observed that the birds we hatch earlier are better than the later hatchlings. although type is well on all of them no matter the size. Sometimes we have Stubs show up(instantaneuos cull), and a small percent have misshapen skulls. I however would not use an unhealthily small bird.

 

[gallorojo]

I'm not sure I want bantams, but curious if anyone else has had these mini sports turn up, and, have they used them to make bantams? One mini sport had crooked toes, I was going to cull it, but, it died on it's own before I had the chance. Other than the one with crooked toes, they all seem fairly healthy, just small. I've not had stubs show up, or anything else instant cull worthy like that-but, you hatch a lot more chicks than I do!! ( I won't cull anything really young for color-just health, size, type) My issue is a quarter maybe of all males hatched have upright tails, every year. We eat the culls, so, I let them all get at least 12-20 weeks old, unless they are deformed or something.

 

[saladin]

Quote:
Zach,

Tim Bowsher has been raising and showing chickens a long long time. I great fellow; he'll probably be at Crossroads. Tim was the first person, to my knowledge, to recreate the Bantam Cubalaya. He's also messed with other Bantam re-creations as well. I think faile (uff) got her first good Bantam Cubalayas from Tim: though she has mentioned Cackle hatchery before too, but not in a real positive way.

 

[DaveK]

Quote:
Tim Bowsher lives about 10 minutes away from where I am sitting at work right now. As far as I know he still has the Cubalaya bantams. They were made at least in part by using a very, very small cock bird from Linda Bayliss. I believe he also used OEG but memory could be wrong. He has a listed phone in Dexter, Michigan if you'd like to contact him. Dave

 

[DaveK]

Quote:
I've wondered if a cross to spangled Asil might eventually accomplish a couple things, spangled color being one of them. Dave