Cubalaya Thread For Sharing Pics and Discussing Our Birds

[Jungleexplorer]

Thanks Saladin. That one word, "Phenotype", explains it all.

Phenotype: "A phenotype is the composite of an organism's observable characteristics or traits, such as its morphology, development, biochemical or physiological properties, phenology, behavior, and products of behavior."

Basically; if it looks and acts like a Cubalaya, it is a Cubalaya. I guess that is why SOP is necessary, so that we can know what it is supposed to look and act like.

 

[Beekeeper25]

Hi
I have been following this thread and have some question for those that have grade cubalaya's how does dark cornish work ? And I have read that cubalaya's are to have no spurs and them read multiple spurs?

 

[Beekeeper25]

Delete post

 

[4hmom]

Hi
I have been following this thread and have some question for those that have grade cubalaya's how does dark cornish work ? And I have read that cubalaya's are to have no spurs and them read multiple spurs?

cubalayas are suppost to have spurs, and they dont have to be multi spured but that is a prefered traitalso the spurs are prefered to be rounded. finaly these specific spur s are called rosary spurs, there was an article on uff about them.

 

[cubakid]

Doc, did the original Cubalayas have multiple spurs? I don't see it as preferred, but more as required. I do have single spurs pop up, but breed for the multiple spurs. I don't understand why the standard says that only Sumatras should have them,in one section, then describe cubalayas as having them... Maybe they never edited it to add the cubalayas. I don't think I'd ever add anything that has dominant traits, unless wanted, compared to the cubalayas traits. Or anything with white earlobes. Yellow legs are easily bred out( but can hide for several generations) combs are fairly easy to correct... Tails take time to breed back to get the fullness and individual width of feather.

 

[gallorojo]

Spurs taken from the Cuban history article-

"Many of the old time breeders, among them Messrs, Ponce de Leon, Aldabon, Waldo Diaz, Dr. Francisco Cartaya and others, disagreed with the requirements of the Standard of Perfection, concerning the coloring of the birds and also regarding their shape, that the Standard had changed, recommending the single spur instead of the one or several rudimentary spurs or the absolute lack of them, that was also called “espuela de rosario” (rosary spur), which was the tradition maintained by the breeders since the time of the Colony, and which absence of spurs had been achieved by a long process of natural selection of these birds in freedom, because their aggressive and fierce character of game fowl that attack their own young and in many occasions the females in their flocks, would have made their reproduction impossible in their original environment if they would have been endowed by Nature with powerful and sharp spurs, instead of having them small, triangular, of calcareous type and crooked inwards and in many cases lacking altogether, for which reason they were armed with steel spurs in the cock fights, when these birds were brought to Cuba in the middle of last century."

 

[cubalaya]

single spurs were what i had to work with in the beginning but getting more and more birds with multiple spurs now.
the article that you just quoted was not the twisselman article, but the birds they were talking about(early cubalayas in cuba), were not for show but used for cockfighting. only game chicks act like that described but we know how easily gameness is bred out of anything.

 

[saladin]

single spurs were what i had to work with in the beginning but getting more and more birds with multiple spurs now.
the article that you just quoted was not the twisselman article, but the birds they were talking about(early cubalayas in cuba), were not for show but used for cockfighting. only game chicks act like that described but we know how easily gameness is bred out of anything.

I think you misunderstood the quotation. This is in reference to the original birds that were brought in which indeed were Games. However, the development of the Cubalaya (which is all Game + Oriental Game) was not for cockfighting.

 

[cubalaya]

yes, but some of these characteristics are in the breed today. cocks attacking the young comes to mind. but yes i agree, they are not gamefowl but show birds today. the cubans that developed the originals must have been a practical people that used the bird for uses other than show. the number of eggs they lay is good although the egg size is small to medium. the meat is also good. those things were bred in, i am sure.

 

[saladin]

Yes indeed they are decent layers and the meat is excellent. (We eat lots of Cubalaya. lol) I'm not saying those qualities weren't 'bred in' as you say; I'm just saying that wasn't their purpose both as stated by the article of one of the originators, Carlos Caballe and based on what Dr Saenz has related to me via emails and calls through the years. Games lay well generally and Orientals are not bad for eating when young. So it stands to reason that with the infusion of both together you can get a decent egg layer that also eats well.

They surely were bred to be a vigorous and robust bird with a great deal of intelligence. Personally, I've found only one breed that demonstrates more intelligence than a Cubalaya and that is the Asil.

I know of no chicken that can surpass the Cubalaya in sheer beauty and gracefulness. I do indeed love these birds and have devoted a great deal of time, energy and money into them.

I am so very excited to see the interest in them (even among a few) and I'm excited to see them doing so well at the Shows on the West and East Coast. Now, we need someone in the heartland to begin exhibiting them more.