German New Hampshire

[Zanna]

Thanks! I breed her. I live in Sweden. Picture of the parent male

Ah yes, I have seen your picture of him before, big boy!

 

[Lorien]

So beautiful! I love these birds. A racoon got all mine. If anybody is hatching and shipping chicks in the spring, please PM me. Starting over again stinks. Sigh.

 

[Zanna]

Looking for some opinions on these two cockerals. I weighed them tonight, they are 8-9 mos. old. The cockeral with the shorter back and more upright tail weighs 9 LBs 6 oz. The cockeral with the longer back, more level looking tail weighs 10 LBs. At a show a month ago, the winning birds were much larger than mine, one was even champion of the entire show. I asked one of the judges how much influence size had on the placings and he said as long as the birds were not oversize and all things being mostly equal, the larger birds would win. My birds are oversize so obviously the winning birds were more so. I came home from the show thinking I needed to breed for more size, now after weighing these two I am confused!

Size aside, preference in type of the two? They were judged twice (double show) by two different judges. Upright tail was 3rd in the first show and more level tail was 2nd in the 2nd show against 8 other cockerals (I think).

 

[fowlman01]

They should have a 45 degree angle tail but some judges are going for the low tailed birds.

 

[Zanna]

They should have a 45 degree angle tail but some judges are going for the low tailed birds.

Thanks Walt. If Judges are not following the SOP what to do? I will try to breed to the SOP, I prefer the more upright tail anyways.

What do you think about the weights of the birds?

 

[fowlman01]

Thanks Walt. If Judges are not following the SOP what to do? I will try to breed to the SOP, I prefer the more upright tail anyways.

What do you think about the weights of the birds?

The judges need to check the profile of a New Hamp....they don't look like Rocks. Yours don't look like Rocks, but judges are picking that type.
You can't go wrong my sticking to the Standard.

Walt

 

[Zanna]

The judges need to check the profile of a New Hamp....they don't look like Rocks. Yours don't look like Rocks, but judges are picking that type.
You can't go wrong my sticking to the Standard.

Walt

Your advise is always valued, thanks again and again!!!

 

[Zanna]

One of my pullets I am considering breeding back to her Dad this year. She is 9 mos. old and a little over 7 LBS. Please critique away........

 

[dheltzel]

We keep some of the GNH's for pleasure only (and some eggs to eat/sell). Here is one of our free ranging cocks, he was hatched last spring.
He and his brother are the only free ranging chickens that are tame enough to be picked up and held. I really like the temperment of this breed, and this guy really impresses visitors to the farm.


Here are some of his sisters, just coming into lay now. I've noticed this strain takes a long time to mature compared to other breeds we have.

 

[gjensen]

One of my pullets I am considering breeding back to her Dad this year. She is 9 mos. old and a little over 7 LBS. Please critique away........

One of my pullets I am considering breeding back to her Dad this year. She is 9 mos. old and a little over 7 LBS. Please critique away........

Her over all color is relatively even. She is a little mottled for a pullet and the shafting could be problematic. Her tail does not have a good spread, and lacks color. Her tail might be a little high in her second year.

Matching the male's breast color with the females body color helps guard against mottling. It seams that it has some similarities to breeding the buff color. We want to stay within a shade or two between the sexes, aiming for gradual color improvements.

She is a nice bird. She does have something to her. I like her overall.

The most common faults I see with the NHs is no substance. Narrow birds with short keels, no thighs, and lacking a well rounded breast.

The tails are too pronounced and run too high or too low. I started picking 6 month cockerels that have lift, are not as dramatic, but not at 45 degrees either. The tails on these birds blow up late. The tail feather length tends to be long, and takes time to finish. It seams to help to put good tails on the hens, as hens, but can be too much early. The trait is exaggerated in many males.