giant red barred breeding project

[BeardedBilly92]

I'm starting this thread to document my breeding efforts to create a new recognized breed. the end goal as of today is to create the largest dual purpose breed currently available. Defining color/ pattern being crested barred red birds. This will be a multi year project and is right now at this moment still in the foundational stages. Photos and discriptions of the birds I produce for the project and selection criteria will also be posted. Open to all comments questions and discussions.

 

[BeardedBilly92]

The project originally came about from reaserching into olive eggers. Then buying the parent stock to create them. I purchased wellsummer hens and crested cream legbar roosters in oct of 2020 from Meyers hatchery. I'll have to come back today with pictures of the two roosters.

 

[BeardedBilly92]

8 ish weeks ago the first olive eggers hatched in my homemade incubator. To my surprise they were sexable by e+ stripes in their down. Also to my surprise all the chicks showed crest development. The roosters used had fairly thin crests so I assumed they only carried one copy for that. One rooster in the last pic. Watching his development out of curiosity before I cull as he won't be used in the project.

 

[BeardedBilly92]

Out of curiosity one day I googled what was the heaviest chicken on record. That title goes to a Cornish cross rooster by the name of big mac at 23 pounds. Looking to me atleast that he was more ore less a white bowling ball with wings. That got the wheels turning in my head. I could do better then that right?. A rabbit whole of reaserching followed.

 

[BeardedBilly92]

From the reaserch I started to form a plan. The two heaviest non Cornish chickens are jersey giant and Brahma. I don't personally care for feathered Feet/ shanks so the only choice there is jersey giant. Next I looked for the tallest breeds. The reigning champ in that department are the Malay chickens. I knew I could find legitimate jersey giant breeders. The unknown was weather I could find true pure Malay.

 

[BeardedBilly92]

And that was the catch. weeks of searching and I had no breeder. The project stalled there for several weeks. Then by chance I typed in Malay on Facebook. And wouldn't you know it there they were. A whole group of people in America who kept and breed Malays. I quickly got very excited and posted that I was looking for some pullets. Within 24 hours I started a conversation with an older gentleman who was a 6 hour round trip from me who happened to have a couple started pullets. My not terribly thrilled wife and I made the trip that next week to meet and pick up two pullets approximately 4 weeks old. He had been keeping pure Malay for 20 years but recently had to go down to only one line and is debating on giving up the chickens entirely due to general age issues and wanting to travel. He was a very nice guy and we had several good conversations while visiting.

 

[BeardedBilly92]

That is more or less where I am right now with the project. I have my wellsummers and clb roosters. Their olive egger chicks. And two malay pullets.

 

[BeardedBilly92]

The plan as it stands right now is as follows. Jersey giant over Malay hens. I'm still looking for hatching eggs for the jersey giant. That breeding will happen next year if I can find the jerseys soon. I've decided to mix the olive eggers with red rangers. Hopefully that will add some faster growth and heavier bodies. That cross will also happen nextsummer. The following year the two sets of offspring will be breed together. Forming the official start of the big red breed.

 

[BeardedBilly92]

The olive egger red ranger cross will give me the red base color I need aswell as the barring. ( Only single gene) I'm hoping it will also produce very hefty birds with a larger meat to bone ratio. While still maintaining a good rate of lay.

 

[BeardedBilly92]

The Malay jersey giant cross what I'm calling the big bird cross I'm hoping will give me tall but wide stanced birds improving the terrible laying rate of the Malays. These offspring will be solid black with some possible leakege.