I want ONE breed...DUMB???

[3KillerBs]

Really? Seems like there’s an obstacle at every turn…

It doesn't affect the other colors of Orpington, it's part of the lavender color in any lavender breed.

My lavender girl isn't as bad as some I've seen:

I'm not breeding lavenders, but I'm told that the secret to keeping the shredder problem under control is to breed to black every other generation.

 

[762]

It doesn't affect the other colors of Orpington, it's part of the lavender color in any lavender breed.

My lavender girl isn't as bad as some I've seen:
View attachment 3242654

I'm not breeding lavenders, but I'm told that the secret to keeping the shredder problem under control is to breed to black every other generation.

I was referring to the fact Hoover's apparent reputation is receiving birds whose lineage is questionable (i.e. not looking like what they should).

I started looking at lavenders because they are a little bigger than buffs. But I suppose buffs will be a little harder to see from above against the leaves. Not that I think it probably matters much for hawk eyes, I suppose.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I was referring to the fact Hoover's apparent reputation is receiving birds whose lineage is questionable (i.e. not looking like what they should).

I started looking at lavenders because they are a little bigger than buffs. But I suppose buffs will be a little harder to see from above against the leaves. Not that I think it probably matters much for hawk eyes, I suppose.

My hoovers birds actually were really, really nice for the most part. I think I had like 3 Wyandotte with the wrong comb, but all the birds I got were big, broat and nice colored and temperament

 

[sdm111]

No, don’t care whatsoever what they look like. I care about the traits of the birds. And I get what you are saying about Walmart shopping…I live by that rule almost always. However, right now I don’t see anything available locally. Are you saying it’s impossible to accomplish what I want with hatchery birds? Like why can’t I cull from 20 hatchery birds? Are you saying all 20 will be garbage?

And if I were able to find a good local pair of free ranging birds, there no guarantee the hen will remain broody with the change of environment or either won’t get picked off by a predator. This approach really does sound like putting all my eggs in one basket.

Can you clarify not caring about looks only traits? Color, station, head size, leg size height are all "traits" and all visual. I say do one thing and do it really really well. The quality of the first broodstock can either get you forward or get you 10 steps back in the game. And most of all if you do buy high dollar birds from a breeder don't have one hatch and sell them as your own. That's tje biggest slap in the face a breeder can get and it will ruin your future possibly good reputation in the breeders world. In this game talk is just that talk. You can have the most beautiful birds in the world buy your reputation trumps that. Enjoy it its fun but don't ever take anything for granted also. One is none and the more spares the better. But on the flip side don't ever put quantity over quality. It's gonna take years but with hard work it'll pay off for you and the birds

 

[762]

Can you clarify not caring about looks only traits? Color, station, head size, leg size height are all "traits" and all visual. I say do one thing and do it really really well. The quality of the first broodstock can either get you forward or get you 10 steps back in the game. And most of all if you do buy high dollar birds from a breeder don't have one hatch and sell them as your own. That's tje biggest slap in the face a breeder can get and it will ruin your future possibly good reputation in the breeders world. In this game talk is just that talk. You can have the most beautiful birds in the world buy your reputation trumps that. Enjoy it its fun but don't ever take anything for granted also. One is none and the more spares the better. But on the flip side don't ever put quantity over quality. It's gonna take years but with hard work it'll pay off for you and the birds

What I mean by that is I care about what the bird can do, not what it looks like. So if the ugliest chicken in the world lays 6 eggs a week, is broody and raises chicks well, and plays nicely with my kids, I want that breed despite its ugly duckling status. I know a lot of people care about how pretty the bird is, or that it has blue eggs, or whatever. I don't. That's what I mean about looks.

I don't plan on selling any unless I just need to get rid of roosters (which I will probably just eat instead). I would be straight with whomever bought them regarding their origin. But I'm not getting into this to raise and sell anything. It's the same reason I hunt. Providing food and knowing where it came from.

 

[3KillerBs]

I was referring to the fact Hoover's apparent reputation is receiving birds whose lineage is questionable (i.e. not looking like what they should).

Ah.

Any hatchery's birds are likely to be highly variable. That's one of the reasons I buy twice as many as I want to keep. That way I can pick the best.

What I mean by that is I care about what the bird can do, not what it looks like. So if the ugliest chicken in the world lays 6 eggs a week, is broody and raises chicks well, and plays nicely with my kids, I want that breed despite its ugly duckling status. I know a lot of people care about how pretty the bird is, or that it has blue eggs, or whatever. I don't. That's what I mean about looks.

IMO, that's a 100% valid way to look at things.

It occurs to me that you are likely to find this thread very interesting. The member is developing a line of landrace mutts selected to suit his needs and his environment: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ctive-culling-project-very-long-term.1433421/

 

[sdm111]

What I mean by that is I care about what the bird can do, not what it looks like. So if the ugliest chicken in the world lays 6 eggs a week, is broody and raises chicks well, and plays nicely with my kids, I want that breed despite its ugly duckling status. I know a lot of people care about how pretty the bird is, or that it has blue eggs, or whatever. I don't. That's what I mean about looks.

I don't plan on selling any unless I just need to get rid of roosters (which I will probably just eat instead). I would be straight with whomever bought them regarding their origin. But I'm not getting into this to raise and sell anything. It's the same reason I hunt. Providing food and knowing where it came from.

Gotcha

 

[Feathers of Eden]

No, that's excellent reasoning on your part. You'd need to keep track of breeding and add in fresh blood from time to time to avoid the British royalty inbreeding thing, at the same time selecting for the traits you're looking for.

Before the Anglophiles get their knickers twisted at the aspersions cast upon those who rule by birthright, my grandfather was a Welshman descended from a long and intricately woven tapestry of Welshmen. He left home in WWI to fly in the US Army Air Force and married a blonde-haired, blue eyed Italian woman from northern Italy. She was probably the meanest grandmother a child could have and I once asked him if she was like that when he married her. He said yes, she always had a wicked tongue. I asked, well why did you marry her then? He answered "some day, laddie, you'll understand there are bigger reasons to marry than love, fame or fortune. Sometimes you have to marry in new blood! If I didn't, you and your little brother might've had seven toes." No one had told him that I was born with 6 on one foot and 4 on the other but my folks had the supernumerary one from the one foot transplanted to address the deficit on the other so I APPEARED normal on the outside.

J/K

It was actually 7 and 3.

In spite of having a super hot second cousin, the whole "don't marry kin" thing freaked me out so bad that I married a Puerto Rican lady because no one in our clans had Latino or Hispanic surnames as far back as the records were kept.

William Shakespeare asked me to tell you he is proud of your writing style.

 

[Shadrach]

No, don’t care whatsoever what they look like. I care about the traits of the birds. And I get what you are saying about Walmart shopping…I live by that rule almost always. However, right now I don’t see anything available locally. Are you saying it’s impossible to accomplish what I want with hatchery birds? Like why can’t I cull from 20 hatchery birds? Are you saying all 20 will be garbage?

And if I were able to find a good local pair of free ranging birds, there no guarantee the hen will remain broody with the change of environment or either won’t get picked off by a predator. This approach really does sound like putting all my eggs in one basket.

I'm not saying impossible, but for the goals, as I understand you have in mind, hatchery stock will make things far more difficult.
Ideally you want broody reared chickens that have lived in similar conditions to those you plan.

Bear in mind that if I have understood you correctly, your goals are not the goals of the majority of BYC contributors. You are looking for a mid weight bird, or possibly well built bantam, to start what you intended to be a self replicating closed group. You don't care much what they look like (neither do I. Eventually they are all lovely) they need to go broody and reasonably regularly because predators and sickness and injury can kill quite a few chickens.
You want properly feathered birds, so that rules out Silkies and a few other breeds.
You are going to need chickens with good social skills with that many. You may have periods with just your senior rooster and at other times some of his male offspring as well.
If you are free ranging then they need to be fast and flighty. This will rule out most of the medium to heavyweight breeds.

Hamburgs might be worth looking into.
https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/the-hamburg-chicken-breed-profile-all-you-need-to-know/

 

[sdm111]

I'm not saying impossible, but for the goals, as I understand you have in mind, hatchery stock will make things far more difficult.
Ideally you want broody reared chickens that have lived in similar conditions to those you plan.

Bear in mind that if I have understood you correctly, your goals are not the goals of the majority of BYC contributors. You are looking for a mid weight bird, or possibly well built bantam, to start what you intended to be a self replicating closed group. You don't care much what they look like (neither do I. Eventually they are all lovely) they need to go broody and reasonably regularly because predators and sickness and injury can kill quite a few chickens.
You want properly feathered birds, so that rules out Silkies and a few other breeds.
You are going to need chickens with good social skills with that many. You may have periods with just your senior rooster and at other times some of his male offspring as well.
If you are free ranging then they need to be fast and flighty. This will rule out most of the medium to heavyweight breeds.

Hamburgs might be worth looking into.
https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/the-hamburg-chicken-breed-profile-all-you-need-to-know/

Good post.



Lakenvelders too

https://livestockconservancy.org/heritage-breeds/heritage-breeds-list/lakenvelder-chicken/