Kraienkoeppe Thread!

[bandbaustin]

I have a pair of BBR , my hen is a super broody lady and from what i have read on the breed that this is the normal. They have a tendancy to go broody very easily. She is sitting on her third set of eggs this summer. First one she hatched two of four, second she hatched nine of ten, and not sure how many she is on now.

 

[DTchickens]

Below is one of five pullets I am waiting to develop more and may possible be used as brood stock. She has a higher tail than I want; but she has yellow legs, walnut comb, eyes are starting to turn red, seems to have red ears, and also has quite a bit of weight on her when you pick her up along with a fairly gentle personality.



Also, another one of the five which has pretty much all of the same attributes; photo depicts typical type though her head is usually not tilted to the side so much and she is a example of how the other three birds are though some have longer tail than others due to just developing differently. I have noticed some birds feather and grow much more quickly than others, I cannot find if this is a fast or slow maturing breed anywhere on the net though; I figured I would select for quick maturers in years to come as I just don't like the look of the short tails some of the hens and cockerels have versus the longer tailed birds.





And not the best of photos, but one of the young cockerels. There is him and another I may use, this one I probably will assuming he matures correctly. He seems to be red eared, yellow legged, red eyed (turning), and so on with a fair personality. A bit smaller than some of the other cockerels but he has the best type and that can change/be bred for especially since the hens seem to be fairly well in the weight department. He is a BBred pattern, there is another cockerel that matches him but is slightly larger I may use even though I believe he was one of the wheatens; but I am waiting to see how he comes along on whether he has red/white earlobes.



They all seem to be "OK" in the beak department, not what I would classify as long but not quite short either; but, that is a trait that can be bred for too. I can't expect perfection, especially not from these birds, I suppose.

God bless,
Daniel.

ETA: Two pullets can actually be seen in the background of the cockerels photo; the rest of the Kraienköppe are up front.

 

[mcrooke45]

Here are some updated pics took today.






They are hard to keep still long enough to get good pictures of them.
Mark

 

[DTchickens]

Here are some updated pics took today.






They are hard to keep still long enough to get good pictures of them.
Mark

Nice looking birds Mcrooke, question, how large would you say your's are now? Mine are real small birds, I think the biggest one maybe about 3 and a half pounds but most are about 2 3/4-3 pounds.

 

[mcrooke45]

Daniel,
I would say my cockerels are around 4 to 4.5 pounds right now. The pullets around 3lbs. I think mine are about a month older than yours. Ideals website says the silver ones get between 5 to 5.5lbs. That sounds about what mine will be. The BBR are supposed to be a pound more. Mine are turned loose right now, trying to fatten them up a bit before winter. My pullets combs are real red but I don't know if they are laying yet. Most of my other pullets are except my sumatra bantams. I have not gotten a single egg from them yet. I got my first egg from one of my blue modern game hens when she was only 6 months old. They don't lay many though. I am getting maybe one to two eggs a week from them. I have two of my modern game hens in with a bantam dark cornish rooster. I am hoping the chicks will look close to a shamo bantam. I am interested to see what your malay x kraienkoppe will turn out. I have my sumatra bantam pullets and a couple of dark cornish pullets in with a showgirl cockerel right now. I want to create a naked neck sumatra with dark skin out of them.
Mark

 

[mcrooke45]

I have decided to get rid of all my large fowl birds and only keep bantams due to health issues. I really like the Kraienkoppes they follow me around like puppies. I wish I did not have to get rid of them. I have posted them on the Sale or Trade post if anyone is interested. Local pick up only, sorry.

 

[DTchickens]

I have decided to get rid of all my large fowl birds and only keep bantams due to health issues. I really like the Kraienkoppes they follow me around like puppies. I wish I did not have to get rid of them. I have posted them on the Sale or Trade post if anyone is interested. Local pick up only, sorry.

Sorry to hear that Mcrooke, hope everything turns out well for you. I might would take you up on that offer if I were close/had the funds to travel and all. I know some others on this forum were interested in them though, maybe they'll take you up on it. On the weights: I was hoping they'd get large, but they don't seem to be adding up. Some are very leggy looking birds and look huge but once you weigh them they're only about 3 and a half pounds at biggest. I'm not sure how long Kraienköppe grow though, I've never seen any reference by anyone breeds them (English) or German/Dutch.. I even bought a German book about them and though I did learn a little bit more into things like their egg laying capabilities I still haven't seen whether they are fast maturing fowl or slow maturing fowl. I have both on my yard, weight wise they are all about the same but some look smaller even though weight is similar (smallest is about 2 3/4 pounds so they are all around 3 pounds, haven't weighed the hens but I'd imagine they're close too by just feeling them in hand so maybe they will carry larger genes and throw larger birds). Some birds have had adult feathers since about 5-6 months, some at about 7-8 months are just now getting theirs in and haven't even began crowing, maturing in the comb/wattle department, or even grown spurs really yet. It's odd, as they all had the same food; two were kept in pens for being breeding cockerels I wanted nothing to happen to, but they were fed well to ensure that nothing would stunt their growth; many others were free ranged and a lot matured quickly but even some of them seem to be slow maturing fowl which means (to me) it is their genes effecting their growth.

Since I can't seem to find a reference, I personally favor fast maturing fowl and probably will select for that. If they do tend to mature slow, they might reach some decent weights, but if not oh well: Perhaps through selective breeding and the Malay cross I can fix the weight over time. I'm slowly weeding out all of my games too, so soon I will only have the Kraienköppe left to focus on which will allow me to have more space too for raising/culling more birds.

God bless,
Daniel.

 

[mcrooke45]

With your weight issues, you might want to cross some of them with your Shamos and use the hens from them to cross back in with the Malay x Kraienkoppe to add a little more weight to them. The pictures I have seen from them in Germany looked like an upright stance. That Shamo cross should add the extra weight and the better stance to them.
Mark

 

[DTchickens]

With your weight issues, you might want to cross some of them with your Shamos and use the hens from them to cross back in with the Malay x Kraienkoppe to add a little more weight to them. The pictures I have seen from them in Germany looked like an upright stance. That Shamo cross should add the extra weight and the better stance to them.
Mark

I have considered crossing Shamo, but the issue is Shamo are pea comb, and the tail would be too low, along with the stance being too upright I believe- all of which could be corrected though. And my Shamo hens' might just kill the Kraienköppe cocks, I know that one would. I am hoping the Malay will help do the same, he is a bantam but is already larger than the Kraienköppe with a chance of throwing larger birds hopefully. The Shamo is something though I am considering truthfully, just haven't made my mind up on it yet.


God bless,
Daniel.

P.S. And for anyone else who may experience the same thing in their fowl regarding slow and fast maturing fowl and which is correct, I have since found a group of German breeders and I was told Kraienköppe are indeed fast maturing fowl. I assume the slow maturing fowl are throw backs to the Oriental blood added by either Ideal (assuming they added more Malay) or if as someone suggested once Cubalaya was used which tend to mature slowly if I recall correctly.

 

[mcrooke45]

I have considered crossing Shamo, but the issue is Shamo are pea comb, and the tail would be too low, along with the stance being too upright I believe- all of which could be corrected though. And my Shamo hens' might just kill the Kraienköppe cocks, I know that one would. I am hoping the Malay will help do the same, he is a bantam but is already larger than the Kraienköppe with a chance of throwing larger birds hopefully. The Shamo is something though I am considering truthfully, just haven't made my mind up on it yet.


God bless,
Daniel.

P.S. And for anyone else who may experience the same thing in their fowl regarding slow and fast maturing fowl and which is correct, I have since found a group of German breeders and I was told Kraienköppe are indeed fast maturing fowl. I assume the slow maturing fowl are throw backs to the Oriental blood added by either Ideal (assuming they added more Malay) or if as someone suggested once Cubalaya was used which tend to mature slowly if I recall correctly.

I would go the route of a Shamo cock to a Kraienkoppe hen. Since the hens carry the breed trait more from what I have read. I would just use the hens from these and breed them back to your Kraienkoppes. One of my cockerels matured fast the other one slow. I like the stance of the one that matured slower better. He is looking much better now. His legs are at least 2 to 3 inches longer than the one that matured fast. I like the oriental look myself.
Mark