Landrace/adaptive breeding discussion

[Florida Bullfrog]

 

[troyer]

Officially six weeks. The smallest has the best camouflage, but she's half the size of her siblings so I don't think I'll keep her.View attachment 3863899

This group really prefers foraging. Whether that's due to Mama's teaching or a natural inclination, they don't even look at the food in the morning but just go out to play. As far as I can tell they're having no problems with the heat.

I would love to have that little black n' white one, just for the experience.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Tonight I counted the combined group of 15 and all are there.

The mother of the 10 (of the combined 15) is setting again on a clutch of about a dozen eggs give or take. Seems like there was 12 or so there a couple of nights ago. There may be 13 or 14 now.

#8 (or #9 if another missing hen or two appears with chicks) is mostly done hatching. The two blue eggs in front have chicks in them. I didn't check the tan egg or count her brood, but I bet she has around 10 at least.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I'll be setting another group of eggs some time this week. Coyotes or dogs got my sister's cockerel again so I'll set some of his eggs ((JG x RIR) x RIR/(Biel x JG)/(Biel x BA)) and some of my own. Mine will be ((JG x RIR) × BA). There's a possibility of a few Ranger eggs in the group, and also a possibility of overflow from the other cockerel I got rid of a few weeks ago. Unless someone goes broody, this will be the last mix for this season.

So I'll theoretically have Biel, JG, RIR, and BA mixed in well for the start of next season.

I need to verify broodiness and parenting for the new pullets before I rehome the older hens.

 

[troyer]

This morning an Easter Egger hen was out and about by about six thirty and a Cooper's hawk attempted to get some of her chicks which are about bobwhite quail sized. The Easter egger made sure her chicks were under cover and then she went out into the center of the yard and drew attention to herself, cackling, moving about and just generally raising a ruckus. The Cooper's hawk was sitting on a tall maple tree watching her, when he came swooping down toward where the chicks were hiding, she blasted toward him from where she was, turned him away and he went back to the tree he had been in. The hen went to the cover the chicks were hiding in and clucked reassuringly to them for a bit. She then came out from the cover and seemed to be enticing the hawk away from the chicks by putting herself out there, cackling, moving around a bit, running in short bursts away from the chicks which were still tightly under cover. It worked because the hawk came swooping out of the tree right toward her, she kinda slowly ran away from the chicks, cackling as she was running and when the hawk was about twenty feet from her she turned around and seemed prepared to take him on! He thought better of it, made a ninety degree turn and flew away into the horizon. When the hen was sure the hawk was gone she went back, got her chicks and proceeded to get closer to the house for awhile. When a bird of prey makes an attempt like that they usually stay closer to cover for several hours, but still continue to forage. This picture is of the hen and her chicks taken a week and a half earlier.

Adult Cooper's hawk. Picture taken from:
https://www.birdzilla.com/

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

The last new black hen mother was indeed #8. She is mostly keeping her brood in the blueberry fields.

#9 appeared yesterday evening. She brooded under some roofing materials and wire between my barn and my sheds. She’s a Cracker x American gamefowl cross and most or all of her chicks would have been fathered by the same. She has about a dozen chicks.

 

[LaurenRitz]

One of the Rangers, one of the Marans, and one of the Speckled Sussex are showing no signs of heat stress. On the other hand, three of the Buckeyes aren't heat stressed and one of them actively prefers foraging.

No sign of heat stress on any of the cross breeds.

This is one of the few times I wish I'd gotten them used to being handled. I can't catch them except off the roost at night, and in the dark which is which? I'd like to tag those that are doing the best.

 

[Az OEGB]

The last new black hen mother was indeed #8. She is mostly keeping her brood in the blueberry fields.

#9 appeared yesterday evening. She brooded under some roofing materials and wire between my barn and my sheds. She’s a Cracker x American gamefowl cross and most or all of her chicks would have been fathered by the same. She has about a dozen chicks. View attachment 3869441View attachment 3869442

Those look nice. Do those white chicks end up staying white or are they wheatens, just wondering because I had one like that hatch from one of my jungle fowl hybrid hens a few days ago.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Those look nice. Do those white chicks end up staying white or are they wheatens, just wondering because I had one like that hatch from one of my jungle fowl hybrid hens a few days ago.

It depends on the line. Yellow chicks off of my "terrorfowl" come out wheaten. Yellow chicks off my "Cracker" line of red junglefowl hybrids come out pure white. Yellow chicks off my American game bantams come out splash. That hen in the pic is 3/4 American, 1/4 Cracker. She's mostly wheaten looking (although she looks very partridge in the pic). The father is probably the 1/2 Cracker, 1/2 American brood cock, which is her father. Those yellow chicks will probably be wheaten.

My Crackers haven't made a white chick in about 2 years. Once I made a brother/sister pair that came out pumpkin on the stag and an unusual sort of blonde partridge on the hen. I culled them both, but I regret that now.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

One of the Rangers, one of the Marans, and one of the Speckled Sussex are showing no signs of heat stress. On the other hand, three of the Buckeyes aren't heat stressed and one of them actively prefers foraging.

No sign of heat stress on any of the cross breeds.

This is one of the few times I wish I'd gotten them used to being handled. I can't catch them except off the roost at night, and in the dark which is which? I'd like to tag those that are doing the best.

What sort of signs of stress?