Making Lemonade [Selective Culling Project - very long term]

[U_Stormcrow]

P1 - 02
...
Sneezy, Sleepy, Happy, "Doc", Grumpy, Dopey, Bash, and Snow White. Birth Weights are (respectively)

1.4, 1.3, 1.4, 1.8, 1.4, 1.8, 1.9, 1.5 ounces

above reformated for clarity.

UPDATE - 2 wk weigh in. Most birds got new leg bands. Thanks to @aart who mentioned difficulties with permanent markers not actually being permanent on leg bands! Some of the stripes had started to fade.

New weights, respectively:

4.4, 4.3, 4.5, 5.8, 4.7, 6.0, 6.2, 5.2

For those not numerically inclined, each of the birds more than tripled their birth weight, putting on 3-4 oz each. S White put on almost 350%, 3.7 oz against a 1.5 oz birth weight.

Cosmetically, S White resembles Thing Three from P1-01, but the weight gain is well shy T3's numbers. Dopey, Bash, and Doc are also showing good weight gain, on par with Thing Four from P1-01. There colorations are all different, no obvious pattern, not even slate legs, to watch for in future hatches to see if similar growth rates are present.

**Note to self - ask on the Genetics thread if the there is any association between Slate Legs and darkly tinted eggs?

 

[NatJ]

**Note to self - ask on the Genetics thread if the there is any association between Slate Legs and darkly tinted eggs?

I don't think so

There are two major genes affecting leg color: white skin vs. yellow skin, and dark skin vs. light skin.
They can appear in any combination:
white + light = white
yellow + light = yellow
white + dark = slate
yellow + dark = willow or green

Neither of those genes is linked to or associated with the blue egg gene.

But I think you're dealing with shades of brown (cream, tan, ivory, etc).

And among chickens that lay brown eggs (rather than white, blue, or green), I don't think anyone has figured out the genetics for what shade you get. So I really can't say whether there is any linkage at all or not.

I think most chicken breeds with slate legs actually lay white eggs (Hamburgs are one example.)

 

[Molpet]

Finally, my Reds are the least predator aware of my flock, apart from the single Cornish - camouflage helps, yes, but being too stupid to seek safety isn't a trait I can breed out without the assistance of predators I can ill afford to feed at the moment.

I had broodies raise cx and they developed good predator awareness skills, just a little slow when running. All my chicks raised in a brooder were silly about hawks and coyotes. Would walk up to the fence to get a better look at coyotes. I try to have a broody waiting when I incubate any more

 

[Xouie]

Very interesting!

 

[Rysktal]

 

[U_Stormcrow]

UPDATE - 2 wk weigh in. Most birds got new leg bands. Thanks to @aart who mentioned difficulties with permanent markers not actually being permanent on leg bands! Some of the stripes had started to fade.

New weights, respectively:

4.4, 4.3, 4.5, 5.8, 4.7, 6.0, 6.2, 5.2

For those not numerically inclined, each of the birds more than tripled their birth weight, putting on 3-4 oz each. S White put on almost 350%, 3.7 oz against a 1.5 oz birth weight.

P01-02 UPDATE (Weigh In) - no photos, sunlight wasn't cooperating, and I was crunched for time. Hope to update those in the next day or so, as one of my birds has a distinct red tint to the otherwise black feathers, and I'd like to more closely inspect the other two primarily "black" birds for hints of red. The chicks showing obvious barring last photo series are more distinctly barred, but no hint of red. S. White's growth has slowed, though remains one of my top 5 birds from this hatch, Thing Three is superior in that regard, and otherwise has the same slutty white coloration.

This is the 4 Week weigh in (plus one day, if it matters - been a hell of a week)

Sneezy... 13.1 oz
Sleepy.... 10.3 oz
Happy.... 10.9 oz
Doc......... 13.6 oz
Grumpy. 11.6 oz
Dopey.... 15.6 oz
Bash........ 16.9 oz
S White.. 13.7 oz


The P1-01 birds will have their 8 week weigh in and photos this weekend. Will update as soon as I have the numbers and associated photos for all 12 birds.

Reminder to self - beg help from more experienced posters on sexing those birds, if possible. As mutts, 12-16 wks is probably a more reasonable target date for that, but I can dream...

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Sneezy, aged 4 wks, 2 days. Middle of the road on weight, the only bird with any consistent, distinct, red in the coloration - all at the tips of the feathers. That's probably enough to keep it around as potential breed stock (for now), but will happily set this bird aside in favor of better birds in the future.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Sleepy. Currently the lightest of the birds in weight, no discernable red tones. Unless something changes radically in the next 8-12 weeks, this bird is due to become a small roaster at age 16.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Bash. Struggling with this one. Currently the heaviest bird of the batch, significantly. There is the barest red leakage on a few feathers, but not much else to recommend. We'll see what the month and a half offers, but at the moment, jury is out. (16.9 oz at 4 weeks - its no CornishX, but its not bad weight gain). In fairness, it does have a comb I'll accept and the clean legs I want, but otherwise... Will be soliciting input down the road.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

S. White. With the smutty black stripe on one wing, probably should have named in Cruella DeVille. In any event, the growth rate has dropped, inferior in all ways to Thing Three from the prior batch. How inferior? S. is 13.7 oz, middle of the pack for weight. T3 was 28.9 oz!

Another fryer/roaster in my future, I think