Making Lemonade [Selective Culling Project - very long term]

[AmeliaBedelia]

The pictures of your "keeper" chickens aren't showing up for me...is that a tech issue on my part, or are they not inserted yet?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

The pictures of your "keeper" chickens aren't showing up for me...is that a tech issue on my part, or are they not inserted yet?

Not Inserted. "Real Life" Interfered, and a lot of things with this project got delayed, sorry.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

P1-01 UPDATE (14 Weeks, apologies for delays)

Thing One, barred female. 51.0 oz.

Thing Two, barred female, 49.3 oz

Thing Three, smutty white male, 89.9 oz. [This is above my eventual target weight for males at this age, an encouraging sign - clean legs, full single comb - again, encouraging sign for the future. NONE of the color I want, and white can be difficult to deal with, but this is a Keeper for the next stage of breeding.

Thing Four was rehomed roughly ten days ago, another male, at 61.2 oz approximately 12 weeks of age. Borderline on weight, coloration was a bit crazed, but there are better (if by "better" I mean MORE crazed) examples in P01-02. Photo for reference, this branch of the tree has been trimmed...

 

[U_Stormcrow]

P1-02 [9 weeks and a day or two]


DOC 40.5 oz

Sneezy 47.5 oz

Happy 42.2 oz

Sleepy 31.9 oz

Grumpy 36.7 oz

Dopey 47.9 oz

Bash 53.1 oz

S White 43.7 oz

 

[U_Stormcrow]

At this moment, I'm unsure is any member of P1-02 is going to be kept. None of them are screaming at me that I can't live without them.

P1-03 weren't labeled (or even fully photographed) at birth, much less weighed. They remain unnamed. Introductions, I suppose, are in order. [2 Week Update]

There are some interesting colorations here, many which didn't photo well, but we'll try it.

!Nom Primus 3.2 oz

!Nom Secundus 3.8 oz (this was the 6th one born, I believe)

!Nom Tertius 2.9 oz This bird's mama was a Brahma (feathered feet), it has a shock of white at the tips of both wings, just the outside two under feathers, and a soft yellow cast to the underbelly.

!Nom Quartus 2.7 oz (I think this was the 4th one born, actually - nicknamed "spider" due to the black spots on the head, like extra eyes)

!Nom Quintus 4.7 oz (This mama was also a Brahma, and the darkest of the Brahma mom chicks, so dark its almost impossible to make out pattern. Feet feathers, otoh, dead giveaway)

!Nom Sextus 4.6 oz (Another Brahma mama, lots of yellow-white fluff to the underbelly, but there are spots at both elbows that are white, plus the two white feathers which extend to the wingtip revealed when the wing is outstretched. Going out on a limb and saying this may be a male)

!Nom Septimus 3.7 oz (darkest of my birds and visually smallest. Legs are so dark as to be closer to black than slate)

!Nom Octavus 4.1 oz (This bird is grey, with a soft, indistinct yellow mark at the head, and the hint of white edges on the wing tips. Good test of whether the head spot is a reliable indicator of barring in my mixes. Thus far, its proving true, but we have a small sample size and some of the mother's breeds remain uncertain. Clean legs on this one, not Brahma stock)

!Nom Nonus 4.5 oz (Looks like #8, but darker - and unlike Octavus, this one's mama was a Brahma. The head spot was a little more well defined, but not evident in this photo. Again, a good test of yellow spot indicating future barring, since we know the mama's breed by the feathered feet.)

!Nom Decimus 4.5 oz (the head spot is long and white, not round and yellow. Clean light legs as well. Otherwise, good weight, no other notable characteristics at this age)

There were no brahma hatchings in P1-01 or 02, so will be very interested in how RUG's barring interacts with their lacing. You can see they are already pulling ahead in weight, open question as to their speed of maturity. I really don't want the feathered feet, or the 7 month wait till they start laying, though I want the lacing for the future flock. Expect I'll raise these to maturity, get some progeny out of them, see if the lacing appears/reappears. If not, I might be culling the Brahma lines out of the project entirely - which would be a disappointment.

 

[3KillerBs]

Doc is a lovely bird, however well he/she does or doesn't fit your goals.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Doc is a lovely bird, however well he/she does or doesn't fit your goals.

I've a friend possibly looking at a land buy, considering getting into keeping chickens. Will be remote, no issues with cockerels on property should that prove to be the case. I hope to rehome some of these birds to them. Though some of these aren't checking off my project boxes, they all (except the Brahma mamas) came from good, early layers - so its just what the friend is looking for, and the price can't be beat.

If so, it will be a few weeks, so they will be receiving them only a few weeks from expected start of lay.

and, just as with Thing Four, if it doesn't work out, I can potentially re-home them back to my property.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

side At this moment, I'm unsure is any member of P1-02 is going to be kept. None of them are screaming at me that I can't live without them.

P1-03 weren't labeled (or even fully photographed) at birth, much less weighed. They remain unnamed. Introductions, I suppose, are in order. [2 Week Update]

There are some interesting colorations here, many which didn't photo well, but we'll try it.

!Nom Primus 3.2 oz
View attachment 2562701

!Nom Secundus 3.8 oz (this was the 6th one born, I believe)
View attachment 2562706


!Nom Tertius 2.9 oz This bird's mama was a Brahma (feathered feet), it has a shock of white at the tips of both wings, just the outside two under feathers, and a soft yellow cast to the underbelly.
View attachment 2562713


!Nom Quartus 2.7 oz (I think this was the 4th one born, actually - nicknamed "spider" due to the black spots on the head, like extra eyes)
View attachment 2562727


!Nom Quintus 4.7 oz (This mama was also a Brahma, and the darkest of the Brahma mom chicks, so dark its almost impossible to make out pattern. Feet feathers, otoh, dead giveaway)
View attachment 2562729


!Nom Sextus 4.6 oz (Another Brahma mama, lots of yellow-white fluff to the underbelly, but there are spots at both elbows that are white, plus the two white feathers which extend to the wingtip revealed when the wing is outstretched. Going out on a limb and saying this may be a male)
View attachment 2562733


!Nom Septimus 3.7 oz (darkest of my birds and visually smallest. Legs are so dark as to be closer to black than slate)
View attachment 2562744


!Nom Octavus 4.1 oz (This bird is grey, with a soft, indistinct yellow mark at the head, and the hint of white edges on the wing tips. Good test of whether the head spot is a reliable indicator of barring in my mixes. Thus far, its proving true, but we have a small sample size and some of the mother's breeds remain uncertain. Clean legs on this one, not Brahma stock)
View attachment 2562748


!Nom Nonus 4.5 oz (Looks like #8, but darker - and unlike Octavus, this one's mama was a Brahma. The head spot was a little more well defined, but not evident in this photo. Again, a good test of yellow spot indicating future barring, since we know the mama's breed by the feathered feet.)
View attachment 2562758


!Nom Decimus 4.5 oz (the head spot is long and white, not round and yellow. Clean light legs as well. Otherwise, good weight, no other notable characteristics at this age)
View attachment 2562761

There were no brahma hatchings in P1-01 or 02, so will be very interested in how RUG's barring interacts with their lacing. You can see they are already pulling ahead in weight, open question as to their speed of maturity. I really don't want the feathered feet, or the 7 month wait till they start laying, though I want the lacing for the future flock. Expect I'll raise these to maturity, get some progeny out of them, see if the lacing appears/reappears. If not, I might be culling the Brahma lines out of the project entirely - which would be a disappointment.

The penciling of the dark Brahma isn’t a very dominant pattern. Black (and therefore blue- your rooster is blue barred) is very dominant, which is why you’re seeing mostly black, blue, black barred, and blue barred chicks. It’s unlikely that the penciling will show up in the first generation. Your best bet to get the penciled pattern would be to breed the Brahma mixes to the brahmas or breed the Brahma mixes together. Penciling also could show up when crossed to lacing, columbian (like your various red hens), and possibly dominant white (though silver penciling/dark wouldn’t be visible but it would be genetically there). It looks like you have a few chicks with dominant white, which either come from the red sex links or the cornish x. Dominant white is one of the colors dominant over black. The white chicks you have will produce about 50% white offspring when crossed to birds without dominant white (possibly with black spots and/or red leakage).

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Thanks, that confirms my suspicions - that the pattern of the Brahma would be hidden in the first generation, and only reveal itself in the second (at the earliest).

I plan to cross one or more of the clearly Brahma offspring with the White Dom (likely CornishX offspring) Thing Three. Doing the same with the "reddest" of the other birds, again putting them under Thing Three. Then crossing those respective pairings together.

My goal, in part, is to get some red tones into the Brahma - or more accurately, to get some of the Brahma patterning genes (but essentially nothing else) into the other birds, which already have the red tones, clean legs, early maturity, and (largely) prominent combs I do want. If I get a little size, I won't complain, as long as it doesn't come with the greatly delayed maturity.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Thanks, that confirms my suspicions - that the pattern of the Brahma would be hidden in the first generation, and only reveal itself in the second (at the earliest).

I plan to cross one or more of the clearly Brahma offspring with the White Dom (likely CornishX offspring) Thing Three. Doing the same with the "reddest" of the other birds, again putting them under Thing Three. Then crossing those respective pairings together.

My goal, in part, is to get some red tones into the Brahma - or more accurately, to get some of the Brahma patterning genes (but essentially nothing else) into the other birds, which already have the red tones, clean legs, early maturity, and (largely) prominent combs I do want. If I get a little size, I won't complain, as long as it doesn't come with the greatly delayed maturity.

I see. Though Thing 3 is heterozygous dominant white and black, meaning the black he has could easily override the penciling. Are you able to get partridge rocks? They’re much closer to what you want without the feathered feet and pea combs of the Brahma.