Making Lemonade [Selective Culling Project - very long term]

[U_Stormcrow]

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.

I'm not bringing any new birds onto the property - part of the challenge here is starting with sub-par birds and trying to get them up to suitable, eating the rest.

Would I be better of starting with a different male, say one of - I don't even know what to call it - the black birds with the red neck markings, green sheen to feathers, and brown check marks in the breast (oh, and blues, as well, in the blacks) "harlequin" birds?

If putting Thing Three over the next generation, then crossing those back to one another is going to give me a lot of birds that look much like Thing Three, with some of the hidden traits only showing up on one bird in four, then it seems like I'm unnecessarily delaying forward progress and multiplying my flock size substantially in hopes of getting just a few useful birds...

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I'm not bringing any new birds onto the property - part of the challenge here is starting with sub-par birds and trying to get them up to suitable, eating the rest.

Would I be better of starting with a different male, say one of - I don't even know what to call it - the black birds with the red neck markings, green sheen to feathers, and brown check marks in the breast (oh, and blues, as well, in the blacks) "harlequin" birds?

If putting Thing Three over the next generation, then crossing those back to one another is going to give me a lot of birds that look much like Thing Three, with some of the hidden traits only showing up on one bird in four, then it seems like I'm unnecessarily delaying forward progress and multiplying my flock size substantially in hopes of getting just a few useful birds...

You mean the blacks/blues with red leakage? They’ll have the genes for both columbian and black, so there’s a greater chance of getting partially penciled offspring with them. However, it’s still not a guarantee, and I’m not completely sure what colors you’ll get from your second gen crosses.
For your project, at least at the start, it seems best that you keep multiple males because you have a lot of traits that you want to bring into future generations.
Out of curiosity, are you planning to keep the barring and blue genes in your flock?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

You mean the blacks/blues with red leakage? They’ll have the genes for both columbian and black, so there’s a greater chance of getting partially penciled offspring with them. However, it’s still not a guarantee, and I’m not completely sure what colors you’ll get from your second gen crosses.
For your project, at least at the start, it seems best that you keep multiple males because you have a lot of traits that you want to bring into future generations.
Out of curiosity, are you planning to keep the barring and blue genes in your flock?

Nope, and Nope.

If I had the budget, and the time, and crazy space - THEN I'd do a "blue" project, because the blue birds are so damned attractive. But utterly useless to me, it would be simply so I could sell them (for little money, I'm in an economically depressed area of the country) to a limited market, as most of my neighbors have particular needs, needs answered either by a dedicated meaty, a dedicated layer, or some form of free ranging dual purpose that can be let loose with the cows (which are their primary livestock).

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Nope, and Nope.

If I had the budget, and the time, and crazy space - THEN I'd do a "blue" project, because the blue birds are so damned attractive. But utterly useless to me, it would be simply so I could sell them (for little money, I'm in an economically depressed area of the country) to a limited market, as most of my neighbors have particular needs, needs answered either by a dedicated meaty, a dedicated layer, or some form of free ranging dual purpose that can be let loose with the cows (which are their primary livestock).

Ah. Well, chickens can have the blue gene and not be solidly colored, which could still fit with your project. Same goes for barring.

Blue silver partridge (what your dark brahmas would look like if they had the blue gene).

Blue partridge (like your Brahmas, but with the gold gene instead of silver plus the blue gene).

A bielefelder- barred gold duckwing.

A rhodebar- barred red columbian (your rainbows are red columbian).

(Not my photos)

Sorry if I’m spamming your thread.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Ah. Well, chickens can have the blue gene and not be solidly colored, which could still fit with your project. Same goes for barring.

Blue silver partridge (what your dark brahmas would look like if they had the blue gene).
View attachment 2563032

Blue partridge (like your Brahmas, but with the gold gene instead of silver plus the blue gene).View attachment 2563033

A bielefelder- barred gold duckwing.
View attachment 2563034

A rhodebar- barred red columbian (your rainbows are red columbian).View attachment 2563036

(Not my photos)

Sorry if I’m spamming your thread.

No, this is really helpful - actually, while I'd prefer the penciling of the Brahma over a red base, the "rhodebar" are quite close to what I'm looking far. Those would disappear on my property, in a good way.

Let's say that was my short term goal, because it may be by morning, what would you recommend I cross, of what I have currently available???

I love this, learning new things. THANK YOU!

/edit do I need to find a barred cockerel from a hatching that looks like Thing One/Thing Two, and just put it over my Rainbows and cross fingers??? It seems like I'll lose a lot of weight that way, but its a start...

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

No, this is really helpful - actually, while I'd prefer the penciling of the Brahma over a red base, the "rhodebar" are quite close to what I'm looking far. Those would disappear on my property, in a good way.

Let's say that was my short term goal, because it may be by morning, what would you recommend I cross, of what I have currently available???

I love this, learning new things. THANK YOU!

/edit do I need to find a barred cockerel from a hatching that looks like Thing One/Thing Two, and just put it over my Rainbows and cross fingers??? It seems like I'll lose a lot of weight that way, but its a start...

Yes, I would recommend that you cross a barred male with red leakage over the rainbows. However, as you said, that’s just for color, and it may come with other traits you don’t want in your project. Though that cross would be the fastest way to get barred red columbian.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

So, my current hopes are on Dopey (9 weeks, will recheck the legs in the AM, has 11 oz on an otherwise visually similar sibling) - in hopes it might be male...

and on !Nom Octavus, who has a yellow, rather than white head spot - which thus far has been a reliable (though not necessarily a guarantee with my mutts) indicator of barring...

That hopeful, and hugely helpful. Thanks again @RoostersAreAwesome

 

[U_Stormcrow]

So, like any project, there will be unexpected hiccups along the way. We've already hit one, when I had to delay photos and weights. (Which I need to do again).

Hit another today. RUG has shown some recent aggression. I didn't mind so much when I was picking up his squawking girls and he charged me before backing off. That sort of protective behavior in a free range flock isn't necessarily a bad thing, so long as he only did it when I was picking up his adult girls and manhandling them to the scales.

However, today when I was taking my dog to the vet (instead of going on a three day trip) my wife went out to throw some scratch and do a quick head count. RUG both charged and spurred her, completely unprovoked. That is not acceptable under any circumstances.

If there is a future picture of RUG, it will be as sausage. Culling him as soon as the cutting table is clean and the hose is set up.

Incubator is currently a week into duck eggs, so there will be n new chicks joining the project for some time, since I no longer have an adult rooster (in about 45 minutes), and any eggs I gather three weeks from now can't be expected to be viable, though a few might be.

Next batch will be hatched as soon as I have a new productive Roo or two from the prior hatchings.

 

[NatJ]

Incubator is currently a week into duck eggs, so there will be n new chicks joining the project for some time, since I no longer have an adult rooster (in about 45 minutes), and any eggs I gather three weeks from now can't be expected to be viable, though a few might be.

You could gather eggs now, or maybe next week, then store them until the ducklings are done. Storing eggs longer does reduce the hatch rate, but infertile eggs will never hatch, so gathering them sooner might be the better choice.

Of course, that would be hatching more chicks from the male you just decided to cull, and I don't know if you would actually want to produce more offspring from him

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I did briefly consider abandoning the ducks in incubation, starting a fresh batch of chicks, THEN culling, but at the end of the day, I'm at 60 birds. A few need to grow up more, so I can make some selections, before I can take any significant steps forward. (Water is heating for the de-feathering. Have a friend seeking his tail feathers...) So this pause allows me to keep my flock w/i the desired size parameters. May make an afternoon of it, take out three of my Brahma, too - keeping the one with the darkest pattern, and the lightest, for future breedings, while losing the three in the nondescript middle.

That will fill the fridge for a bit. Look for my SIG to change, after the deed(s) are done.

/edit 6.6# live weight. 5.6# less head and feathers. Guessing around 4.5# when down to useful "stuff" - I don't keep the feet, but do keep almost everything else. Liver joins others to make pate.