Malay Chat Thread

[MysteryChicken]

Excuse me if this the wrong Forum.


Hello, those who raise Malays, I'm new to it. I'm interested in helping preserve this stunning Giant Bird.

I understand that their genetic diversity is quite slim, & there's risk of abit of harmful genetics that maybe present.

I would like to hear from you others out there working on helping the population expand here in the US, & your experiences.

Have you needed to do any crossing, & back crossing to generate better genetic diversity in your flocks?

How did the crossing go if you had to do it?

If you didn't need to cross, where did you get new bloodlines?

I know some people might cringe at the thought of having to mix something else to an Old World Breed, but you gotta do, what you gotta do to keep genes strong.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Here's my 5 boys, & two girls.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Updated pictures of my Malays. 14 weeks old.

 

[Lilly10310]

 

[MysteryChicken]

Mine just turned 15 weeks last Friday, & are turn 16 weeks tomorrow.

 

[MysteryChicken]

People always say that Malays are so mean but there not

I know.

One of my boys had an embarrassing moment with a small silkie hen yesterday. He grabbed her out of trying to dominate her, & she came back kicking at him. He ran away, like a wimp.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Here's my newest pullets.

These are from a breeder here in Michigan.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Birds and reptiles don't have the same reaction to inbreeding as mammals do they can inbreed and linebreed for far longer. I think doing so could improve the size and confirmation of your birds. How many of their eggs do you hatch out in a year and of those what percent do you cull/breed

Severe inbreeding in chickens, many generations without new blood being added can cause immune suppression, early chick deaths, deformities, cardiac problems, & an overall shorter life span. Dorkings are a good example.

Many Malay genepools are becoming too restricted in the US.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Yeah I'm only just beginning to learn the history of chickens and like with everything else it seems we've got the Western version of history pretty well documented, but it always tends to derive from the east on a number of subjects. I was hoping there was a little more in the way of oriental fowl standards, which seem to be pretty elusive beyond the Japanese and Chinese breeds.

I think your suggestion is right until more Asian breeders get involved in our hemisphere, what suits my fancy (within reason) is probably the way to go. Some of the characteristics I'm looking for are large build, tall, cold hardy, parrot beaked, and comb-less.

Almost Terror Bird-like in appearance. Though not to the degree of re-creating a carnivorous ground hawk outside of small rodents and snakes. I'll leave that concept to Jack Horner

That's actually what I call this line; I call them "terror fowl":

What I'm finding is that the various oriental and oriental-derived breeds can retain a strong terror-fowl look as chicks but as they mature they lose a lot of the reptilian look, at least to my eyes, although hens can sometimes retain it by having small pea combs and be waddle-less.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Here's my birds again. I traded 2 of the boys for 2 pullets, with a breeder here in Michigan. He needed new blood for his bloodline.

Here's the ones I have now, plus the 2, 3 week old pullets.