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Sounds like you have a fun project you are getting started on!
On the double lacing with the blue, what color would be with the blue for the lacing part? Sounds like they will be truly gorgeous!! And I think I might be in trouble....I must not look at any pics of them or I'll have yet another breed and color variety I just 'caaan't' live with out. Hahaha
That pic cpartist posted of her girls, especially the blues were really striking indeed. And I bet the cross of some of her girls onto Gnarles will be very beautiful!!
Do you ever have a hard time waiting for the next generation of chicks to mature so you can set up your next crosses and breeding pens? I know I do.... maybe its because I feel like I have a very long way to go...who knows.
YES!!!!!! I go to bed at night thinking about which bird I can cross here, or which bird I can cross there.
I pick them pretty easily at an early age just by the body, comb, eye color, disposition, etc. of the birds. I usually let color correction guide me to pairing after I have grown out the first offspring of certain crosses and matings and I have seen their egg color. I want to see the foundation first and alot of this we can pick up just watching them mature. I think the only time I would let color be my first priority is if something horrible happened to one of my roosters, then if I had bird that was the very least the color I wanted and had other things not so desirable about them....I would use them just to hopefully get the color back and work my way back from there and build the barn, but this would be a worse case scenario and a very long and hard road that I don't even want to think about.
I think I have the most fun with the breeding and pairings and seeing what can be created in both bird and egg color....even if it is just a smidge of improvement or even if it is a total disaster. If it's a disaster I simply just stop doing that and move on to a new pairing, if it's good I usually stick with it and see what my odds are going to be like.....can I do it again???
As for the Barnie....tls_ranch has been working on her blue laced Barnies for a couple of years and she also started with BLRW...if you pop over to the Barnevelder breeders lets stick together thread....she has some of her birds posted there with in the last 10 or 15 pages. They are yummy! I think she also has some on her page...can't remember.
So many pages, so much BYC and not enough time to look at it all!!!
Uh oh....am I going to have to start calling you Pinkchick-the enabler?
There really are a lot of threads on here...I try to keep up with a few of the breeds I raise, but there are so, so many. I try to pick a new one to browse each time I have a bit of down time at the end of the night to see what people are working on. I don't know if I should go to the barnevelder thread...I will be in big trouble...cause I will want all of them! I just know it!
I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks and thinks and thinks about birds and the possible combos for breeding. This year is a different year for me I think because I am armed with a lot more knowledge on the Marans than I had before...I will still always have my fun projects on the side for kicks, but for my main pens I feel like I will have a very good start. I am still keeping my fingers, toes, eyes...pretty much whatever I can cross that this hatch that goes into lockdown on monday goes well. If so, there should be some fantastic stock for me to use when they get a bit of age on them. I am going to be much more selective...and those girls I just can't part with I'll keep for layers for people that buy eggs from me. My main course of action is to keep less, but better quality. I think it will allow me the opportunity to be more focused.
Oh...and I just got done with chores....and I got my first egg from the pen I've divided off to start my work on a bantam line for the Marans. I have a few fully mature girls that never got bigger than 3 or 3 1/2 pounds. So, I'm gonna keep working on getting them down in size. I have an equally small black boy with really good feathering on the legs...so here's to hoping I can make progress. I worked with mainly bantam breeds growing up, so I am feeling pretty good about my understanding of breeding for size and etc with this project. But, with anything...its a project and until I start seeing the results of my pen...I'm not gonna get too overly excited.
