Lets see all yalls minorcas!!!!:
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Minorca thread!
- Thread starter caral07
- Start date
My advice to breeders for adding new blood is to get a new hen or two. Mate to your own male,mark the chicks and keep only the pullets,sell or discard the original hen(s) and f1 cockerels.Breed the pullets to another of your own males. This way you keep your male line intact and your bloodline and by the time the blood gets mixed into the flock it is a high percent yours with just a bit of new for vigor. You keep your lines quality and traits and retain a breeding bloodline,yet it is not 100 % closed flock.
In bantams it is good for early maturity slows or stops growth.In large Minorcas they may start laying by 5-6 mos. but they continue to add muscle and weight for another 6 months or more. Egg size gradually gets bigger into the second season.
2009 Hatch Buff Male
Thanks Brad for the pictures.Picture taking can require lots of patience,you can try taking multiple pictures in different places and lights.Alot of it is the pose and birds like to make it difficult.Keep at it you will get a few really good ones.Did you know the old 1923 (I believe,or abouts )the APA Standard had a picture of a Rose Comb Black Minorca male and female by Schilling.
In relation to the Minorca breast,yes it should be full,but I find the Minorca does not put on much meat or muscle until they are into their second year.Up through the first year they grow bone and frame and can look gawky and clumsy.I am glad some attention is being paid to faster feathering.It is a sex linked trait that can be improved by marking the males that feather in fast.Males that are very slow feathering should be avoided as breeders,you can notice this as the wings shoulders and backs have downy feathers or bare patches when they should have feathers growing,it is very noticable from 2-6 weeks.Females will usually feather faster but even slow feathering females can be used when fast feathered males are selected.It is worth working on as it can trigger feather picking,having bare backed/slow feathering chicks in pin feather stages for prolonged time periods.Not only are Minorcas long birds they are tall birds,you want some thigh and length of leg,you want them long necked and high in the front end (high shoulders/slant back),much of this is also leg placement and balance.They are also a tighter feathered breed so watch out for loose feathering and long fluff,it is especially seen on the underline,the thigh ,abdomin and vent.In the head,I find the comb gets biggger into the second year,if it is big on a cockerel it is often too big on the older male.The cockerels that the blade follows the head too close will get even tighter to the head as a cock and will often turn or get sores.A big white lobe seems to look better than a tiny one against the black,try to have some shape to the lobe,which usually mean some width , for a long narrow lobe does not look right.Watch out for white in the face,avoid using cockerels with any white in face,retain old males that stay red in face.Look extremely close at the females for tendencies for white in the face too.If you have lots of good black cockerels to pick from,look for the mature males that do not show red feathers in the neck,wing bow,or saddle.One last thing to watch is eye color,in the blacks ,a dark eye color is called for,a sort of deep hazel brown,select away from light eyes showing yellow or reddish bay. If your birds are not long,tall,strong birds near standard weight,then you do not have a Minorca.Oh lets not have small eggs either,Minorcas are known as layers of extra large white eggs.
In relation to the Minorca breast,yes it should be full,but I find the Minorca does not put on much meat or muscle until they are into their second year.Up through the first year they grow bone and frame and can look gawky and clumsy.I am glad some attention is being paid to faster feathering.It is a sex linked trait that can be improved by marking the males that feather in fast.Males that are very slow feathering should be avoided as breeders,you can notice this as the wings shoulders and backs have downy feathers or bare patches when they should have feathers growing,it is very noticable from 2-6 weeks.Females will usually feather faster but even slow feathering females can be used when fast feathered males are selected.It is worth working on as it can trigger feather picking,having bare backed/slow feathering chicks in pin feather stages for prolonged time periods.Not only are Minorcas long birds they are tall birds,you want some thigh and length of leg,you want them long necked and high in the front end (high shoulders/slant back),much of this is also leg placement and balance.They are also a tighter feathered breed so watch out for loose feathering and long fluff,it is especially seen on the underline,the thigh ,abdomin and vent.In the head,I find the comb gets biggger into the second year,if it is big on a cockerel it is often too big on the older male.The cockerels that the blade follows the head too close will get even tighter to the head as a cock and will often turn or get sores.A big white lobe seems to look better than a tiny one against the black,try to have some shape to the lobe,which usually mean some width , for a long narrow lobe does not look right.Watch out for white in the face,avoid using cockerels with any white in face,retain old males that stay red in face.Look extremely close at the females for tendencies for white in the face too.If you have lots of good black cockerels to pick from,look for the mature males that do not show red feathers in the neck,wing bow,or saddle.One last thing to watch is eye color,in the blacks ,a dark eye color is called for,a sort of deep hazel brown,select away from light eyes showing yellow or reddish bay. If your birds are not long,tall,strong birds near standard weight,then you do not have a Minorca.Oh lets not have small eggs either,Minorcas are known as layers of extra large white eggs.
Quote:
John,
Making some progress. I am on the third generation now. Below are 2010 hatch birds.
My original cross was Black X Buff and Buff X Black, which resulted in more or less Black males with Red hackle and saddle and dull Black females with some buff in the hackle and chest. Last year one of the breedings I did was to cross them together. At hatch I culled anything that was Black or looked like the parents did as chicks which was black with a red face. I kept the ones that were red or showed wild type striping. This first male is one that I kept. Very large, good head, good lobes, legs and thigh still too short, but definite progress. He'll be bred to a couple pure Buff females and then to a couple of pullets that are out of crosses. I need to keep the size and type going while gradually moving back to pure Buff.
The females in this picture are essentially full sisters to the male above. They all have slate undercolor and light blue legs. The male in the photo is actually a Buff Leghorn X White Minorca cross and I've hatched around 30 chicks from this pen this year. I am getting some solid Buff chicks and some with striping. I'll cull as they age and show what they are really going to look like from a color perspective but the male is very large and excellent color. More leghorn type than Minorca, but the females should counter that. I am getting almost 100% white legs from this breeding and all of these pullets lay nice big White eggs.
This male is from a Pure Buff X Buff/Black cross mating. White legs, better leg and thigh, decent size, very dark in color, but showing some length of Back. Comb is very large, but it is very well set on his head. He'll be used for breeding this year. I plan to breed him to a couple pure Buff hens that I have.
This pullet is also from a Pure Buff X Buff/Black cross mating. Very good size. Great top color, but carries some slate undercolor. White legs. Pretty good back length, but carries her tail just a tad too high, especially when nervous, which she was in these pics. Going in the breeding pen this weekend and will be bred to a pure buff cock bird.
I think I am making some progress. I should have closer to overall Buff birds this year. Time will tell how they are as far as size and type.
John,
Making some progress. I am on the third generation now. Below are 2010 hatch birds.
My original cross was Black X Buff and Buff X Black, which resulted in more or less Black males with Red hackle and saddle and dull Black females with some buff in the hackle and chest. Last year one of the breedings I did was to cross them together. At hatch I culled anything that was Black or looked like the parents did as chicks which was black with a red face. I kept the ones that were red or showed wild type striping. This first male is one that I kept. Very large, good head, good lobes, legs and thigh still too short, but definite progress. He'll be bred to a couple pure Buff females and then to a couple of pullets that are out of crosses. I need to keep the size and type going while gradually moving back to pure Buff.
The females in this picture are essentially full sisters to the male above. They all have slate undercolor and light blue legs. The male in the photo is actually a Buff Leghorn X White Minorca cross and I've hatched around 30 chicks from this pen this year. I am getting some solid Buff chicks and some with striping. I'll cull as they age and show what they are really going to look like from a color perspective but the male is very large and excellent color. More leghorn type than Minorca, but the females should counter that. I am getting almost 100% white legs from this breeding and all of these pullets lay nice big White eggs.
This male is from a Pure Buff X Buff/Black cross mating. White legs, better leg and thigh, decent size, very dark in color, but showing some length of Back. Comb is very large, but it is very well set on his head. He'll be used for breeding this year. I plan to breed him to a couple pure Buff hens that I have.
This pullet is also from a Pure Buff X Buff/Black cross mating. Very good size. Great top color, but carries some slate undercolor. White legs. Pretty good back length, but carries her tail just a tad too high, especially when nervous, which she was in these pics. Going in the breeding pen this weekend and will be bred to a pure buff cock bird.
I think I am making some progress. I should have closer to overall Buff birds this year. Time will tell how they are as far as size and type.
I finally made it through reading this great thread today. Thanks for the posts everyone- especially John and Dan. I would love to resurrect the White RC Minorca. Would anyone else be interested in getting these going again with me? This season I will be participating in the "White Giant Project" a few of us Jersey Giant enthusiasts/breeders are taking on out West here to restore the White Jersey Giant to the APA Standard. I would love to apply this effort to another breed and the Minorca has always caught my fancy. But the effort would proceed much faster and the results would be better if a group of us participated in such a project. It is unfortunate the Minorca breed club(s) are inactive. Perhaps we could get something going here.
- Jan 10, 2010
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Yes, Minorcas can be flighty for sure just like any other lighter breed. You could try the 8ft fence and see if that helps, the other option would be is to trim their flight feathers to keep them from flying.
Mine stay locked up because of predators in the area we live in but they definetely have the ability to get up in the air pretty high. Even my big Minorcas can fly straight up in the air 8-10 feet.
Hope the info helps you out!
John
Mine stay locked up because of predators in the area we live in but they definetely have the ability to get up in the air pretty high. Even my big Minorcas can fly straight up in the air 8-10 feet.
Hope the info helps you out!
John
Minorcas will usually add more weight on as they mature,taking up to 1 1/2 to 2 years old.They should also lay very large eggs after a few months.As they get heavier and begin to settle down they should not want to fly over high fences and very large birds often need to get onto something in order to get up and over.Very wild birds should not be used for breeding if calmer ones are there.
Does anyone have any imported Minorcas in large fowl? I am sure we could use some fresh blood in this breed.if anyone wants to import some.They are becoming bottle-necked here in the States.
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