Minorca thread!

[omegorchards]

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.

 

[WyandotteTX]

Glad there are others out there who recognize the value of this majestic breed and all of the varieties within it. The RC and SC Blacks seem to be the most common(and that is NOT common in anyway). The SC and RC Whites are almost non-existant, with unknown quality SC Whites obtainable from Sandhill Farms as the only source I know of in the US. SC Buffs are being worked on by one reknown breeder in the NorthEast but are still a project that has not yet met fruition. There are breeders out there and I am sure with an increase of talking about them and showing others just what a magnificent bird these can be there will be more interest from those in the poultry community.
A breed club resurrection would be a great idea in the future but will take quite some doing. Just my own opinion about a club, I could care less about exhibition points etc and more about a database of breeders and information that is actually useful to the public and breeders.

I share your same thought Mike about the RC Whites. From all that I have seen or read about them they were a beautiful breed. Perhaps they can be re-created through a cross with RC Blacks and SC Whites. Well, I know they can be because the masters have told me they can haha. But I do think it would take a generation or few to be able make sure the leg color and eye color were correct with that cross of Blacks with Whites. I have beaten all the bushes I seem to know when it comes to Whites and Sandhill is the only source of Whites that I can come up with and they are SC. Here is a genetic question for Dan, how often does a RC come out of the pure SC breeding pens? Does it just depend on the line and whether there is much of a recessive gene for RC within that line? or is it something that happens fairly often with SC flocks? Just wondering that if I was to buy some of the SC Whites if there would be any possibility of getting some that were RC?......

My interest started with them a year or so ago with a memory of Minorcas I have had in the past but I wouldnt have learned much about them at all if it had not been for Dan and his wealth of knowledge, thank you! Plus the Northrup book is a gold mine of Minorca knowledge as well.

 

[danhonour]

I think that before my Spanish breeds book came along ,the only other American Minorca book was Northups. I have been updating my Spanish breeds book but wonder how or if to market it at all. Getting back to the topic,RC White Minorcas should be a project for a small group of breeders to work together on. I know it can be done for the late Art Schallenberg made RC Whites from S.C.White Minorcas and RC Black Minorcas,I think years and years back S.C.White Minorcas and Black Hamburgs were used.Eye color and Leg color can be overcome,but size and temperament are often overlooked plus egg size.Look for tall birds,and wide birds free from Knock Knees when starting a project.

The Rose Comb is dominant to single,so the single comb is the true breeding recessive.Not the rose comb.

So you might get some odd combs from a Single with rose in its back ground,but it is best done ,by using a rose comb and using some of the single combs (back into Single Combs for new blood) that result, rather than the reverse. I have heard that there are two types of Rose combs,the Hamburg and the Wyandotte.To avoid the poor fertility associated with rose combs,use the hamburg and not the wyandotte rose comb gene.

 

[cochinman2005]

I thought I'd post a couple pictures of the Buff Minorca progress. I would be game to help out with the White Minorcas, and actually got a handful of them from Sandhill in 2006. They were very leggy, so I think something to work with but I didn't keep them. I had gotten them as an order filler more than anything. I've contemplated sending them an order but haven't made a final decision on it for this year. I'm at the point now where I am adding Black Minorca back into my Buffs (for the 2nd time), so I would have the ability to do the Black/White cross. The Buffs are coming along, and I have what I think is good size (haven't weighed them, but the males are a handful). I am fighting short legs and thighs, and short necks, which is why I am going back to Blacks again. I am also having some issues with knock knees, and as you'd guess, it's with the better typed birds, so rather than cull the better typed birds, I've decided to select away from it this year in what I hatch for 2012. Both cockerels in the photos below are a bit knock kneed.

2011 Cockerel #1


2011 Cockerel #2


2010 Cock Bird

 

[WyandotteTX]

Thanks for the post Tom and sharing the pictures of your Buffs. I understand you wanting to cross back into the Blacks again. I think your Buffs look vastly improved but I see what you are talking about in the carriage of the two males. I am not going to critisize all of their flaws as I think you probably know them all and know what they are better than I do. BUT I do have to say I really like the color of those two males. A very rich buff color that is usually never seen in any Buff Minorca that I have ever seen. I know I saw your photos of your females last year that had some really great type, how are your females when it comes to their stance and stature?

I remember you working on the Whites in the past Tom. Hopefully you can obtain some Whites to be able to work on both the Buffs and Whites at the same time this year. I am trying to focus on the SC and RC Blacks at this point. Once I get a few more birds and get set in what I want to do I will want to work on the Whites. Realistically the Whites are going to be a 5 year project for whoever starts to try and develop the RC Whites or improve the SC Whites. Not that I am opposed to a challenge, just not ready to jump onto that project yet. I have a large chicken house I need to build before that happens.

John

 

[cochinman2005]

John,
Females are pretty much the same as the males. OK bodies, but too short in the leg and thigh. Tail carriage is too high still as well. If I wind up ordering some Whites, I'll be able to do a cross to the Blacks next year, and then I'd be off an running. Still haven't decided, but if I do it, I'll work on SC Whites only. RC Whites can someone else's endeavor. I have enough on my plate already.

The Minorcas are a pain to take photos of or I'd take some pics of the Buff females. They still aren't an even color throughout, but some are better in that department than others and some still show a lot of Black in the tails. Not a huge concern for me right now, and as long as they had acceptable type and white legs, I kept the longest legged and largest bodies females from the 2011 hatch.

Tom

 

[Gracie9205]

These are my Ideal hatchery Minorcas. I'd like to get some better quality ones, because I am really liking these. They may not be to standard, but they are nice to look at anyways

 

[WyandotteTX]

Tom, I understand your hesitation on taking on another project on top of what you have and plan on. I am more interested in the RoseComb Blacks and Whites eventually so maybe that will be what I focus on in the upcoming years. I saw your pics on another website as well and saw the Buff Wyandotte male, good looking bird. Little longer in the legs than my Buffs but dont take that as a bad thing....I like his size.
Gracie, those are lovely birds but definitely hatchery Minorcas. Those are good chickens and lay plenty of eggs and alot more flighty than the exhibition Minorcas. But yours are very pretty looking birds.

John

 

[redandalusian]

Does any one know how I can contact David Moore or beau McLean. I am looking for some good white minorcas

 

[WyandotteTX]

I thought I would drop a line here to give you a Minorca update for myself. I have my pair of SC male with my RC female in the breeding pen and have been getting eggs from her pretty regularly in the past month. She is laying a large/xl sized egg with a chalky, very white appearance. I have hatched out 4 or 5 so far from them and have about 15 eggs in the incubator now. I also have 17 SC Black eggs I purchased from a friend that will give me another bloodline in the future. I would like to get some more RC eggs but have not heard back from the breeder I bought mine from last year.
John