Minorca thread!

[danhonour]

I bred Buff Minorcas about 20 years and they were of good type,size and color I selected for large egg size too and had a good sized flock,even sold chicks.,Anyway my reason for posting is I corresponded with a fellow that raved about his Buff Minorcas that he got from an oldtimer a few years before at an estate sale and no newblood was added by him. I ordered some hatching eggs from him to see if they were better than my own. The eggs arrived and a few did hatch,but the birds were extremely poor ,having stubs,side sprigs,poor size ,poor type and poor color. Needless to say they were all culled.They were not bred to standard and were not even poor specimens of their breed.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I bred Buff Minorcas about 20 years and they were of good type,size and color I selected for large egg size too and had a good sized flock,even sold chicks.,Anyway my reason for posting is I corresponded with a fellow that raved about his Buff Minorcas that he got from an oldtimer a few years before at an estate sale and no newblood was added by him. I ordered some hatching eggs from him to see if they were better than my own. The eggs arrived and a few did hatch,but the birds were extremely poor ,having stubs,side sprigs,poor size ,poor type and poor color. Needless to say they were all culled.They were not bred to standard and were not even poor specimens of their breed.

It is interesting to read about the importance of adding new roosters once in awhile (thanks).

 

[danhonour]

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.

 

[CRAJ]

Thanks for all of the excellent advice being shared here. The Minorca thread far surpasses the others I have checked out (Production Red, White Leghorn, Red Cap), in both interest and advice. Looks like there are lots of people interested in this breed.

 

[alachickenman]

I agree CRAJ! On that note, does anyone have experience breeding in show birds to their production flock? I want to eventually use my Minorca's for meat and eggs. And I love the stories I've heard of the huge Minorca show birds. Any thoughts or advice?

 

[danhonour]

If you have a flock of production Minorcas,get yourself two big show cockerels (one as a spare or to rotate in the breeding pen. Wait until your production pullets are hens. Set only large-extralarge eggs for hatching. Then simply keep picking the bigger birds for future breeding.It helps to use hens instead of pullets for breedersr.If after a few years you peak for size repeat by getting another big show cockerel.

 

[WyandotteTX]

As someone who has owned Minorcas from hatcheries, Sandhill and Exhibition birds I have to mention the disparity in size between all of them. Hatchery birds and Sandhill look the same to me with a little edge in size of males towards Sandhill birds. In comparison the exhibition birds I have make the others look very small. In the past year the production from the Sandhill birds has been no better than the Exhibition birds. There are some strains of exhibition birds that lay very well with very large eggs. I know with several prominent breeders the size of the bird, size of the egg and frequency of lay is something they are working on this year and in the future so that the ultimate goal of having a very productive large fowl that will be a true representative of what we call a Minorca.

Dan makes a good point of crossing the two to improve laying ability but you do have to remember that is probably a 3-5 year project also.

 

[danhonour]

Well said John. I knew a friend,now deceased that had Buff Minorcas of the show kind.Every 5 or 6 years he would order 100 Buff Minorca pullets from a hatchery and raise them up. He said that 8 -10 would be of fair size and type and he would use the best 3 or 4 to cross into his show Buff Minorcas. The others he used as layers for he sold eggs locally.He always had a good colored,big framey show male to use on them for the hatchery birds generally were high tailed,big combed,smaller,shorter and off in color.

 

[danhonour]

HONOUR’S POULTRY BOOKS

By Danne J. Honour 2013

I have updated my poultry books for 2013. I should say e-books as they are now too many pages to print on paper.So they are available on CD’s as word file docx format.These are greatly expanded editions with pictures and additional text. They contain great poultry history and breeding advice by the masters as well as fine illustrations. Much of the information I have gathered from my own poultry library collection, some I have written, but fear it may be lost if I do not make it available to those interested .

For a very limited time I will be selling these on CD –all 4 e-books for $50 plus $5 shipping. (Checks or Money Orders) Dan Honour,8 Old North Road,Apt. A , Amenia ,New York 12501 .


AMERICAN BREEDS OF SPANISH ANCESTRY 2013 , 1348 pages , many devoted to Minorcas.

BUFF COLORATION 2013 1126 pages ,all about buff color breeding in chickens.

ART OF BREEDING 2013 ,608 pages,many good general ,showing and breeding articles.Wonderful articles on Anconas,Dark Brown Leghorns , Long tailed fowls,and much more.

THOUGHTS ON WHITE LEGHORNS 2013 ,229 pages just on the popular White Leghorn ,more towards the exhibition side than commercial, but some good practical information .

 

[CRAJ]

Glad to see a post back on the thread. It has been very quiet here. I received a call from Sand Hill last evening and my first order of Minorca chicks is en route. Hoping they were able to fill my request for the Black, Buff, and most importantly (to me) White Minorcas. I also ordered White Leghorn chicks from them.