Minorca thread!

[danhonour]

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.

 

[redandalusian]

Here are some picks of my minorcas at our fair.








This pullet won champion meditteranean

 

[danhonour]

These Black Minorcas look extra good at this point.I like them very much.Watch them closely as they get more maturity,you want them long,tall and wide.The wide ones will have good strong legs,spread far apart with any indication of knock knees.Look for good dark brown eye color ,especially in males,avoid reddish bay eyes or yellow..Large white earlobes are a plus and not often seen today,but try to avoid white in face of cock birds.You want a fiim base to the males comb to stand erect and wide wedge shaped points and a blade that does not turn upwards.You want the cockerels and pullets to put on weight and be near standard weight by 1 years old. You also want the female to lay large and extra-large.white eggs,the breed is noted for large eggs,so do not set in the incubator eggs that are not at least large from hens. Try not to use for breeding males that get mean and fight the owner,and also wild,crazy,or sreaming when handled birds or either sex,as they bred more of the same poor disposition. Reasonably calm birds are so much nicer to work with. Dan Honour

 

[redandalusian]

Here are some new update picks of my minorcas.




This is my oldest pullet whos about 8 months old and she is the only one currently laying





These are all of my other pullets and they are going to be laying soon because most of their combs are starting to grow and hopefully flop. They are 6-7 months old.



here are some pics of my 2 year old cock



Here are some pictures of one of my cockerals. He is also about 7- 8 months old.

 

[danhonour]

Wow you have some real nice Minorcas.Keep up the good work.

 

[redandalusian]

Thank you Dan. And I was meaning to ask you what bottle necked means.

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Here are some new update picks of my minorcas.




This is my oldest pullet whos about 8 months old and she is the only one currently laying





These are all of my other pullets and they are going to be laying soon because most of their combs are starting to grow and hopefully flop. They are 6-7 months old.



here are some pics of my 2 year old cock



Here are some pictures of one of my cockerals. He is also about 7- 8 months old.

Nice birds!

 

[danhonour]

Bottle necking is an old term ,when you work with very small numbers ,and breed from a limited small number of breeders,followed by hatching only a small group of chicks;and you do this for a few years,every bird gets to be very closely related to each other quickly.It is the opposite to a wide gene pool. Outcrossing and inbreeding a both breeder tools,both can be good or bad depending on the case. Outcrossing mixes up and thing like uniformity can disappear,but vigor can sometimes be helped.Inbreeding can bring out hidden genes allowing them to surface.Inbreeding does not always result in problems,for with using strict selection and culling,followed by good numbers of offspring to pick from the stock can remain strong and healthy and only mildly related.Like any tools,you have to know when and why to use them.

 

[redandalusian]

Does anybody have any tips for better feathering? some of my cockerals and a few pullets are coming in with poor conditioned feathers.

 

[danhonour]

Try soaking oats overnight in water,pour off water and feed.Once a week add 1/4 cup of cod liver oil or wheat germ oil to the mix after draining off water.