My Silver-Laced Australorp(ish) Project

[3KillerBs]

As discussed in this thread, I love the silver-laced color pattern but there are no silver-laced breeds that meet my needs for a production-oriented breed that thrives in my hot and humid climate. My Silver-Laced Wyandotte and my son's Silver-Laced Cochin are gloriously-beautiful birds, but they wilt when the weather is in the high-90s, as it so often here in central NC.

I also love my Australorps, which perfectly suit my climate, my production needs, and my management style. So I'm going to try to breed some silver-laced birds that have the same good qualities of my Australorps.

The adult SLW I have is unsuited to breed because, though her lacing and type are quite reasonable for a hatchery bird, she lays wonky eggs with weird calcium deposites and/or odd wrinkles. Not just occasionally, but every single egg.

Therefore, I ordered some SLW's from Ideal this spring, actively hoping to get some non-SOP, single-combed chicks and, despite a snake eating half my chick order, I succeeded. Among the survivors are these two SLW girls, currently 11 weeks.

Victoria

Maria Theresa

And here is my 10-month-old Blue Australorp cockerel, Rameses,

If I understand the genetics correctly, the lacing won't show in the F1 but should show in the F2. Then I can breed the F2 back to the Australorps and repeat alternating crosses until I get something that looks like an Australorp but has the desired lacing.

 

[3KillerBs]

Victoria (single comb), and Maria Theresa are now 17 weeks and developing beautifully.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Watching with interest. My Cochins are the same way about heat, especially the large fowl. I always joke that they have a melting point of 80° F because they like to spread out on the ground trying to cool off when it's any warmer than that.

 

[3KillerBs]

Victoria and Maria Theresa are 15 weeks old now.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

The single comb should do wonders in your heat. I don't see a need to back cross to the Australorp again unless you want to add more of those Leghorn characteristics he carries. No bashing him but he's genetically closer to Leghorn than Austral.

If you don't want the blue just breed blacks from this cross for F2 generation. I'm a sucker for blue varieties, like the fact you have one gene pool but three different colors. Regardless, there will be plenty of diversity to stick with the F generations with back crosses to keepers of each generation for narrowing the traits you want. Though back crossing a blue F1 cockerel to the dam would set your lacing faster. Not that blue does anything for silver lacing it's just my preference of variety.

 

[Sally PB]

following! Silver laced, blue Australorps...

 

[Egghead_Jr]

My concern about backcrossing to the SLWs is that I'd end up with just Wyandottes with a single comb rather Australorps.

Reread the second paragraph of what I wrote. The breeding choices are up to you, there is no Wyandotte once you make the first cross. Back crossing to a single comb hatchery quality Wyandotte with a hybrid does not beget a Wyandotte. However it does set the silver lacing you want.

Sure you are adding more of their genetics with the backcross but again you could be mating them with something that looks just like the sire. There is so much genetic diversity there is really no limit to what you can pull out except by limiting the number of birds you hatch.

Ramses does not meet many of the criteria of the Australorp breed. Personally I'd not call him one. You can always make any line of bird into any breed with planning and time but it must have all the characteristics of that breed to be so called. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

 

[NatJ]

If you are planning to keep both male and female F1 chicks so you can create an F2 generation, you might try also crossing the F1 male to his silver laced mother and see what you think of the chicks.

It is certainly a way to get good lacing sooner, and the birds should have SOME Australorp qualities (being 1/4 Australorp.)

I'm not saying to do the backcross instead of the F2, just consider doing it in addition, and then look at the results to decide which ones you want to keep for the next generation of crossing to Australorp.

I'm a little late to this discussion, but I'm just not seeing why it must be an either-or decision

A time benefit of doing the backcross: a cockerel is usually old enough to mate with his mother sometime before his sisters start to lay, and even longer before his sisters progress to laying normal sized eggs rather than tiny pullet eggs. So you can get through the first few generations faster, if you keep crossing cockerels to mature hens (Laced or Australorp, depending on which stage you're at.)

 

[DarJones]

I was thinking about this again today and trying to figure out what traits contribute most to heat tolerance. I think this list should be close.

Lighter weight birds tend to have more heat tolerance, this particularly includes leghorns and similar origin birds.

Hen feathered chickens are more heat tolerant as there is a distinct advantage for roosters with this trait.

Straight comb is a well known positive trait as it allows heat to be diffused into the air.

Feather type is an important trait where the large fluffy feathers of Wyandottes are adapted to cold climates and sleek flat feathers are better in the heat.

You will find this one a bit strange, but there are suggestions that white egg layers have advantages in a hot climate over brown layers.

Lighter colored feathers are important as they reflect more sunlight, black feathers are the opposite collecting heat from the sun.

 

[3KillerBs]

I was thinking about this again today and trying to figure out what traits contribute most to heat tolerance. I think this list should be close.

Lighter weight birds tend to have more heat tolerance, this particularly includes leghorns and similar origin birds.

Hen feathered chickens are more heat tolerant as there is a distinct advantage for roosters with this trait.

Straight comb is a well known positive trait as it allows heat to be diffused into the air.

Feather type is an important trait where the large fluffy feathers of Wyandottes are adapted to cold climates and sleek flat feathers are better in the heat.

You will find this one a bit strange, but there are suggestions that white egg layers have advantages in a hot climate over brown layers.

Lighter colored feathers are important as they reflect more sunlight, black feathers are the opposite collecting heat from the sun.

That's a good list.

The Wyandotte fluffiness is one of the things that I know I'm going to have to address in this, selecting for a more Australorp type of closer-fitted feathers.

I have to agree with @NatJ though in re: the white eggs. It seems more likely to be a coincidence than an inherent advantage to egg color.

It is noteable that Australorps, who are one of the more heat-tolerant of the dual purpose breeds, do have larger single combs, less fluffy feathers, and a lighter build than most other dual-purpose breeds. IIRC, there was a heavy infusion of Leghorn in their development for an egg-laying boost and that must have contributed some heat-tolerance capability.

If I find that I have trouble with the Wyandotte fluff down the line I'll have to bring in something Mediterranean.

BTW, while white does reflect heat, dark colors can provide portable shade. Note that dessert-dwelling peoples who wear enveloping clothing as protection from the sun may wear either black or white.

I've noticed the effect myself when doing American Civil War reenacting, where the historical fashions envelope women from neck to wrist to ankle. My light-colored dress was cooler in some circumstances, but if I had to be out in the direct sun -- in a parade, perhaps -- the dark dress gave my skin more protection.