My Vadakorian Landrace Project Moving Forward

[chickengr]

So I got them today! Before I show you these hens up close, I'll admit I had suspected that these hens weren't pure phoenix. With the one hen being white and but one having yellowish legs I thought there was a good possiblity of white leghorns being mixed in there background, but yet... Here I am taking a closer look at them realizing two of the hens have what looks like pea combs!!! I thought the yellow legs and white plumage meant leghorn and yet that's seems to not be the case. View attachment 4314730View attachment 4314733View attachment 4314732View attachment 4314735View attachment 4314736View attachment 4314737My new theory is they're maybe second generation Phoenix Yokohama crosses which would be why some are black and the yellow leg gene isn't present in all of them and it would explain the combs and lack of wattles. However I might be wrong, afterall Yokohama are incredibly rare here, but I can't help but wonder...

Anyhow I wanna know what y'all think? Perhaps the two with pea combs could be even better additions to the Vadakorian project! Afterall I think that adds in good genes for smaller combs and wattles which would remove the need for dubbing, idk

aseel maybe?

 

[Sir Sacabambaspis]

aseel maybe?

Oh yeah I didn't even think of that! Those are also pretty rare here but definitely possible

 

[Sir Sacabambaspis]

One of them laid an egg today!

 

[Sir Sacabambaspis]

Corriente was bein' super aggressive, I'm gonna have to make sure I watch any of his son's as they develop since I don't want to pass that trait on...

He's still super gorgeous though, and I need him for my project so I can't cull him for his violent blood lusting after humans. I definitely won't be rehoming him since it would probably be irresponsible to re-home such a violent rooster. I'd hate it if he hurt someone else someday

 

[Sir Sacabambaspis]

I'm gonna try taking this project in a direction I haven't really seen anyone else think of. I'm going to prioritize broodiness, stable egg production (on average 120 eggs yearly per hen), and increased flight ability. The increased flight ability is a key pony since that would involve great breast meat and better wing size/strength. In order to do that I think I'd be selective breeding for something with anatomy closer to a pigeon. Obviously bigger with certain things different to a pigeon. Things such as bigger and longer legs, larger wing to body ratios, and of course a more "elongated" ribcage/keel since it's a chicken not a pigeon. If I want pigeon meat I'd just raise meat pigeons, but I'm just trying to get a self sufficient blue egg laying bird with the added benefit of meat being an option (mainly breast meat since that's one of the biggest flight muscles).

Other than the flight muscles being developed and actively selected for better flight, I'd aim for a relatively light weight bird but not so light weight it wouldn't be able to go more than a few hours without constant food supply. The lighter the bird the less amount of time they can go without constant food (something I've learned from my time doing falconry). Obviously it would be different for chickens than birds of prey, but my theory as to why bantams that rarely go broody lay so few eggs is that they're so light weight that even with constantly being given food the hens hardly have enough reserves to lay excessively. Leghorns are large enough to lay incredible amounts of eggs, but they focus like 80% if not more of their fat reserves to making those eggs. They keep just enough to stay healthy, everything else goes to egg production. I think the lighter and smaller framed the bird is, the higher their metabolism is and therefore created a bird that's too low in fat reserves to be producing eggs constantly.

Idk, it's just a theory, but it's what fuels my want to selectively breed for the right traits, I wanna have my cake and eat it too so to speak.

 

[Sir Sacabambaspis]

As you can see pigeons have very triangular bodies, they're built for long strong flights, I want birds that can fly as much as they need to in order to get where they want or need. If they can be foraging and go "oh dang a coyote I'd better fly as high as possible as long as possible and each of them go like 20ish meters away in all directions then I think they'd have a good chance at surviving. Like I said before, I'd need to get that keel bone and rib cage to stretch a little and get better leg proportions for ease of running but I think it's a good rough reference for the body proportions

I don't need pigeon level flying, but somewhat similar, perhaps pheasants wound be a better reference

 

[chickengr]

I'm gonna try taking this project in a direction I haven't really seen anyone else think of. I'm going to prioritize broodiness, stable egg production (on average 120 eggs yearly per hen), and increased flight ability. The increased flight ability is a key pony since that would involve great breast meat and better wing size/strength. In order to do that I think I'd be selective breeding for something with anatomy closer to a pigeon. Obviously bigger with certain things different to a pigeon. Things such as bigger and longer legs, larger wing to body ratios, and of course a more "elongated" ribcage/keel since it's a chicken not a pigeon. If I want pigeon meat I'd just raise meat pigeons, but I'm just trying to get a self sufficient blue egg laying bird with the added benefit of meat being an option (mainly breast meat since that's one of the biggest flight muscles).

Other than the flight muscles being developed and actively selected for better flight, I'd aim for a relatively light weight bird but not so light weight it wouldn't be able to go more than a few hours without constant food supply. The lighter the bird the less amount of time they can go without constant food (something I've learned from my time doing falconry). Obviously it would be different for chickens than birds of prey, but my theory as to why bantams that rarely go broody lay so few eggs is that they're so light weight that even with constantly being given food the hens hardly have enough reserves to lay excessively. Leghorns are large enough to lay incredible amounts of eggs, but they focus like 80% if not more of their fat reserves to making those eggs. They keep just enough to stay healthy, everything else goes to egg production. I think the lighter and smaller framed the bird is, the higher their metabolism is and therefore created a bird that's too low in fat reserves to be producing eggs constantly.

Idk, it's just a theory, but it's what fuels my want to selectively breed for the right traits, I wanna have my cake and eat it too so to speak.

my flighty birds have small breasts

 

[Sir Sacabambaspis]

my flighty birds have small breasts

That's unfortunately how most flighty chickens are since they've been selectively bred against actually being able to fly or at least not fully. Domestic chickens that could in theory fly pretty successfully like leghorns also aren't raised in a way that allows for proper development of the wing muscles responsible for flight

 

[LaurenRitz]

Domestic chickens that could in theory fly pretty successfully like leghorns also aren't raised in a way that allows for proper development of the wing muscles responsible for flight

Which is another reason I introduce my birds to rafter roosting. It forces them to work those muscles, as well as to develop strong bones. While I do provide a ladder, they have to fly up about four feet to use it, and more importantly they have to be able to come down safely.

No point in being able to fly if their bones are brittle and weak from disuse.

 

[Sir Sacabambaspis]

Which is another reason I introduce my birds to rafter roosting. It forces them to work those muscles, as well as to develop strong bones. While I do provide a ladder, they have to fly up about four feet to use it, and more importantly they have to be able to come down safely.

No point in being able to fly if their bones are brittle and weak from disuse.

That's awesome, I've wondered how to make sure they don't get brittle bones. I actually had a 5ish week old chick fly well over a meter up today which was kinda surprising.

I've been trying to find more ways to help them develop more successfully and properly. I did have my birds roosting like a good 20-30ft up in a suuuuuper old tree that had branches big enough they could sit safely. Those birds were standard sized birds too so they looked a bit chunky but it was actually all pure muscle