Nankin Discussion Thread

[griffinkid02]

Ok working on some picks of my little ones. I am noticing a LOT of them have dark markings on their wing feathers, and even a few of the shoulder feathers where those are coming in. Does this grow out of them or will the birds with those markings be going in the "thou shalt not breed" pile?

To start of, my brooder set up:





My chicks the day after they arrived:





The chicks after one week:

 

[ChicksRoseburg]

Rod and i just started our Nankin Hobby Farm in Roseburg, Oregon, We just love those Nankins, there is a Facebook page for Nankins at
Nankin Club of America http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nankin-Club-of-America/228624720547014

 

[Micki]

Nankin22, here is what the Standard says about the Rosecomb. Also, if you click on page 27 of this thread, scroll down to a post by vnseed, the ABA Standard for the Nankin is there! I printed out a copy for myself .

ROSECOMB: MEDIUM SIZE, BROAD IN FRONT, SET FIRMLY AND EVENLY ON HEAD, SQUARE FRONT AND TAPERING TO THE SETTING ON OF THE SPIKE, TOP SLIGHTLY ARCHED, WITH A SPIKE THAT IS ROUND FROM IT'S BASE TO IT'S TIP, SPIKE EXTENDING SLIGHTLY BELOW THE HORIZONTAL.

 

[Micki]

Here is a picture of my cockerel with the bald spot. You can see it plainly. I will try to get some good pics of the rest of them soon.

griffinkid02......I had chicks that were freckled with dark spots all over as chicks. All that freckling disappeared as their more mature feathers came in. I have been told not to cull Nankins too soon. I don't plan to cull anyone until fall if I can help it. A year is better. I am new to this, but I read somewhere that the cockerel whose coloring is on the light side may come in darker next year and be closer to perfect color. To have culled that bird would have not been good. I just read a very interesting article from a British poultry magazine about rare breeds (the magazine is called "Practical Poultry"). The article is written by a judge and it talks about how appalled he is at some of the rare birds he is seeing at the shows...birds with great coloring but structural defects. The structure of the bird should come first....again, that saying of "build the barn before you paint it" I guess. We all do have to work with what we have, but we also need to be working to improve the breed, and be careful not to breed birds with serious defects. I'm guessing his advice is as relevant here in the U.S.A. as it is there. The way he put it, in British jargon, is "Breeding, rearing and showing birds with serious genetic conditions is just plain daft. Breeding birds with physical defects leaves you nowhere to go in the future. Aspects like plumage color can always be worked on, but skeletal disorders are in a different league". The hard part is doing the balancing act of not culling so many birds that we hurt an already rare breed by making the gene pool too shallow, with making sure we are not ruining the breed by breeding birds with serious defects. He voiced some very serious concerns. My question is, what are serious defects? What he lists are things such as round or roach back (which is a sign of poor spinal structure), squirrel tail, and split wing. I would LOVE to hear about other people's opinions on traits that they would cull a bird for. Consider me a sponge seeking water/information!

 

[Nankin22]

thanks micki i saw the standard i just need to print it out i just wanted to know incase i decided to get some rosecomb nankins all i have now is single comb they can breed together and make 50/50 rose and single right?

 

[Micki]

I don't know how the genetics works with rose and single combs. I think rosecomb may be a dominant trait, which would mean you'd wind up with more rosecombs, but all would still carry the gene for single comb and could pass it on to their offspring.

From what the standard says, my boy in the picture above may not have a perfect rose comb because it curves up at the end instead of down. But he's only a few months old, so his comb isn't finished completely forming. I'm not trying to make excuses for him....if his comb is slightly wrong it's wrong, but there are probably more important traits to worry about. That's what I'm trying to sort out now, which are the most important traits to worry about. I am going to have a lot of roos to make decisions on. I am only planning on keeping five out of probably 15. Is there anyone near the St. Louis area who might like some roos when I have to cull? I may have to get rid of some nice ones just because I can only keep five!

 

[Coop Deville]

I just got a Nankin from a random mix of Ideal hatchery bantams (is it sacrilege to mention this in a forum heavily visited by private breeders?). Any word on Ideal Nankins? Do they turn out reasonably well in terms of coloration, etc.?

 

[griffinkid02]

I just got a Nankin from a random mix of Ideal hatchery bantams (is it sacrilege to mention this in a forum heavily visited by private breeders?). Any word on Ideal Nankins? Do they turn out reasonably well in terms of coloration, etc.?

The only problem that I am aware of, would be that I don't know of any major hatcheries selling REAL nankins. most of the hatchery "nankins" are just random buff birds with an OEG posture. I don't know about Ideal though. Just like hatchery "americaunas' are just EE mutts.

 

[griffinkid02]

The only problem that I am aware of, would be that I don't know of any major hatcheries selling REAL nankins. most of the hatchery "nankins" are just random buff birds with an OEG posture. I don't know about Ideal though. Just like hatchery "americaunas' are just EE mutts.

And I don't mean to imply that your birds AREN'T really nankins, just that I don't know about that hatchery specifically but I do know what kind of tricks a lot of hatcheries pull

 

[fowlman01]

thanks micki i saw the standard i just need to print it out i just wanted to know incase i decided to get some rosecomb nankins all i have now is single comb they can breed together and make 50/50 rose and single right?

Better print it out soon. It is a copyright violation to put that up on BYC. That info has an ABA copyright and therefore it is against the law to post on BYC. They will be asked to remove it shortly.

Walt.