Post Phoenix Pics Please

[Toni-Marie]

They look great...I love the dark red on your BBR hens...Good start for sure...Nice silvers too.....TM

 

[Countrypunk92]

Quote:
Thank you. I do think the BBR are nice.
The silvers need to be cleaned up a bit, I recieved them yesterday. Been rainy to.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

yep the male and female bb reds have good color for sure. I see what you mean on the silvers, they still look like good birds though.

Toni-Marie, I enjoyed it today too, was good to get to see you (and the birds) again. I got to go to bed now though, I'm wore out....

 

[Bentley]

I have a question on my Silver phoenix pullets. I raised Phoenix a few years ago and just recently got back into this breed. I stumbled across what I thought was a pretty decent genetic stock from an old guy in 'the back woods'. He didn't really know how to raise long tail fowl, or at least he didn't have the correct facilities to do so, but his genetics looked good. I have set several hundred eggs in the last few months as I finally have enough hens to work with. Anyway, I have noticed on a few of my hens, and many many of my pullets, very male like sickle feathers. I know that much of the genetic progress in tail length comes from the hen side and I like this as you can 'read the hens' phenotype much earlier than the males. Anyway, in my years of working with long tail fowl and with others in similar areas, I have never seen this male feathering in the saddle feathers to the extent I have now. I have nice long full tails and sickle feathers in hens but this batch has so many hens with very pointed male saddle feathers. I had heard that this could correlate with female infertility but a study of the literature does not confirm this. My question is, is this the road to travel down to select hens with such prominent mail feathering in the saddle? Or should we select females with the longer saddle feathers that remain somewhat wide and blocky.

Any thoughts?

 

[onagadori]

Quote:
YOU mean like this? I personally have tested these females and they are fertile.. however, I think that fullness and length of feather are most important.. Cockerel feathers on a hen won't necessarily make an amazing rooster.. And cockerel feathering on a hen won't make a nonmolter.. You select your hens for extra feathering and length of feathering and softness if breeding toward nonmolters.. Much rather a hen with a really full cushion that is long than one with short rooster feathering or a thin tail with rooster feathering.. Example.. The Roger's line hens tend to be more blocky feathered and yet they are a wonderful line to work with.. Just my thoughts..

 

[Bentley]

Quote:
YOU mean like this? I personally have tested these females and they are fertile.. however, I think that fullness and length of feather are most important.. Cockerel feathers on a hen won't necessarily make an amazing rooster.. And cockerel feathering on a hen won't make a nonmolter.. You select your hens for extra feathering and length of feathering and softness if breeding toward nonmolters.. Much rather a hen with a really full cushion that is long than one with short rooster feathering or a thin tail with rooster feathering.. Example.. The Roger's line hens tend to be more blocky feathered and yet they are a wonderful line to work with.. Just my thoughts..
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/70005_bbred_hen.jpg

Yes, except maybe even a little more exaggerated. I have noticed a number of my hens have seemingly more full 'extra feathers' in the saddle that are more blocky in nature. Currently I have created two separate lines to look at both but I am not sure I want to go that route long term. I may just go with feather length and fullness rather than male feathering.

Thanks

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

I agree with Amanda on this.
One thing with mine I have noticed over the years though, is often the actual male looking saddle feathers go away after their first years molt and just leave that nice thick full rump with lost of extra feathering.
She and I were talking about these type of hens the other day. OF mine, I have only had trouble with one production wise, and it's just that is lays 7 out of 8 eggs as the tiny little dime sized ones, then the 8th is full sized and always fertile. A side note about her though, she was SO cockerel feathered that until she was nearly grown, I had her wrote off as one with poor coloring. Most all of my hens , well a large portion of them at least are some what cockerel feathered. But yes lenght and and fullness of the tail are the most important things to have on a good hen to me at least. Now if you have that, and cockerel feathering, Lord yes use them. They should be a great line.
If they are thin and stumpy, you can try them for a few, but I wouldnt invest a lot of effort in them if the first few didnt show promise.

Will try to get a few pics too come picture day of some of the hens showing this

 

[horseyjess]

Here are pics of my guys. Now if I can only get some girls. One bantam and 2 Standard.

Here are the two standard

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

nice looking little silver. Looks good and clean, and I like the starry breasted ones

 

[horseyjess]

Quote:
LOL Aubry he is out of eggs I got from you. I would hope you like him.. had more but the coons got them and he is the only one left. Need more eggs or girls!!