Puhlese!! Help us decide a direction?!?

[dbtcowgirl]

My boys and I are carefully building our flocks with the goal of selling hatching eggs and raising chicks in mind. We have spent countless hours building the following flocks. Searching for the best quality and representatives of the breeds. We have currently built good flocks of these chickens, and come spring will be ready to sell eggs and chicks. Our question is with the remaining birds we are sorting through. What flocks should we keep and progress with? Our goal is 12 total, and we have 9.
Here is what we have now-
Bielefelder
Black Copper Maran
Cream Legbar
Serama
Liege
Svart Hona
Silver Spangled Hamburg
Russian Orloff
Easter Egger
Here is what we could build-
Ayam Cemani
Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiner
Swedish Flower
Blue Laced Red Wyadottes
Silver Laced Wyadottes
Gold Campines
Barnvelders
Light Brahmas me
So pretty please tell us your thoughts on the last three breeds to focus on and build.
We are also open to other suggestions if we are missing a great idea. Thank you for your thoughts and Input.

 

[dbtcowgirl]

From your list:

If you can get good stock of Ayam Cemani (no leakage) and good-quality Light Brahmas, I would choose those. I believe that Ayam Cemanis are still popular, and good Brahmas are irresistibly fluffy. Several varieties of Brahmas are certainly in the Standard. I don't think the Ayam Cemanis are in the standard, but if you consult with other breeders and read up on here, you should be able to find out the basics.

People might be interested to buy hatching eggs or chicks of both Svart Hona and Ayam Cemani.

As for the third one on your list, I would pick the Gold Campines to round out the list with a white egg layer that will produce a good number of eggs for sale. That way, you will always have some egg production even some of the others start slacking off or going broody.

You must have some setup! Would love to see pics of a few of your coops and runs!

My boys love the AC for the novelty so they are definitely on the short list. I am a fluff fanatic so I love the Brahma. Our campines are a new addition but are enjoying them, they are fun and great layers. We have an 80 acre farm that we raise horses, cattle, pigs and goats on. When we decided to take chickens more seriously we converted a mare barn into our chicken areas. Some is still a work in progress, but I have a photographer coming out in the spring to take pictures of everything when it's complete. It's a really fun project for my kids and I, we are enjoying it together.

 

[dbtcowgirl]

Wow - what fun.

You have several breeds that I have never heard of and went to look them up. I would be interested in looking at your birds and eggs. PM me.

Mrs K

I will be in touch. We spent countless hours researching and visiting breeders

Wow - what fun.

You have several breeds that I have never heard of and went to look them up. I would be interested in looking at your birds and eggs. PM me.

Mrs K

My boys and I spent countless hours researching and visiting breeders before we decided what to try. It's been a really fun project

 

[dbtcowgirl]

Where are you located, in general?



So, you are planning to follow APA standards for the ones with standards? What determines best quality/ representative when there is no standard? Any breeder has a list of things that are important to them. Sometimes its size and meat content, sometimes its egg laying, sometimes it's coloring, or any number of other things.

I am aware that "lacing" is a generally hard trait to get really nice, so if you are up for the work, laced birds always seem popular.

I'm located in Western Colorado.
I try to follow follow breed standards on the ones that are defined. The others I look for a general quality representative, well colored, good confirmation, correct size, dispositions.
I love the laced breeds, it may be a fun goal.

 

[cmom]

I have Single Comb and Rose Comb Rhode Island Reds, Rose Comb Rhode Island Whites, Rose Comb Dark Brown Leghorns and Single Comb White Leghorns as stated in my signature. All of my birds are pure (heritage). I do selective breeding to get the best chicks I can. I sell eggs for eating and hatching. These are the breeds I like. My Rhode Island Whites and my Leghorns are my best layers but all of my breeds lay well. I am NPIP. If you plan on shipping eggs or chicks across state lines different tests are required. I also show my birds at poultry shows. I have had other breeds in addition in the past but these are the ones I have now. This is the American Poultry Association Standard of Perfection. It give all of the information on breeds recognized by the APA.

 

[dbtcowgirl]

Let us know when you can ship eggs/chicks. I'd be interested to, especially if it happened before next spring

I will keep everyone posted on our progress. We are excited for our little program.

 

[Ruthster55]

I will keep everyone posted on our progress. We are excited for our little program.

You might enjoy starting a diary in
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/pictures-stories-of-my-chickens.39/

With all your birds, there will certainly be something happening every day!

You might enjoy these two forums -

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/exhibition-genetics-breeding-to-the-sop.16188/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/general-breed-discussions-faq.14/

 

[cmom]

All of my birds are pure from established lines. I don't cross lines. Depends on your goal as to how you breed. If you are truly interested in preserving lines, seek out breeders of particular lines of the breeds you are interested in.
These websites might help you some. They were both BYC members. Bob Blosl passed away a few years ago. He was a wealth of knowledge.
http://bloslspoutlryfarm.tripod.com/
http://jimspetsandpoultry.weebly.com/

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Now that I check their shipping policies, you’re right! And they don’t ship to the US....

The name made me think they were in Virginia or Maryland ....not Canada! ....Surprise!

https://www.dcheritagepoultry.com/shipping-policies.html

Yeah, I was so excited too, they had a lot of the breeds I wanted for affordable costs and then i saw something on their price sheet

 

[cmom]

https://www.poultryshowcentral.com/Breeder_Directory.html
https://www.poultryshowcentral.com/Gold_Standard_Breeder_Directory.html