Redcaps

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Hi All

My Redcaps aren't changing that much week by week so I will start posting pictures of them once a month. I will post a picture of them around August 17 they will be 5 months old.

Here is a link to a great website on Redcaps!
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http://www.aviculture-europe.nl/nummers/07E02A05.pdf




Redcap Farm
 
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Redcap,

Nice to see your progress with the Redcaps. The SPPA has had members that have worked on and with the Redcaps for several years now.

There are some things to keep in mind with your breeding program. I know you are excited and that is wonderful, but as the old man on Toy Store said, 'You can't rush ART!'

1. Redcaps like many other farm breeds were meant to be around for a while; not like the Leghorn of the factory farms. They were meant to have long productive lives. You can breed the pullets if you like, but truth be told you don't know who's going to lay the best or even which one is going to be alive in 5 or 6 years.

Back years ago when I started with Cubalayas there were only 4 or 5 real breeders in the whole of the USA. I wanted to pump out those birds as fast as I could. That's wehn I got a reality check from a lesson I learned from my great-grandfather (a cocker). I remember him telling me that he never bred from a bird (hen) that wasn't at least 2 years old. The reason? They had to 'prove' they could make it at least that long with absolutely NO ILLNESS. He never bred to a bird that had ever been sick. PERIOD. (sneezing every now and then doesn't count).

I made myself wait with my Cubalayas and I'm sure glad I did. While I started with around 10 or 15 pullets (I can't remember the exact number as it has been a long time ago); at the 2 year mark I was down to half that number for one reason or another.

My Cubalayas are long lived fowl that continue to lay into their 6th year and beyond; just like they are suppose too.

I would encourage you. To think about your overall goal. If it is truly what you have said, then this is not just about numbers. It's about quality.

2. There is more to a chicken than his/her comb and coloration. Craig Russell is fond of saying, 'You have to build the barn before you paint it.' I realize that with a Redcap you want a nice big comb, but not at the expense of the rest of the bird. Overall health and vigor should come first, then type, then color. Worry about color in about 4 or 5 generations: at the minimum.

3. I'd try to collect chicks from different hatcheries and breeders while you wait on these to mature to the age of two. By crossing the strains you'll increase the vigor thru something that approaches heterosis. You'll also increase the gene pool.

4. Only keep your best, but save one or two extras. You never know who's going to live. The philosophy I live by is: 'CHICKENS DIE.' Always have a spare.

I hope this helps you some.
 
saladin
Your message certainly describes my position. I had 5 nice pullets and a cockerel (I still think he's pretty good). After two years I'm down to 2 hens and the roo... wish I'd kept more to begin with.
 
flitter,

It certainly does help to save some spares. There have been times dues to space that I only kept 1 cock of a breed or variety. At least in situation that has always proved a mistake. That may be why so many are so eager to breed from pullets. And, I will admit that I have also, but not if I could help it.

This year I was gifted a Ga Cua pullet. I put her in the breed pen the day she arrived because I only had 1. If I had been gifted 5 or 6 it would have been a whole other story. I just don't care to breed pullets.
 
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Hi saladin

Thank You very much for the advice and I will definitely keep this in mind. The male I picked is the largest in body size of the 5 males I had. I had 17 females to pick from and I culled by body size so I ended up with the 9 largest females in my breeding pen. One mistake I have made is culling out to many males. I had my only spare male in a pen that did not have a covered top and he was caught by a hawk last week.
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I plan to get some eggs from flitter and I also am thinking of putting a order in for some Redcap chicks from Sand Hill next spring to increase the gene pool in my flock. My overall goal is first to breed up the size + health and vigor in my flock. The comb size and color will be later.
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Redcap Farm
 
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