- Apr 20, 2007
- 669
- 20
- 161
Hey silkieluver_07,
I think to improve your line you need to find a roo with a very strong head and a from a line that is known to have very strong heads. Also I would look for a rooster with oversized, perfectly round ear lobes as the hen look a bit on the small side (She is a hen?). On a pullet that would be fine as I find Rosecomb ear lobs continue to develop well into the birds first year. It also looks like the hens ear lobes are a bit on what I call the 'triangle' side. On hens it's not as noticeable, but this will breed roosters with triangle shaped lobes instead of round.
She looks like she has a nice short back and her body type doesn't look bad at all. I think for the next few generations head quality would be what I would work with , but not at the expense of anything else.
I would say the same thing about the rooster. He has very good body type, but needs work on the head. He hold his chest out nicely which is something you want to see in a nice showy Rosecombs. It's easier to get this in the roos, but not so easy in the hens.
Rosecombs are a challenging breed to work with make no joke about it. If you can stick it out the rewards are as great as the headaches
One last note on Rosecomb breeding. Pay as close attention to the heads on the females as the males. Because of the smaller size of the comb and earlobes, often faults are not as noticeable as on roosters. I've seen lots of Rosecombs hens shown with blade spikes, but because the comb is so much smaller it's harder to catch....you have to look close. Same with ear lob shape. What is slightly out of shape on a hen, is terrible on a rooster. Your hens contribute 50% of the genetic makeup of your flock, so they are just as important as the roos
Urban Coyote
I think to improve your line you need to find a roo with a very strong head and a from a line that is known to have very strong heads. Also I would look for a rooster with oversized, perfectly round ear lobes as the hen look a bit on the small side (She is a hen?). On a pullet that would be fine as I find Rosecomb ear lobs continue to develop well into the birds first year. It also looks like the hens ear lobes are a bit on what I call the 'triangle' side. On hens it's not as noticeable, but this will breed roosters with triangle shaped lobes instead of round.
She looks like she has a nice short back and her body type doesn't look bad at all. I think for the next few generations head quality would be what I would work with , but not at the expense of anything else.
I would say the same thing about the rooster. He has very good body type, but needs work on the head. He hold his chest out nicely which is something you want to see in a nice showy Rosecombs. It's easier to get this in the roos, but not so easy in the hens.
Rosecombs are a challenging breed to work with make no joke about it. If you can stick it out the rewards are as great as the headaches
One last note on Rosecomb breeding. Pay as close attention to the heads on the females as the males. Because of the smaller size of the comb and earlobes, often faults are not as noticeable as on roosters. I've seen lots of Rosecombs hens shown with blade spikes, but because the comb is so much smaller it's harder to catch....you have to look close. Same with ear lob shape. What is slightly out of shape on a hen, is terrible on a rooster. Your hens contribute 50% of the genetic makeup of your flock, so they are just as important as the roos
Urban Coyote
