The Aloha Chicken Project

[alohachickens]

You got it! I am going to Karen's on the 17th, I hope she has a couple of Aloha hens I can pick up, so that he will have more than 2 hens. I think I will stick with the plans of having the Aloha roos over my Wellie girls. And have the Orp over any Aloha girls I have. That way there is some Aloha in all of the eggs.

Taz, do you and Karen want some chicks from the "Little Yellow Legs" pen? I was going to take that roo up to Stephen's next. But, since fertility is about 100% in there, and I have a 25-chick shipping box here . . . well . . . let me know! I could pop out a hatch and ship some chicks to you from this breeder pen. One hen in there is half Swedish (so her chicks would be 3/4 Aloha and 1/4 Swedish) but otherwise they're all "not-Swedish" in that pen.






I could even nab a few eggs from Stephen's really nice spotty Sussex hens, with this kind of crappy little Aloha roo who is almost all white. He's really not great but the best we had up at Stephen's until I bring him Little Yellow Legs and this nice half-Swedish roo that I've set aside:






Both of these pens are unproven, I haven't raised chicks out of these crosses and grown them out. So I can't tell you what you would get? Other than the chicks would NOT be very big! But y'all could cross your fingers and hope to get at least a few really spotty little hens???

Let me know if you are interested, I could probably set eggs on the 18th (Monday) or 19th (Tuesday) and ship on March 12th. Since these would be unproven, unknown matings, just pay the shipping and box and the chicks would be free. It's going to take a couple of weeks for me to "clear out" the DNA for the new pens, anyway, so these are chicks/eggs I wouldn't really be doing anything with, other than giving them to Derek to hatch on the off chance we got something nice out of the mix.

 

[alohachickens]

Crazy how much white the chicks are losing. I think we are still OK on some, but check out this roo.

Two months:




A week or two ago;




Today:








Wouldn't believe it if it wasn't happening before my eyes.

The second "keeper" roo is still doing great and has lots of white. LOVE him!

 

[tazcat70]

Sommer, if it OK with you I would like to wait until April to get some chicks. I am going on vacation for a week at the end of March and I don't want to give my house sitters anymore to do.

If at that point you can't do any without the SFH blood, we will figure it out. I will know more after I go see Karen on Sunday. I am getting excited! This will be the first time that we have been able to get together since the big egg delivery.

I wanted to let you know that I have been popping my Wellie hen's eggs in the bator. I only have 5 LF roos. 2 Alohas and 3 Wyandottes. I am getting lots of straight combed chicks. So the next generation of Alohas have arrived here. (If the Wyandottes were the daddies they would have pea combs).

I have not been setting eggs from the Aloha hens, because the eggs look like the Wyandotte eggs. It would be a mess, so until I get back and do pens, I am done. The bators will be empty for about a month.

I will probably set some eggs before I leave so they can be growing while I am gone. I am also planning on a small chick shipment from the hatchery for the first week in April.

Big plans here!

 

[Deerfield Acres]

alohachickens, we had a great time getting together Sunday afternoon at my place. hechicken, tazcat, 5moore and I talked chickens and Alohas to our heart's content. We've agreed to meet again in the fall and keep in touch in the meantime.

I've had such a hard time deciding whether to accept your generous offer of chicks. I know, I know, I'm the one who wants everything I can get my hands on!

Here are my reasons.

First, it appears to me that the drought is going to continue in our area this year and I'm concerned about our well pump going out.

Second, I've spent a lot of time over the last couple weeks learning as much as I can about breeding for type. I've been absorbing a lot from the Heritage site. While they do not see a need for a project such as ours and they dislike the emphasis placed on color breeding these days, I think they would see the value in it once they see the final product. I think a bird that is as beautiful as it is functional is very valuable. Newcomers to poultry will go for something eye-catching. Having just one pattern or color is just not that exciting. If they go for the wild color patterns of a bird with excellent type, they will never be satisfied for something less, type-wise and will branch out to standard bred birds later as they become more interested in saving a heritage breed. After all, it takes just as much money to feed a crappy quality bird as it does a really great quality bird. With this in mind, I want to focus on my German New Hamp crosses this spring. Meaning I want to cross the Aloha roo/GNH hens, GNH roo/Aloha hens and then cross the offspring for a spotted bird with great size, better type and yellow legs. In the meantime I will be growing out my new typey Speckled Sussex and Buff Sussex, cross those in the same way I did the GNH/Alohas. I'll keep all the Mille Fluer Sussex with the very best type and cross them back to the Spotted Aloha/GNH crossed offspring. Then I will keep the best typey birds with yellow legs.

Third, I have Swedish Flowers but haven't been sure I want to use them with my Alohas. The reason being that they seem to carry a ton of blue. I only have one Swedish hen who is appropriately colored for the Aloha project, but she has a crest. I got so many puffy cheek birds from my Ricky cross that I'm not eager to repeat that scenario with crests. The Swedish roo is okay, but I'm still hesitant on mixing the blues and crests he has in his background with my Alohas. Since, 5moore is using the Swedish, I will have those available here at a later time when I am ready to use them and once we see how they are crossed with the Alohas. The things we'll need to hope for from that pairing is better predator awareness from the Aloha side, since mine don't seem to have a care in the world, and a bit faster maturation. We couldn't hope for better temperament -- I believe those are going to be the most people oriented birds of all the crosses. Hopefully, they will get the predator awareness from the Aloha side.

Those are the reasons for my hesitation and I have been yes, no, so much that I'm driving myself crazy. You would think that with all of the above, it would be a simple no answer. However, that isn't the case. I'm wondering if it may not be beneficial for me to take the Aloha/Swedish chicks and sell them locally in an attempt to bring even a couple more people in to the project? It would also give me a chance to watch them grow out firsthand as I sell them off over time. It would be valuable experience for me, without the financial obligation of fully raising them myself and it may be an opportunity to expand our group.

So, let me know what you think. Either way, I owe you some GNH/Aloha crosses this fall and am planning to provide those to you. I'm pretty excited about these GNH's in regard to their size, better type and temperament. They are really nice birds.

 

[HEChicken]

Hello all! I thought I should - finally - formally introduce myself, having been a lurker for the last year or so. I am in the Wichita area along with Deerfield Acres and Tazcat70, and met with them and 5moore yesterday for an Aloha gathering. I've also been in touch with Sommer regarding getting involved in the project and under her direction have decided to order some chicks from Ideal this spring and start a little "sub-project". What I will be doing is getting about 15 Exchequer Leghorns from Ideal, and a GNH cockerel from Deerfield. Both have yellow legs and single combs. The leghorns lay big eggs so can support a bigger chick, and the size will be provided by the GNH roo. The roo will also add some color. So the offspring will have the mottling gene thanks to the exchequer, should have yellow legs and single combs, and from that start I can work on improving size and adding color. I also want to really focus on type from the beginning - another BYC friend wrote just this morning: I'm really taking to heart what that really great breeder says that you only need a few-- and to cull until it hurts." So my goal is to add to the Aloha project via a typey, colorful bird, and I am really excited to get started!!! I have chicks "on hold" with Ideal, and requested a late March/early April delivery.

In the meantime, I am currently constructing hoop coop #1 of 2. My coop/chicken yard is a large area that supports my laying flock, a pair of turkeys and some muscovy ducks. I am building the hoop coops this spring as breeding pens for the turkeys and ducks so that they don't go off and hide a nest in the hedgerow and get eaten by coyotes, but since they won't be in use by Fall when the leghorns start to lay, I will be able to separate the leghorns and GNH roo, to ensure the eggs are being fertilized by him and not one of my other roosters. That's the plan anyway, though if I've learned one thing, its the importance of maintaining flexibility.

 

[Poinsettia]

Since this program is so far along, I've decided to set up a new thread for it.

What is the "Aloha Chicken Project"?

A few years ago, before Greenfire Farms imported the fabulous Swedish Flower Hens, I set about trying to create an American version of it. Now that Greenfire has imported the Swedish Flower Hens, or Blommehons, finally we have the ability to buy Blommehons in the U.S. Yay!

However, in the meantime, something pretty cool happened in my backyard, with what I was working with. I started to get some amazing colors and feather patterning. So, even though the original goal was to re-create the Swedish Flower Hen breed in the United States, and now it's here, I've decided to go own developing the American version, because it has a unique charm all its own.

These chickens shown below have NO SWEDISH FLOWER HEN bloodlines:

Right now, these chickens are smaller than what I would like, but improvement to size is happening. A few other people have now stepped in to help. Everyone is welcome!

Links to other info:

History/info from the start of the program in late 2008 through spring 2011:

http://alohachickens.webs.com/

Brand new Blog, for updates from Fall 2011 onward:

http://alohachickens.blogspot.com/

And a previous BYC thread, titled "Orange Mottled Chicken" - it's still going, but I thought that we're so far along that someone starting at the beginnng of that thread would have a lot to cover by now, ha ha. So if you haven't read through that whole thread, or don't want to, you can start here.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=259853

I am not sure where this program will end up, but the goals have started to diverge from the Swedish Flower Hens. If you were to ask "how are these different from Flower Hens?" I'd say: No feather crests on Alohas. More emphasis on orange/gold/red/bright colors. Less black/brown mottled. The "Confetti" color is another thing - the color I've called "Confetti" looks similar to some Swedish Flower Hen photos I've seen. These photos are on Feathersite and I also found some in this light pattern on a breeder's page over in Sweden a while back. However, none of the imports from Greenfire have shown up in this color, as far as I can tell? At least, not yet. Maybe it will show up in time, but right now, this color is very prominent in the Alohas. If you were to describe it, instead of a "colored chicken with light dots" you would call these "a white chicken with dark spots". Here's another example:

There is still a long ways to go, but I hope you'll enjoy following along! I thought enough progress has been made that perhaps it deserved a "breed thread" by now. LOL!

Beautiful Hens!
Would love to get some

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Poinsettia, welcome to the group!! Sommer is going to have chicks soon so she'll get with you about that. I just wanted to say welcome and ask where you're from, if you don't mind my asking?

 

[tazcat70]

Hello all! Since 2 others from yesterdays meeting have chimed in, I will too.

I had a great time, and it was so much fun finding out what we each have planned to reach a common goal. It was a great learning experience to talk to Karen (Deerfield) and see what problems she has come up against. With moving last year and the shock it caused the girls, my 2 didn't even start laying until around Dec. So honestly this is the first year that I am able to really start on the Aloha project. Yesterday I picked up 4 lovely pullets from Karen. One of the older girls even laid an egg this morning. I will try and get a couple of pics this week. It was so hard to decide, she had about 20 pullets and a couple of roos to pick from. I ended up with a dark SS type girl, a light mottled girl with white ear lobes (she was my first choice and also the one who laid the egg), and then 2 unspotted girls. One is dark ( like a SS) and the other is a Columbia buff color. Her chest is very light, she intrigues me, but her legs are slate so she might be a genetic nightmare. I need to research it and if it turns out that way, she will join the layers.

Thanks again Karen!

Heather great was great to see you again!

And it was so great to meet Lisa and Brian.

 

[Poinsettia]

Thank you for welcoming me. I live in Wisconsin.

 

[highc5555]

good. What egg size are you all getting?