The Aloha Chicken Project

[Deerfield Acres]

That's a likely possibility. That would explain the hen's occasional spurs, great foraging ability, naughty roos and, of course, the gamey look we are working to avoid. Interesting.

 

[alohachickens]

"Oddball" the original Banty-sized "found hen" who was crossed with outside lines. (Exchequer, Sussex, and Ameraucana.)

All the "Ginger" hens are from her. This was her daughter:

 

[alohachickens]

The other "found" hens of unknown breeding. Were on a Craigslist ad, from another Hispanic family. Not as small as "Oddball". Exact same size as "Ginger" and "Kona" the offspring of "Oddball" the banty.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

I just heard from HEChicken and the jet setting eggs are rockin' and working on pipping! I'm so excited to get these chicks and see how they turn out! In the next couple days or so, I'll be picking up chicks.

 

[HEChicken]

Haha, Deerfield beat me to it - I was about to come on and give a report on the eggs I brought back with me from AlohaChickens by smuggling them through airport security. Actually I can't even remember if I ever told the whole story on here or not so I will copy and paste it here just in case:

So the brief story on these eggs is that I took the 18-count and double wrapped it in two plastic bags in case of breakage. Then in my small "suitcase" that is a carry on bag, I placed a layer of clothes on the bottom, the 18-count of eggs, and then more clothes on top so that they were packed in really tightly. I figured the less they could move around in there the better. Then I wheeled the bag to an airport shuttle where the driver picked it up and threw it in the back of the van before I could utter the words "careful with that!" At the airport, I wheeled it until I got to security, then put it on the belt to go through the x-ray. From there it was wheeled for long stretches to get to the right gate and went on the first plane in the overhead compartment. At the connecting airport, the bag was wheeled along endless passages in one terminal, then onto a train to change terminals, then wheeled to the gate, where I learned that the next flight was on a tiny commuter jet and they weren't allowing anything bigger than a purse to be carried on - everything else had to be gate checked. I carefully handed my bag to the loader, who seemed to carefully put it on his cart but I'm sure once passengers are out of sight, they throw those bags to get the plane loaded faster. Upon arrival, I expected to pick up the gate checked bags immediately but we were told they would be coming off the carousel, so I had to wait 20 minutes for my bag. My suitcase came down the carousel upside down and I just knew the eggs were goners, so I grabbed my bag, headed for the exit and didn't even open the suitcase until next day. When I did, I found that the eggs were completely unscathed. Not a broken egg among them, not even a crack. My on-order Rcom incubator had arrived in my absence so I set it up, loaded in the eggs and away we went. I was stunned on first candling to find all but one developing. Last week I candled again and all looked good except one that I think quit developing around day 10. I left it in there but don't expect it to hatch.

Anyway, although the experiment is not complete until we have live chicks, just the fact that they will develop after a journey like that seems promising. I keep telling myself that all the jostling they got on that trip was surely less than they get at the hands of the USPS. So - if you have travel plans and there is a breeder in the area you are going, it seems to me that picking up eggs and carrying them back yourself may be a better way to go than having them shipped.

Oh - I just checked on them again and I'm hearing quite a bit of peeping. Only one pip so far but from the peeping I know multiple chicks have pipped internally so I expect quite a few external pips by the end of the day. Incubating is always exciting - who am I kidding - but I really do love the "experimental" aspect of this hatch in particular. I can't wait to see what pops out.

Oh - AlohaChickens, a couple of the eggs were marked with a red star and I'm trying to remember why. Are they the ones that came out of the pen with the SFH rooster? I will *try* to note which chicks come out of those eggs but you know how it goes at hatch time sometimes.

 

[alohachickens]

Wow, that's really exciting stuff. What great results! I'm thinking the handling they get at the Post Office must be like that, except nonstop for three days straight. LOL!

The "star" eggs were actually eggs from Little Yellow Legs pen. His pedigree is kind of undetermined, he's one of the random chicks Derek hatched out last year, so I'm guessing he could be from Cheeto's lines, because while small, he was fairly "stout" and had bright yellow legs and buff coloring with limited spotting. I used him to try and build up some non-Swedish stock with yellow legs.

Those chicks are not going to be tall, but many of them will have yellow legs and there could be a lot of color. Little Yellow Legs, while being small, had none of the "gamey' look. He was not big, but pretty meaty and robust for his size.

There is probably no need to mark the eggs! His chicks will probably be small and colorful and very much "Aloha" type, while chicks from the Swedish pen will probably be tall, lanky, and less spotty. There will be some pink legs from either pen, but pretty much all the chicks will likely carry for yellow legs even if they don't show it.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

I apologize, HEChicken, my excitement overcame my good sense. Eeekksss!

My yellow legged red Aloha roo is filling out a bit better and looking reasonably good. He has started mating so I'm penning the Alohas together today. He only has 4 girls, one of them I kept against my better judgment. We'll see how it goes.

Here's my yellow legged roo.





I kept this girl after debating over and over in my mind whether or not to do so. I finally did. She's all wrong, barred, small and gamey, but, I really like her interesting color pattern. She's just very different than anything I've seen. I was curious what would come of her crossed back to the red spotted Aloha (New Hamp cross). At least she has yellow legs. I don't know why the yellow legs aren't showing up but all the Alohas have yellow legs, except the solid red hen.






Here's my solid red hen who carries spotting but has white legs. She's a nice sized bird and she ought to add something interesting to the mix crossed with the yellow legged Aloha crossed roo.







Here are two of my original ginger hens that I'm interested in seeing more of. With the increase in size from the New Hamp/Aloha crossed roo with yellow legs, I might get something nice out of them this season.

This girls legs look white but they are yellow.

 

[HEChicken]

Oh goodness, there is no apology necessary - I'm delighted that we're in this together! Several external pips now.....

I love the spottiness of those two ginger hens of yours!

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Oh goodness, there is no apology necessary - I'm delighted that we're in this together! Several external pips now.....

I love the spottiness of those two ginger hens of yours!

Thanks for your understanding. I know you weren't miffed, it's just that I could have been a bit more considerate, really.

Eee Gads! Pips! What fun!

And those ginger girls are such sweeties -- just love their personalities. They are talkative girls, always up for a chat when I come out. It's too cute.

 

[alohachickens]

My yellow legged red Aloha roo is filling out a bit better and looking reasonably good. He has started mating so I'm penning the Alohas together today. He only has 4 girls, one of them I kept against my better judgment. We'll see how it goes.

Here's my yellow legged roo.

The top rooster is looking really interesting - and he doesn't contain any Swedish, right? While I'd love to see a ton of spots, he has a pretty decent look about him. He looks very much (in body) like a lot of the young "real" Swedish look like before they fill out. I would love to see him with some really spotty Sussex hens. The chicks would all have pink legs, and the Mahogany would surely overwhelm the first generation. Yet maybe his color would come back in future offspring. It's really interesting, he has a very different color in body and leg than a Sussex. If you just added more spots plus a bit more size and "roundness" too him, he would be really, really nice . . .

And I still love that bottom hen! Not sure what I'd breed her to here, possibly my pure Swedish roo, would make a fun cross. Her color is great, but she also has a very pleasing body shape too, doesn't she? Not "gamey" at all.

The others are nice too! But these two are especially interesting to me. Are you going to cross them together or is that cross just going to make chicks that are too small?