The Aloha Chicken Project

[fosterson]

Oh, I hear you on the starving artist front!

In my case, we get a double dose of weather. In the winter it gets down to -29F on occasion, and in the summer it can top 118F here Right now my biggest hinderance is that while the coop is good and draft free and suitable for the full grown birds, I don't have an extra shed or anything I could put chicks in. I could easily keep baby chicks in Area 51 (my craft room) but by the time they fledged I'd be out of room and don't have a good safe outdoor space /at the moment/. That will change, but probably not before winter hits in earnest. We got down to 13F last night.

 

[fosterson]

By shuffling through the three "zones" (newborn brooder, older chick brooder, and oldest chick grow-out pen) I found that I could raise batches of 25-35 chicks at a time, so long as I culled down to about half that by the time I got to the last staging area. I found if I space the hatches 3 weeks apart I could keep cycling constantly for as long as the weather was OK, which for us in AZ means from October-May. (We shut down in June-September as it gets so hot, the hens barely lay and the chicks are in constant danger of overheating.)

Growing up in a part of Texas that got miserably hot in the summer, I do know one trick to helping keep your chickens cooler. If you have a big freezer (or can spare the space) freeze water in those flat-sided cat litter jugs (fill em about 3/4 of the way full, because the water expands. Then put them up on cinder blocks. The cold air coming off of them sinks down, so it gives a place for hot hens to rest and 'cool off' when it's really really hot. They'll stay cool all day in the shade. We just kept 2 of them going at any one time, one in the chicken yard and one in the freezer!

 

[alohachickens]

So I guess that means you'll have to wait until Spring to get going in earnest? Keep your Buff hens safe this winter, they may be getting up in age, but if you can just keep them going long enough to get a handful of replacement Buff Sussex / Speckled Sussex cross chicks going in the Spring, that would be awesome! It would do a lot to supplement the chicks I can send you, and improve their size in future generations.

In the meantime, do you think you could contact the Sussex breeder and let him know what kind of rooster you're looking for? Take it from somebody who knows, it's better to speak up NOW before he culls that dream roo. Hopefully, he's growing out some prospects right now, but yeah, you might want to email hem and let him know you're looking for a rooster with a lot of white - even excessive white - to use in the Spring. (And not to butcher one in the meantime!)

I remember telling Stephen "no" on a group of nice roosters he had been raising, because one was really promising, but too dark. So he butchered them all.

A week later, I lost my most promising breeding roo. But it was too late, Stephen had butchered the lot, and once they hit the freezer there is no going back. LOL!

It was a long wait until I could grow out another boy to replace him . . . so take it from me, get the word out ASAP and let everyone know.

When roosters start crowing and get annoying, people get in a big hurry to get them out of there. (Any way they can, if you know what I mean!)

 

[fosterson]

So I guess that means you'll have to wait until Spring to get going in earnest? Keep your Buff hens safe this winter, they may be getting up in age, but if you can just keep them going long enough to get a handful of replacement Buff Sussex / Speckled Sussex cross chicks going in the Spring, that would be awesome! It would do a lot to supplement the chicks I can send you, and improve their size in future generations.

In the meantime, do you think you could contact the Sussex breeder and let him know what kind of rooster you're looking for? Take it from somebody who knows, it's better to speak up NOW before he culls that dream roo. Hopefully, he's growing out some prospects right now, but yeah, you might want to email hem and let him know you're looking for a rooster with a lot of white - even excessive white - to use in the Spring. (And not to butcher one in the meantime!)

That's what it's looking like. It got down to 13F last night. BRRRRRRRR. I MIGHT have time to make a new coop (I just got a massive apple shipping crate) and run before winter sets in, that I could put my BRXes in for the winter. Then I might conceivably have time to turn a corner of the big coop into a brooding area...but that would take some doing. Hrm. HRMMMMM.

And I'll contact JFA and tell them about wanting an overspeckled SS and see what they can do for me.

 

[fosterson]

In the meantime, do you think you could contact the Sussex breeder and let him know what kind of rooster you're looking for? Take it from somebody who knows, it's better to speak up NOW before he culls that dream roo. Hopefully, he's growing out some prospects right now, but yeah, you might want to email hem and let him know you're looking for a rooster with a lot of white - even excessive white - to use in the Spring. (And not to butcher one in the meantime!)

So I'll be picking the handsome fellow below around the 1st --



Think that's enough speckles?

 

[alohachickens]

So I'll be picking the handsome fellow below around the 1st --



Think that's enough speckles?

I've never seen a Sussex baby with that much white!!! I can't wait to see how he turns out!!!

They do change a lot at four months, but usually they get MORE white, not less! WOWZA.

Did the breeder say anything about his unusual appearance???



Above: My Speckled Sussex chicks from Ideal at about three months! VERY different! (And even they turned out relatively spotty!)

I'm REALLY excited about your new addition!!!

 

[fosterson]

I've never seen a Sussex baby with that much white!!! I can't wait to see how he turns out!!!

They do change a lot at four months, but usually they get MORE white, not less! WOWZA.

Did the breeder say anything about his unusual appearance???

Oh yeah. I basically saved the little dude's life. They had him out in the grow out pen with the rest of the culls

The hard part now will be waiting for him to get big enough to do his roosterly duty.

They grow big, hearty, acclimated to the weather birds so as long as he stays healthy, I have a good shot at some spotty chickens sooner rather than later. I just wish he'd been older.

They're going to keep an eye out for more 'too spotty' chicks for me. They're curious about this breeding project now

 

[alohachickens]

Oh, I'm so glad you saved him! I have NEVER seen a Sussex chick that spotty! And if you can cross him and those Buffs . . . wow! They'd need yellow legs but if I sent you chicks, you could get that gene from my stock. At least you'd get spots and size.

So what is he, about four weeks old? That means if everyone can survive the winter, maybe ready to use in April? Such a long time to wait . . .

 

[fosterson]

Oh, I'm so glad you saved him! I have NEVER seen a Sussex chick that spotty! And if you can cross him and those Buffs . . . wow! They'd need yellow legs but if I sent you chicks, you could get that gene from my stock. At least you'd get spots and size.

So what is he, about four weeks old? That means if everyone can survive the winter, maybe ready to use in April? Such a long time to wait . . .

He's about 7 weeks old now. So March, except it's still really really cold here in March. I guess we just have to wait till spring no matter how fast we want to go

That said...a very nice enabler of mine (an old friend) was gonna get rid of a classroom incubator. So. Looks like I'll have an incubator soon.

 

[alohachickens]

He's about 7 weeks old now. So March, except it's still really really cold here in March. I guess we just have to wait till spring no matter how fast we want to go

That said...a very nice enabler of mine (an old friend) was gonna get rid of a classroom incubator. So. Looks like I'll have an incubator soon.

Actually, that would mean, mature in March. Then, he has to get the hang of things, and then you have to save up some eggs from your girls. And then, 3 weeks wait for the chicks to hatch!

So if he matures in March, you'd be looking at chicks maybe early May.

Stephen's flock technically should be mature next month (December) but then we'll have to sort them into breeder pens, wait for the pens to settle, save eggs, and then hatch chicks. That means even though they're of age in December, we'll be lucky to have chicks by February!