The Aloha Chicken Project

[Thorner]

Any chance anyone wants a free, small sized, aloha rooster? Hand raised, not aggressive. He does crow a lot, not sure if that's because he is having a contest with the other 2 roosters. He dances around me, but I handle that. He has never attacked me or my kids or my hens. He is on the bottom of the totem pole with the other roosters because of his size. He loves meal worms and will jump up on my lap to eat them out of my hands.

 

[grlnamedsue]

I didn't know about this project breed until now. Kinda bummed because I just sold off my chicks hatched from this summer, some of them looked like they could have fit the bill (although I'm not quite sure what's allowed)! I had actually intended on keeping a few, but finally settled on selling them because I had other broodies on the way and figured I'd keep babies from those batches instead...unfortunately I haven't had any like them since =/ Still waiting...although there's a few from the most recent batch that look promising but are still too young to know yet. Here's a few pictures:


Kind of a lighter red than a regular sussex. Father unknown, may be my EE roo or Silver Penciled rock roo, but most likely my ee roo. Mother speckled sussex, about 3 wks old in photo, sold =/



Crazy colored thing, photos show both sides. I believe father was Silver Penciled Rock, mother Speckled sussex. I thought it was so pretty! This photo was taken when it was around 6 weeks old. I had really wanted to keep it, but figured I'd get more like it and sold it...no such luck, we'll see from this next batch of babies...

Any ideas? I'm not super serious or anything, just saw the thread and started getting curious about my own babies!
Also, here's a link to my blog. i'm trying to document all my babies progress from start to finish as best as I can...still need to post more, but haven't got around to it yet! It includes pictures of potential daddies!

http://thechildwithinishungry.weebly.com/chicken-addiction/our-first-chicks

Here's pictures of my main rooster, Leroy. Any thoughts on him? He is supposed to be an EE, but has a single comb and yellow legs. He even seems to have some chocolate colored feathers in the base of his tail. Like I said though, I'm not a super serious breeder, as I've only done a few mixed chick hatches of my own, ever....but I find the subject fascinating and these Aloha chickens excite me! (maybe because I own a few of the "ingredients" myself! lol including speckled sussex hen and buff orp hens)





The next picture shows that brown better at the base of his tail

 

[grlnamedsue]

Also, somewhere on here I saw a post on here from RAREROO that got some chicks that looked similar to what I understand is the "look" of an aloha chicken. Says he acheieved it through a SSx roo over a Rhode Island White hen. So I would imagine that would add some size to birds, which from reading, has been a problem for the development of this breed? I should add, my knowledge of breeding is VERY limited, so forgive my newby-ness...Unless you couldn't tell from my previous post. Like I said, suddenly I'm all excited about this particular type of chicken!
Here's the link that contains that post:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/356751/anyone-have-pics-of-speckled-sussex-crosses

 

[rmwilliamsjr]

just learned about the breed and trying to play catch up by reading this and http://alohachickens.blogspot.com/. interested in a reference to chicken genetics, if anyone has a favorite....

 

[alohachickens]

I didn't know about this project breed until now. Kinda bummed because I just sold off my chicks hatched from this summer, some of them looked like they could have fit the bill (although I'm not quite sure what's allowed)!

Here's pictures of my main rooster, Leroy. Any thoughts on him? He is supposed to be an EE, but has a single comb and yellow legs. He even seems to have some chocolate colored feathers in the base of his tail. Like I said though, I'm not a super serious breeder, as I've only done a few mixed chick hatches of my own, ever....but I find the subject fascinating and these Aloha chickens excite me! (maybe because I own a few of the "ingredients" myself! lol including speckled sussex hen and buff orp hens)





The next picture shows that brown better at the base of his tail

I don't know much about a lot of colors, either! I'm still very much learning.

What I can tell you is Leroy has the right body shape, body size, and leg color that makes him PERFECT for the project. But his color is all wrong.

If you were to cross him with Speckled Sussex hens, I don't know for sure what you would get? But I would suspect they would all have:

Upright Combs (good!)
Large Size (good!)
Long, flowing tail (good!)
Color - not mottled, probably silver? (bad)

Most likely, the legs would be white/pink, because that gene is dominant over yellow legs. But, those babies would CARRY the gene for yellow legs. So let's say you put Leroy in with a bunch of Speckled Sussex hens. The chicks would not show any spots, but they would carry the gene for spots, and for yellow legs.

If you kept the girls from this cross, and a rooster from this cross, and put them together for one generation (which would be OK, I am sure there is enough diversity in Leroy's background to prevent inbreeding) you could then pick out babies that showed the "hidden" (recessive) spotting and yellow legs, which would re-appear in Leroy's grand-chicks.

Color wise - not sure what would happen, honestly. But either way, you would end up with some pretty and nice layers, good sized, yellow legged, probably stronger in constitution than a pure Speckled Sussex. (Since "mutts" of anything are often tougher than purebreds.) From there we'd have to look at where to go next. But trust me, as easy as it was for me to type that, we are talking about a lot of work just to get to that point!

So if you want to forge ahead with something like that - be my guest. Anyone is welcome to play along and Leroy is quite handsome.

 

[alohachickens]

Update on the oddball Aloha x Turken experiement!

Shown here are my two most promising hens. One hen shows mottling, which is surprising, because normally a solid to mottled cross only produces solids.

Here is the original pen, showing moms and dad to these Turken x Alohas:

Dad had AMAZING color - just PERFECT for the "Aloha" breed. He WAS tall. However, he was very narrow, with very little "meat" on his bones. Thin and wispy in build.

These pure Turken hens were extremely wide, very stout, and were this gorgeous lovely pale "blonde" buff. Much lighter than my Buff Sussex:


I was hoping that the cross would give me chicks with better build, but pick up Dad's mottling. And maybe the pale blonde color?

I got a TON of hens from this batch, interesting! But only this one hen is the pale blonde color of Mom:

The rest are a darker, more reddish buff color, like the one above with spots. The other hens show a white feather here or there, but not the consistent mottling of that one Aloha x Turken hen.

Anyway, wanted to update! Now that they are getting older.

 

[alohachickens]

Here are other pics of some of the chicks in my grow-out barn:













NOT SHOWN:

Also growing a lot of Sussex crosses. From Buff Sussex rooster over Cinnamon Sussex, Buff Sussex, and Speckled Sussex hens. Very little spotting, but good size. They will be used to improve size and bulk in future Alohas.

 

[grlnamedsue]

I don't know much about a lot of colors, either!  I'm still very much learning.


What I can tell you is Leroy has the right body shape, body size, and leg color that makes him PERFECT for the project. But his color is all wrong.

If you were to cross him with Speckled Sussex hens, I don't know for sure what you would get?  But I would suspect they would all have:

Upright Combs (good!)

Large Size (good!)
Long, flowing tail (good!)
Color - not mottled, probably silver? (bad)

Most likely, the legs would be white/pink, because that gene is dominant over yellow legs.  But, those babies would CARRY the gene for yellow legs.  So let's say you put Leroy in with a bunch of Speckled Sussex hens.  The chicks would not show any spots, but they would carry the gene for spots, and for yellow legs.

If you kept the girls from this cross, and a rooster from this cross, and put them together for one generation (which would be OK, I am sure there is enough diversity in Leroy's background to prevent inbreeding) you could then pick out babies that showed the "hidden" (recessive) spotting and yellow legs, which would re-appear in Leroy's grand-chicks.

Color wise - not sure what would happen, honestly.  But either way, you would end up with some pretty and nice layers, good sized, yellow legged, probably stronger in constitution than a pure Speckled Sussex.  (Since "mutts" of anything are often tougher than purebreds.)  From there we'd have to look at where to go next.  But trust me, as easy as it was for me to type that, we are talking about a lot of work just to get to that point!

So if you want to forge ahead with something like that - be my guest.  Anyone is welcome to play along and Leroy is quite handsome.  

C

Yes! Leroy is such a good roo! He's a gentleman with the ladies. I have hatched out some speckled Sussex babies this past summer but sold all my hatchlings, but I kept them long enough to feather out and at least one I can think of turned out a little lighter than a regular SS, but definitely are mottled! I just had another broody hatch more babies about two weeks ago, and I think I have 4 SS babies, all of them different tones. 1 has down that looks like a regular SS baby coloring, 2 have more buff colored bodies and 1 more is mid range coloring of the two. If you look up in my post you'll see one that I sold from a previous batch. That one was very reddish as a baby, but none of my current ones look like that, so now it's just wait and see! I'm kind of bummed I got so few SS babies...only 4 out if 16 that hatched. The rest turned out to be black, either from my australorps or my black stars who lay an egg that looks similar to my SS. Luckily my hens go broody regularly, so I'll have plenty of chances for more!

 

[draye]

Update on the oddball Aloha x Turken experiement! Shown here are my two most promising hens. One hen shows mottling, which is surprising, because normally a solid to mottled cross only produces solids. Here is the original pen, showing moms and dad to these Turken x Alohas: Dad had AMAZING color - just PERFECT for the "Aloha" breed. He WAS tall. However, he was very narrow, with very little "meat" on his bones. Thin and wispy in build. These pure Turken hens were extremely wide, very stout, and were this gorgeous lovely pale "blonde" buff. Much lighter than my Buff Sussex: I was hoping that the cross would give me chicks with better build, but pick up Dad's mottling. And maybe the pale blonde color? I got a TON of hens from this batch, interesting! But only this one hen is the pale blonde color of Mom: The rest are a darker, more reddish buff color, like the one above with spots. The other hens show a white feather here or there, but not the consistent mottling of that one Aloha x Turken hen. Anyway, wanted to update! Now that they are getting older.

So glad to see the results from this cross. About how many turned out to be NN percentage wise? You still planning on trying to do another cross from those hens? I still think I'd like a few eggs to try to hatch to cross into my NN's. I' trying to think of a way to bring in Buff Columbian (no feather legs), Mille Fleur (prefer no Sussex white legs to deal with), and Mottling ( best I can figure would be Mottled Java). Mottled Java because you should have a lot of size already.

 

[alohachickens]

So glad to see the results from this cross. About how many turned out to be NN percentage wise?

You still planning on trying to do another cross from those hens? I still think I'd like a few eggs to try to hatch to cross into my NN's.

I' trying to think of a way to bring in Buff Columbian (no feather legs), Mille Fleur (prefer no Sussex white legs to deal with), and Mottling ( best I can figure would be Mottled Java). Mottled Java because you should have a lot of size already.

All chicks turned out with Naked Necks, which means Mom hen was Homozygous. For those reading who don't know what that means:

There are two kinds of genes, "Dominant" or "Recessive". A Dominant gene is like an on/off switch for your lights. Flip it on, and the light is on. Flip it down, and the light is off. All you need is one "flip" to make it light or dark. One parent can turn the light - or trait - on or off. All by themselves. The Dominant trait can come from Mom or Dad, it doesn't matter.

If a parent has a super-strong double copy of a Dominant gene (called "homozygous") then they can actually pass a certain trait to their babies 100% of the time. The gene for NN is a simple dominant gene, which means some NN's who had two parents with NN's and got a double-copy, will throw only NN babies, no matter what they were crossed with. It appears the neighbor's hens are Homozygous for the NN gene, as 100% of their chicks were NN's.

The nice thing is, this trait will be easy to breed out. Now her babies (my Aloha x NN crosses) have ust ONE copy of the gene. I know this because Daddy had a normal feathered neck. I will breed these baby hens to a non-NN rooster when they are grown. Half will have naked necks, half will not. I'll keep the half with regular necks, and re-home the NN babies. Easy as can be.

Dominant genes don't hide, so they are super easy to work with. The babies with "regular" necks will never throw another NN baby in the future. The gene is gone when you can't see it any more.

So even though working with NN's seems like a really FREAKY direction to take the Aloha program, getting rid of that one glaringly visible gene is much easier than the tough time I've had removing pea combs, dark legs, and the cursed small size issue. LOL!

------------------

Draye, Mottled Java is a terrific bird, but the black is super-dominant and will literally take YEARS to breed out. A much safer bet to get the Mille color would be to first start with some of these lovely Buff Columbian NN's to get your nice pale golden buff "base" color. (I'm sure my neighbor got these from the local feed store, who buys chicks from Privett, so just look around to see who has some?)

This Ebay'er has a Buff Roo and at least one of the pale buff hens:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Turken-Tran...866?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item233ff3316a

Or put a "shout out" to the BYC community trying to get some black tailed Buff (Columbian) NN eggs. Someone has to have some in their flocks?

I also shared a link earlier for an ended auction for some Mottled Turken eggs - keep an eye out for that seller, some of those were nice! There was a Mottled NN in that group that while he was black and white mottled (bad - dark color will be tough to breed out) the spotting was SPECTACULAR and most NN's are not homozygous for black like the Javas are. Odds are good that there are red or buff in the background of any "black" NN that you find, because very few people breed all-black flocks of NN's. Seems every NN flock I've seen is a mix of colors? The more red and buff in a black chicken's background, the better the odds some recessive (hidden) red or gold will appear in the babies. So if you find a spotty Turken, even if it is black and white, from that Ebay breeder or another Turken breeder, odds are it will be easier to remove the black than if you use Mottled Java that has nothing but black and white in the background for many generations.

Black color is very difficult to remove, especially if your goal is Mille, which is literally the OPPOSITE end of the spectrum. That is also what I'm trying to get using these beautiful pale buff Turken hens. Black is going to wipe all of that gold color out and replace it with dark brown or black for many generations.

Other ideas: I'd suggest either a really spotty Sussex rooster, maybe a spotty Jubilee Orp? (Pink legs, and dark brown color, on both breeds, that's not ideal - but both are big breeds and a few of the Jubiliee Orps I've seen have been lighter in color.) Another way would be to find a very nice Mille Swedish hen,and mix her with your Turken flock to get the Mille color. The Swedish are slow growing, and not very spotty, many Sussex are more colorfully spotted. But when Swedish do reach full size, they are very large. (They just need to get there faster, ha ha ha!) Hopefully the Turken bloodline would help them fill out and mature earlier.

I'd probably base my spotty choice on whatever is near you? Example, there is a breeder of Swedish up in Scottsdale, AZ right now. You know the tough part for breeders, they grow out stock and always end up with too many roosters! See if you have a Sussex or Jubilee Orp or Swedish Flower breeder near you. Let them know you are looking for something with lots of white spotting, and lighter color. (Some Jubilee Orps turn out unusually LIGHT in color - not Mille but not dark,either!) Here is a pic of a rooster that turned out really lighter than normal:

http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/uploads/2794_jubilee_pair_11_27.jpg

Or try to find a hen of either Sussex or Jubilee Orp that has TOO MUCH white like the hen shown in these lower pics:

http://www.sdranch.com/bluejubilee.html

A great thing would be to look for "culls" that won't work for other people's programs. Breeders can't keep ALL those roos, even if they are a "rare" and hard to find breed! Would be easy to get extras boys on Swedish, Sussex, or Jubilee Orps. Just find what is closest to you and put the word out!