The Aloha Chicken Project

[alohachickens]

Luckily i live in Arizona so it shouldnt be too hard to get ahold of some right?

I have some hatching eggs available now! I'm hatching out some chicks for June 15th but if all the folks who said they wanted them follow thorough, I won't have extras. I can't hatch out now because I've got a vacation on the current hatch date, but if you are passing through Phx I do have eggs for sale.

 

[cgmaster]

I have some hatching eggs available now! I'm hatching out some chicks for June 15th but if all the folks who said they wanted them follow thorough, I won't have extras. I can't hatch out now because I've got a vacation on the current hatch date, but if you are passing through Phx I do have eggs for sale.

its too bad i havnt finished building my bator....

 

[alohachickens]

its too bad i havnt finished building my bator....

I can do a custom hatch if you want to, for a certain date, but I'm holding off on hatching general sales chicks until it cools off. During the cool season, I was hatching constantly and could not keep Aloha chicks in stock!!! If it is cooler where you are, a custom hatch during the summer could work out really well for you. You'd need to let me know about a month ahead of time when you'd be up in the valley. I'd collect eggs and set in the 'bator and plan on hatching a couple days before you need them.

 

[HEChicken]

Alohachickens I am pleased to finally have an update to report. The rain has stopped for the time being and the chicken yard has been able to dry out some. Last night I separated a group of Exchequers so that I can start collecting their eggs. Help me think this through. I have 6 hens and 3 roosters. What I thought I would do is to make a group of 3 hens and collect their eggs from one of the NH roosters, then switch to the other 3 hens with a different NH rooster and collect an equal number of their eggs. Although the roosters are related I thought this might give me just a little bit more genetic diversity.

So last night I grabbed three hens and put them in the pen. I went back for the rooster and then realized that since I won't be incubating at least the first week's worth of eggs anyway, there is no sense keeping the rooster penned for the first week. Does that make sense to you as well? I figure if I'm going to collect and eat these first eggs, I may as well wait on putting the rooster in. That way he doesn't have a week in a pen for nothing and there will be more space in the pen for the hens for that first week as well.

I know there is debate on how long I need to hold them before I start to collect for incubating. I think I'm only going to do a week because I do believe that the hens generally use the freshest sperm to fertilize the eggs so a week should be sufficient. Its a gamble though. The problem is that it is already June and it is likely to get HOT. I just can't keep them penned where they have less ability to find cool places to hang out for a whole month before starting to collect eggs. So I'm just going to have to hope for the best here. If I wait a week, then collect an incubator full of eggs, it will still be the end of June before they are hatching.

 

[wornoutmomto3]

I picked up this hen on Saturday. They would only confirm that she was a possible hybrid. I suspect she has Swedish Flower Hen in her, so not likely Aloha Chicken. Can you help me in determining this? I love the look of her so she is sticking around no matter what. I am just curious.

 

[HEChicken]

She is very attractive. No idea on breeds, sorry, but I do love all the spots! She has pink legs and we're striving for yellow with the Alohas but if you could breed her back to a rooster with yellow legs, some of the chicks will have nice potential.

 

[wornoutmomto3]

I will have to search for a good rooster then. My roosters have either pink or black legs, one with feathered feet.

 

[draye]

I picked up this hen on Saturday. They would only confirm that she was a possible hybrid. I suspect she has Swedish Flower Hen in her, so not likely Aloha Chicken. Can you help me in determining this? I love the look of her so she is sticking around no matter what. I am just curious.

She looks like many of the pictures if the Swedish Flower Hens that I've seen, but without a crest. I've rad though that not all the Swedish have the crests. As Deerfield acres said though breed her to something ( preferable red or Soeckled or mottled) with yellow legs and you'll be on your way to some Aloha's.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

I've tried to write several times but with 6 kids in the house today, I've nearly been "Mom'ed" to death. I can't keep a single thought going to save my life. Two have left for work, two are now outside, so there may be enough break in the action to get something accomplished. Can you tell I am adjusting to the summertime "full house". It will be equally as unsettling when they all go back to school.

alohachickens, (and everyone else

) I got a couple Jubilee Orpingtons this last weekend because they have a lot of white mottling and so I thought it may be interesting to sneak that in there crossed with my Buffs. I meant to get a pic (10 - 20 times) but couldn't manage to hold the thought long enough to actually pick up the camera and take it outside. Sheesh.

OH! The other thing I am trying to remember to say is that I did manage to get the candling accomplished (thanks to a reminder on my Galaxy). First batch of eggs, I have 15 started.

There were about half and half of nothing started or started but quit. Now I am hoping like crazy that I will get at least a handful of babies because I'm not too sure about the second batch. Another week and I will candle and see what's happening there.

I am sorting through my excess crosses to sell at a swap this weekend. I seem to have an overabundance of cockerels in the group. I do have one especially nice, big girl (as long as she is a girl) that I have my eye on. There are some others that are good, but she's really large. If she's a she.

wornoutmomto3, That's a pretty bird... nice find!

 

[alohachickens]

I picked up this hen on Saturday. They would only confirm that she was a possible hybrid. I suspect she has Swedish Flower Hen in her, so not likely Aloha Chicken. Can you help me in determining this? I love the look of her so she is sticking around no matter what. I am just curious.

Oooh la la! What a beautiful pattern!

First question: Where are you located? That could tell you if she is part Aloha. I shipped three batches of chicks to the OR / WA area several years ago. Also, hatching eggs went to KS and MO. I also shipped some chicks to San Diego a while back - two batches.

If you are not near any of these areas, it would be unlikely that she is Aloha. However, she does not look like a Swedish Flower hen.

How is her SIZE? Do you have any other breeds to compare her to?

OK, this gal has the "gamey" look of many of my Alohas - especially the earlier ones.

While I suspected the color of the original Alohas may have come from Game chickens - I recently found this web site that I think proves it:

http://www.billrobertsfinefowl.com/spangled-butcher.html

My first Alohas were not quite THAT leggy or fine boned, but they weren't too hefty, either. So I think what we have here (and on the original Alohas) is a Game or Game mix.

Arizona was one of the last states to outlaw cockfighting, in 1998. The weird hen that I found, that was in maybe 2007 or 2008? Her pattern and her babies look much like the Spangled Butcher in colors.

What I think happened, is that a few colorful Mexican game chickens made their way over the border, and bred with some other backyard stock, in South Phoneix, and that is what made the original Aloha stock. That's because the hens looked "game-y" but not quite like the pure Game hens that many of my neighbors had. They were small, but a bit rounder and a tad less leggy than actual Games. So I think the original Alohas were some kind of game/backyard mix.

Funny note - I watched the show "The Soup" on my DVR and there was a clip from a Mexican soap opera, and this guy had a small chicken on his dining room table! It was black and white spotted! Kind of Exchequer leghorn-ish in color but not the same breed. (Maybe I can upload the clip to YouTube?) ANYWAY - it just proves that yes, there are small spotty chickens in Mexico, that's all.

Also, I found some small spotted hens in Hawaii - which also had (unfortunately) a lot of cockfighting. When a hurricane swept through and destroyed many coops, it was the smaller lighter-bodied Game type chickens that were best suited to survive, and now these run free in Kauai. Look at photo 2 of 6 on this page of the lovely spotted hen:

http://afterglobe.net/kauai-chickens-unofficial-bird-kauai/

So, wherever she came from - you now have the PERFECT "starter" for your own unique and beautiful Aloha flock!

Here's what I would suggest. First, find her a good boy!

My first pick: Swedish Flower rooster, with no blue, and no crest. Preferably a boy who looks like this:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qaFq0HLOjxQ/T_G9Kneg60I/AAAAAAAAAXc/6wgJq4Mro9w/s1600/july+2012+022.JPG

That was my Swedish boy, I picked him out of a bunch of chicks for the best spots! No blue, no crest.

IF you can't find that in your area, then next pick could be a New Hampshire Red boy. NEW HAMPSHIRE - not Rhode Island! This is actually important. The dark color of the Rhode Island is the "Mahogany" gene and you don't want that, it's really hard to remove later. NHR's are big, good layers, yellow legs. However, they have zero spots! But the chicks will all carry fabulous spotting, thanks to Mom!

Third pick would be a Speckled Sussex rooster, with good size and good spotting.

If you use Swedish, it is important that you find the RIGHT rooster! If your area has a breeder, that could be perfect, you can tell them what you need and most breeders will be happy to save one lucky rooster from the stew pot!

If you go for New Hampshire, try to find Heritage or German lines.

The most important thing, is to try and find a rooster ASAP and get some babies on the ground. It has to be the RIGHT rooster, but also, you need to find one fast, because if this hen dies for whatever reason before you get her babies hatched, you're out of luck!

So let's start by figuring out what part of the country you are from, and who around you might be able to help you get started with a nice boy?