The Aloha Chicken Project

[alohachickens]

I'm so excited, Karen, to get the eggs to you, too! It probably is too early to tell on the Sussex hens . . . I couldn't REALLY see what I had here on my Sussex crosses until they hit about four months old, then BAM the color really popped on a few of them. And others . . . not so much! Ha ha! But the different amounts of white on their chests is interesting!

How are we going to stand waiting another three months or so to see how your Sussex turn out? Arrgh!

I have a feeling it's going to be all at once, your Sussex will show color right as the Alohas start to blossom. Be an exciting time to see your chicks (both these and any Alohas that might hatch) around, ummm, July? I'm thinking only then will there be a hint as to what your early fall breeding pens may end up looking like.

If you set eggs around March 12th, -----> Chicks hatch April 2nd. You would have Alohas and Sussex of breeding age by October. (Alohas would be six months old by then.)

Shoot - that's just in time for winter in the Midwest. (Grumble grumble.) We'd just have to hope Notinoz would be heading home for the holidays and would be able to pick a few up for us sunny AZ folks to test-hatch in the meantime! LOL. When do Midwesterners really start to raise chicks? When I lived back in KC area, we waited until May. But if you are back there and you want to "push" things, what is the earliest time to hatch? Late Feb? Or March?

 

[alohachickens]

ARGH. I woke up this morning, and found out one of the two heat lamps over the brooder had the bulb die in the middle of the night. It wasn't that cold, 50 degrees, but not warm enough.

Every single Aloha chick (about 20 Alohas total) was 100% fine, but four of the 10 "outcross" chicks that I just bought (NHR and Buff Rock) are near death's door right now. The Alohas huddled for warmth and the outcross chicks wandered off. When I picked up the outcrosses, I noticed two also had a touch of pasty-butt. Hadn't even checked them for that because I can't even remember the last time I had an Aloha chick that had it. Poor babies.

Got them in the 'bator now, they are barely alive, will try to see if they pull through today. This stinks, having trouble with them just getting through the first WEEK? Ugh, and they still have to survive the entire summer. Oh boy.

I keep trying to introduce other breeds to the Aloha group but time and again, the other breeds just die at the drop of a hat! It was interesting, I read a thing on the Sandhill Preservation web site about Icelandics, and how when a heat wave hit back there, the folks were walking by pen after pen with dying chickens . . . except their Icelandics, which were all fine. Kind of reminds me of the Alohas.

 

[LarryPQ]

Sommer- you know, my Icelandics kick ace in the heat.

 

[alohachickens]

Of the four near-death NHR and Buff Rock chicks, one is truly dead at this point. Three are sitting up now, but not feeling "perky". Cleaned the pasty-butts on two. Wonder if they will make it? I'll let them sit in the 'bator for a few more hours then see if they're willing to eat or drink. They aren't interested in anything yet, but at least they are sitting upright instead of laying on their sides. That's an improvement.

 

[Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex]

I'd say it's time to see what's up with MaBo and Tam'ra? I know Tam'ra had some pure Sussex she was working with. I am trying to remember exactly what MaBo had, I think he said he'd actually found a Buff Rock rooster? You might need some "red layer chicken" lines at this point. Like New Hampshire Red?

So I think it would be helpful to see photos of Karen's Sussex from Ideal - to see how varied her variations are! And also to see Tamra's Sussex hens. How happy she is with them? Are they big enough? Do they have nice spotting? Are the Ideal Sussex THAT much better? Overall check in with the other two folks up there by you, to see how things are looking. They have some half-breeds to hatch out this Spring, what will you guys in the Pacific NW be lacking after that?

I do have pure Sussex- 4 hens, and one roo. All but one of the hens has more white on it than the pics posted here in the last few days, too Bell is a bit less spotty than the others, but no less spotted than the ones in the above pics. I am very happy with them, bot for their coloring (perfect for Aloha corsses!) and for their temperaments. Those 4 hens are the NICEST chcikens I have ever had. I can barely MOVE without bumping into them. They don't mind being petted, and are only mildly upset by being handled (even by an 8 year old!) though they certainly do not go to any lengths to avoid being picked up. Yesterday one flew up to sit on my shoulder. They have influenced my other chickens to be friendlier too. and here's the most amazing part: they were LESS socialized to humans than the rest of my flock! Just think if I had pampered them as much as I did the older chickens! I don't think I could beat them off with a stick! They have even encouraged my flightier Alohas to come close enough to me that I can take their pictures. I hope that I can get their personalities to stick to the Alohas, as well as their size and spots. We are making the perfect chickens.

MaBo has both a Buff Rock roo AND a NHR/RIR cross roo, so we have some red/gold big chicken down here too.
Between us we also have 8 Aloha hens and 3 Aloha roosters and a half dozen Buff Orps.

I haven't heard from MaBo in a few days (he just started a new job) so I can only speak for myself, but I would be happy to share SS crosses/eggs once I get everyone put in their appropriate pens. I will get that going soon, everyone is laying like CRAZY already! I am about to have a lot more chicken wrangling time as I just got laid off and only have 2 more weeks of work, counting today. (What was that was said about selling chicks to support feed costs? I may have to start...)

 

[alohachickens]

I just ran some errands, and spied an Aloha chicken across the street! My neighbors, I culled some really DARK chicks almost two years ago, and gave them away. I asked if they had turned out black and white, but my neighbor said, "No, not all black and white."

Wow, she actually grew up to look pretty cool. Sorry for the low resolution, she was a wary hen, this is as close as I could get. I kept meaning to take pics of these girls to see how they turned out, wish I'd done it sooner:

I am guessing if you wanted to get something like this again, this is probably how it would look if you crossed some of the Ginger girls with a Welsummer rooster and then back again? Kind of neat but I don't have the room to play with all the color variations!

 

[notinoz2007]

tazcat - so sorry to hear about your mother in law, i hope everything turns out ok

karenS - that "spa" looks like awesome fun for your little chicks.
alohachickens - i dont know when my next trip out to KS will be but i'll keep you informed, in case i need to do any deliveries! i am amazed at how hardy these alohas are, my bunch also will snuggle together on cold nights where the other breeds just fluff themselves up and hope for the best. and the alohas NEVER had pasty butt either, when my other chicks got it i didnt know what to do, lol.
your neighbors chickens are looking really good, apparently even the culls have great color

 

[notinoz2007]

my chicks are now 11 weeks old.

i know its hard to tell at this stage, but do you think this one will get decent coloring? and what do you think about that tail? is that normal? i know i had a problem with tail feather picking... but it has stopped and i figured there would be more feathers by now.


my buddy, he's just a wonderful guy who loves attention. this is the one with the "crown" should he be a cull? since he may carry the double comb trait. i just love him tho...


so the "barring" is on the bottom one? and kinda the top... what about that one in the middle? i love her color and she is the only one in this picture i was planning on keeping.


its possible i will get a buff orp roo to cross with my ladies because my friends breed them. but they tend to be really mean and i dont think i want that... what would happen if i just kept one aloha roo with the aloha hens that i hatched out? they'd be 'pure aloha' ?? but too inbred? your thoughts...

 

[Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex]

Wow, that one in the middle pic looks great! If he's nice AND that well colored, I'd keep him. To me he looks better than the first one, even if his comb is a little funky.
How's his size compared to the other? Any sign of barring? What color is his tail?
I got a few roos who looked like that when young, but all had darker tails (at least mostly dark!) and all the bigger ones turned out to be barred.

Its always amazing to see the variety in these chickens!

 

[notinoz2007]

Wow, that one in the middle pic looks great! If he's nice AND that well colored, I'd keep him. To me he looks better than the first one, even if his comb is a little funky.
How's his size compared to the other? Any sign of barring? What color is his tail?
I got a few roos who looked like that when young, but all had darker tails (at least mostly dark!) and all the bigger ones turned out to be barred.

Its always amazing to see the variety in these chickens!

i also prefer him over the other one, as a matter of fact he's my favorite rooster in attitude and color of all the roos i have. his legs are pinkish yellow. he has no barring and i dont think he ever did - he was an orange chick if i remember correctly (no stripes on this guy) his tail is fuller than the other roosters, but still not quite there. i'll try to get a pic of his backside this week. as for size... of the 5 roosters he is the exact middle. he has a narrower but taller body. the big two are plump basketball-ish and red with barring. too dark for my liking and not that much bigger than my favorite guy.
the heat is getting to the birds today, my widget says its only 82* out there but the two fat roos are panting and walking around with their wings spread apart from their body. its funny, but i know its because they are hot. they better get used to it!! fortunately for them, DH offered to set up a misting system in the back yard