The Aloha Chicken Project

[notinoz2007]

are the eggs i got from you from this same general breeding pen?
remember the LARGE eggs i got from you? there were 6 and 3 hatched. one is turning out to be rather fantastic, i would love to know who the parents are, if you know.

 

[alohachickens]

Notinoz, I wish I could say that's where they came from, but unfortunately when you came by there were no breeder pens set up at all! So we had Flame (last year's current "head roo") plus the pure Swedish, plus the two sons of Cheeto, plus a smaller spotted roo I'm getting ready to cull. (Who I'd hoped would have either more white or better size, but has neither.) So basically it was a mish-mash of all the hens along with five possible dads!

That's why I'm surprised my own "random" chicks that I hatched around the same time as yours, also have a few promising looking babies. Although like your chicks, I have no idea of who the parents would be - and therefore, no real way of repeating the cross?

It was still pretty hot at that point, I wanted to wait for the heat to break somewhat before setting up a breeder pen. When it's really hot out, it's nice to let them all wander wherever they want to in the yard to find relief. I sure hope we can repeat the crosses that got us these nice looking chicks!

 

[alohachickens]

are the eggs i got from you from this same general breeding pen?.

I also wanted to know what date you want me to start collecting from this pen . . . . give me a date when you want to set eggs and I'll collect for a week before that.

Oh, and by the way, have you tested for fertility from Mr. Yellow? If your big roo has been out of the pen for a few weeks, you could set a few eggs and set them for a week just to see if anything develops. I was thinking he was going to be a bit young still?

 

[notinoz2007]

i have checked for fertility and nothing yet, i'm really disappointed because i cant keep this roo for very long. i've noticed him "with" the same few ladies for weeks, 2 of which dont lay eggs yet and the others are not fertile yet. i wanted to start keeping eggs nov 1 but i might have to push that back a week at least. i'm going to test fertility again and will let you know on monday what the plan is.

 

[alohachickens]

As I recall, he was only four months old as of Oct. 1st? Typically, I don't see my roos really getting much of anything done until they are a full six months old! Let's review the hatch dates on him, and check his age. More than likely, he's just still too young. My half-Swedes are now five months old and are still TOTALLY WORTHLESS. It seems right at six months, it suddenly all comes together.

 

[alohachickens]

i've noticed him "with" the same few ladies for weeks, 2 of which dont lay eggs yet

Are the two hens not laying yet from the same hatch as him? If that's the case, you'll probably see him mature right at the same time those two start to lay.

 

[notinoz2007]

he was set on 4/16 and hatched 5/6-ish, so he is 25 weeks old as of this monday. yes the 2 not laying eggs are his hatch mates , but he has tagged a few of your girls as well and i'm still not getting anything fertile. its so strange, King started really getting busy around 20 wks, and my ee roo was even sooner. so i suppose i just put too much pressure on mr yellow, lol. i guess it doesnt help that he's not all that big. maybe they intimidate him, lol

 

[alohachickens]

Okay . . . let's see . . . hatched first week of May. So he'd be one month old on June 7th, two months July 7th, and so on. That means he's going to be TRULY six months old this week. And if his hatch-mates aren't laying, that's actually a good sign - as in, there is probably nothing really "wrong" with him. You know, I don't know how they figure this stuff out, but the baby hens, it seems all the roos will pretty much leave them alone, then suddenly, they lay an egg and the roos just KNOW that it's finally time to fertilize the eggs.

The young roos may try jumping on the non-laying pullets, but all my experienced boys out there are totally, completely ignoring my half Swedish hens in there. I have NINE half-Swedish half-Aloha hens, and my adult roos won't even look at them right now. They are five months old and should start laying in December. But to the mature guys, they don't even exist.

But the second the first pullet eggs show up in the nest box, I get the roos jumping all over those hens! It's really funny how they seem to know when it's finally time. So the fact he's tagging the adult hens and ignoring the non-laying hens sounds about appropriate for a young, immature roo who is just now getting old enough to actively breed. I bet you the second those hens of yours start laying, you'll suddenly start getting fertile eggs from EVERYBODY.

If you feel there are too many hens, though, we can take Hendini and a few of the others over to Laree's house now, and leave him with only the most important hens - your "keeper" hens you've picked out from hatches, and the two hens from the Sussex/Buff Barred Mottled specialty pen. (If you think smaller numbers might help fertility, or ease his performance anxiety.) LOL!

 

[alohachickens]

Oh, and I have found the sons of Cheeto with the Buff Rock and NHR blood were pretty "active" starting at only five months. Meanwhile, the Swedish were mature enough at six months, but I had to remove all the competition and even then, they were really, really clueless with the ladies. They did a lot of chasing the hens and very little catching! The Swedish, honestly, I'd say they needed about 8 months to mature completely. So it really does depend. Sussex and NHR tend to mature earlier than some.

 

[alohachickens]

Photos of a couple of the new chicks.



Hen?


I thought this was a hen, Derek thinks it's a rooster. Nice spotty chest.


Very weird colored baby hen.