The Aloha Chicken Project

[alohachickens]

We also messed around a little with the other breeder pens. Here they are now:

Pen #1 is still exactly the same. It's the small but really bright Aloha/Swedish rooster, over three Meyer Sussex hens (Big and Spotty) plus two or three Aloha/Sussex hens (Sussex Dad was the big rooster with little spotting, so the hens don't have a lot of color, but all came out of colorful Aloha hens - mostly Ginger hens.) The hens look like small, crappy Sussex but I'm hoping the Aloha side will pull out more since Dad is half Aloha - those chicks will end up 1/2 Aloha, 1/4 Swedish and 1/4 Sussex, could be a nice mix if the genes all hit right.




Pen #2 is still the same. Pure Swedish Flower Rooster, not a lot of spotting. So we put him in with some of the most spotty little Alohas. In a perfect world, he would add size and lighten the body color, since his mom is Mille Fleur Swedish, while the Alohas would add more spotting or new colors. We'll see if it works, ha ha ha! The hen on the bottom right is WOW spotted, and the one on the front left is half Sussex (less spotty but big dad) so she has some size to her. Her chicks will look very Sussex no doubt, but at least will be big and carry the yellow leg gene. The other hens are small, but fairly colorful. Five hens, total, I think?




Next up is pen #3 which used to have two blue-tail Swedish boys. But the Swedish boys were neither large, nor did they have a lot of spotting. So we made the decision to set those aside and bring in Jorge's roo, who is tiny but second generation Aloha. The Buff girls are from the Cheeto lines (NHR/Buff Rock) with yellow legs and have a bit of "big chicken" in their background. Let's hope we get something good out of this pen. Who knows??? There is one really GORGEOUS (but crested) Swedish hen. Kind of curious to see what she makes with Jorge's roo. Hmmmm.




And now, Pen #4 is the new Sussex room from Garry Farms stock over colorful hens.

We are only going to have these pens up for 4-6 weeks, then we'll cull and shut down for the summer.

If anyone wants stock from any of these pens, SPEAK UP now or you might lose the chance later! We'll be keeping the chicks we hatch and culling HARD for the summer, so that means the "next generation" won't be ready until the following October . . .

I'm adding more hens to the Pumpkin roo pen and taking hens out of the Swedish roo pen because a bunch of the Swedish roo's eggs were "blanks". I may have to pen him in the smaller breeder pen, where he can access the hens easier, because he's a slacker! I'll post new pics of my three breeder pens when all are sorted out in the next day or two.

These pens should start to be "set" in a couple of weeks. That means chicks or hatching eggs from these pens available for May 6th onward. (But I do have to travel in May so there is some issue with shipping chicks in mid May.) We *might* be able to get away with one late May/early June shipment, but I think after that the girls will stop laying so it will be a moot point anyway!

 

[alohachickens]

Oh BTW, it's probably a good idea, with new members and all, to go over the general goals of the program!

OK, first and foremost - dual purpose breed. Good layers, strong, hearty. Big enough to have edible roosters. (In other words, bodies that are larger than Leghorns, which are great layers but have little meat.)

Comb - Upright single comb. Leg color - Yellow.

No crests, no muffs, no beards, no feathered shanks. A regular "farmyard chicken" body type. Long tail on roosters. Most similar in body type to Speckled Sussex.

(Feathersite photo of Sussex rooster.)

Other similar body styles would be Welsummer, but heavier, with more body weight like a Java or Rock.

Image of Welsummer here, note tail length:

*long tail, yellow legs - good, but somewhat too slight in build and obviously color would be different on Alohas.

Image of Java here, note body heft:

*good body size and weight, good overall body shape, legs would need to be yellow, more mottling, brighter colors, etc.

(NOT MY IMAGES)

Heavier bodies as seen on Rock and NHR breeds are great. However, the roosters should have a long tail. On hens, the ideal tail set would be upright with feathers in a relaxed "fan" shape. While a long flowing tail is cosmetically appealing, it is also a terrific aid in early sexing of chicks. (As roosters and hens with short puffy tails can take longer to sex.) So it is also a very practical feature.

Feathering - Smooth to show off the Mottled patterns clearly. (Not loose fluffy like an Orpington or Cochin.)

While the "heritage" body type would be most similar to a Sussex, they would differ from Speckled Sussex in leg color and plumage color.

Weight: Large, with the smallest being no smaller than a hatchery Speckled Sussex, with no upper limit. (So 5 lbs to 8+ lbs?)

Spotting: Level of mottling (spotting) should be much more pronounced on an Aloha. On a Speckled Sussex, the amount of white desired on an Aloha would be faulted as having "too much white" on a Sussex. Most Sussex are bred to be a dark bird with small white flecks. It is known that spotting increases with age, so Speckled Sussex breeders start with less white, to let it increase each year.

Alohas should start with heavy white as youngsters, and may grow out to be more white than dark by the end of their life span. Speckled Sussex may be described as a "colored chicken with white spots" whereas an Aloha may be described as "a white chicken with colored spots". The ideal color ratio would be 50/50 (half colored half white) but white from as little as 25% white up to 80% white would be acceptable.

Overall "broad" goal is to take a very productive farm or homestead heritage chicken (NHR, RIR, Sussex type) and give it tons of color, yellow legs, and long tails.

Why should we do this?

*Speckled Sussex are fabulous farm chickens. However, some of us have observed that the random "hatchery" stock is often a bit fragile in nature. (Not bashing the carefully bred private stock, but the hatchery Sussex are different from carefully bred private stock.) Speckled Sussex are also limited to just the one color phase (solid Mahogany with small white flecking) which is not as exciting to some poultry keepers as a variety of colors as seen in Swedish.

*Swedish come in a great variety of color and lay wonderful large eggs. However, the gene pool is limited in the US. They are slower to mature than Sussex or New Hampshire, for example. (Good layers when they do grow up, however!)

*The "Aloha" strain is from some game-type stock, and while small they offer many positive traits. Good flying skills, sharp predator awareness, reliable laying in all weather, overall "durability" and spectacular colors. The Aloha downsides are small body size (roos have little meat) and smallish eggs.

By working some Swedish and other breeds into a new strain, Alohas, we can make them more practical for more people - much as the rumpless and challenging to breed South American Araucana was "tweaked" by US breeders in the 1970's to become the Ameracuana, (American Araucana) which was much easier to breed, but still laid blue eggs and had some of the traits of the origin South American breed. By doing this, breeders turned a rare oddity (a tail-less tufted bird from Chile) into a more familiar shaped, beloved backyard breed.

The Alohas would be to Swedish Flowers what Ameraucanas are to Araucana. They would have many traits of the original Swedish but more diversity in color and bloodline, plus being faster to mature like the traditional American Heritage breeds.

By allowing people the freedom to incorporate new strains into existing breeds like Sussex and Swedish, the hope is for "hybrid vigor" and bigger, healthier chickens. Example: Easter Eggers have a lot of variety in color, but are generally good layers. Hatcheries may bring in other breeds to improve their EE'er lines, but they keep the chicks with muffs and peacombs and slate legs. Other breeds are likewise welcome in the Aloha program, so long as they help towards the final goal to create a big, mottled, single combed, yellow legged dual-purpose breed.

Other mixes of various breeds may be considered - but ideally be tempered by another breed so as to not merely resemble a mottled version of any existing breed, except perhaps strong resemblance to the Sussex body type. Example - Rocks have massive body size and yellow legs, but short stubby tails. Leghorns have extravagant long tails and are fantastic layers but do not have much body size. One possible theoretical cross could have some of the size of the Rock along with the improved laying and nimbleness and aesthetic "flair" seen in a Leghorn. The best of such a cross could then be added to the Aloha mixture. The idea is to have Alohas not entirely resemble an already existing breed but to look "new". However, if they were to said to resemble any one breed, it would most resemble a Speckled Sussex with yellow legs and more colors.

Any color or combo of colors are acceptable. However, some general observations on color:

*Barring can take over fast. Mottling does not show up at all on Black/White barred so is a moot point! Don't use Barred Rock, for example, as an outcross. There are other options for adding size and yellow legs without adding barring.

*Black can take over. Darker colors (like Mahogany) are very dominant. You are not going to get bright colors by adding in black or very dark colored birds, you'll need to find an outcross to brighten things up.

*Some strains of solid white can pop up generations later. Try to stick with "basic" colors like wheaten, partridge, red, etc. Be careful of many sex-link breed that carry this white gene, as you may end up with solid white chicks for generations after.

*For some reason mottling is having a hard time showing up on solid Buff. Not sure why? Does not seem to be an issue with the Buff Columbian color (black tail black feathering around neck.) The mottling only seems to have trouble emerging in the solid Buff colors like Buff Rock and Buff Orpington. (Colors where the black has been removed from the tail.) It is unknown why this occurs but most Buff chicks that are born with spotting have had color "drop off" right at four months old.

*Blue can make it hard to see the true amount of white in a chicken. It is not excluded from the Aloha program but I have chosen to not use it while the breed is in progress so I can judge the "true" white on the offspring. Sometimes, a Swedish will appear very spotted, but actually it's a light gray (blue) next to a white spangle, that gives the illusion that there is more white on the feather. Remember, blue is genetically still black! It is not Mottling. In two doses Blue becomes Splash and can take over, like Barring. Use all dominant genes or colors very carefully or they will take over.

*The color goals should be to create new colors whenever possible over existing colors, to give Alohas something unique and to make them different from existing breeds. Example: No standard "large" breeds come in golden or red mottled colors. So even though black mottled or dark brown mottled would be acceptable, a huge bright orange or gold and white mottled bird would be more likely to stand out as a "new breed".

Current goals are: To increase overall size and improve body type while adding bold colors and increased degrees of mottling.

Future goals are: Once basic color are achieved and chickens are a true Standard size, (even smaller standard size) goal would be to breed enough of them and create a "formal" breed standard to present to the APA.

Long term goals: Keep improving size whenever and wherever possible, until Alohas move from "small to regular standard" to the "large standard" range. Always work on egg size, productivity, and faster maturity, as well as health and disease resistance.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Who was the rooster she was running with at the time?

Oops. Thought I answered this but didn't. She was running with my Aloha roo. He's very young but he was mating with the hens. I just hope to heaven he was fertile. There is a tiny possibility the Wellie roo mated her but Bertram, the bantam, was running a really tight patrol with chasing the cockerels away from the hens, if he caught them trying to mate. Bertram doesn't mate the big hens, they just peck him on the head and chase him off.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Sommer, you are set to have some really great crosses this spring. It's crazy how wrong things can go in a hurry and then how right they can go, equally as fast -- never giving up is the absolute key. I'm lovin' that Pumpkin roo and Garry roo pens!

The chicks that HEChicken hatched and I'm growing out are doing great. So far, there is a good number of them with really light feathering. Of course, it's way too early to tell anything at this point but I'm hanging onto them until I can see how much white they're going to end up with.

 

[HEChicken]

The chicks that HEChicken hatched and I'm growing out are doing great. So far, there is a good number of them with really light feathering. Of course, it's way too early to tell anything at this point but I'm hanging onto them until I can see how much white they're going to end up with.

I was just thinking about them last night and planning to ask you for an update on how they are doing! So excited to follow their progress....

Sommer, thanks for that great detail about what we are going for again. I've read it before but the reminder is always good. I think I'm going to copy that over to a file so I can refer back to it easily in the future. My exchequer leghorns will be here next week - I'm glad to start the first step, although it will be some time before I have any results to offer up.

 

[alohachickens]

Sommer, you are set to have some really great crosses this spring. It's crazy how wrong things can go in a hurry and then how right they can go, equally as fast -- never giving up is the absolute key. I'm lovin' that Pumpkin roo and Garry roo pens!

The chicks that HEChicken hatched and I'm growing out are doing great. So far, there is a good number of them with really light feathering. Of course, it's way too early to tell anything at this point but I'm hanging onto them until I can see how much white they're going to end up with.

I'm super excited about these pens, too! There could end up being some really really really cool stuff here . . . I just wish we weren't so close to being out of time now, before the heat sets in.

The main problem is now they're set up, but I won't be able to raise nearly as many chicks as I'd like to! It's like last year, all over again - my Swedish roo didn't mature until very late and I was raising just one last-minute batch of 30 Aloha/Swedish crosses in June. So of those I got quite a few breeders, but still, I think - what if I had been able to hatch more? Example, this boy:




What if I'd had enough time to hatch out more eggs? Could I have hatched out some of his sisters? (At least I do have the same roo and two hens that he came from, so maybe this Spring!)

And the roo that I lost, could I have been able to hatch a "girl" version of him? You know, it's all about numbers. Problem is, my brooder size and overall situation makes it so I can't really raise more than 30 chicks per "batch" and I have to stagger the batches about a month apart, and here we are almost out of time for the season!

The "late" batches hatched in early June will go to Stephen, who has a cooled pen and a seriously awesome track record on keeping chicks alive through the summer. He could maybe handle 50 chicks which is good? But we know after culling hard, that only means maybe 10 outstanding hens, and they have to make it to the Fall without meeting an untimely fate!

Also, Derek is going to try some late hatches, though last summer things did not go well at all for him, due to heat and predator issues. He says he bought a large shade roof and is working on a new pen for this year - possibly even with misters? I'll be crossing my fingers that it will work, as I won't be able to raise chicks here in June, July, and August due to travel plans. He is willing to keep going all summer long. Hope it works.

Of course we WILL be keeping some of the best adult chickens here for next season so don't get the wrong idea! But we are going to cull hard. Example - the photo of Pen #2, I will probably only keep the one "wow" spotty hen and cull the other four. And in Pen #2, there are two of Stephen's Sussex/Aloha crosses, that are lighter than a normal Sussex. We will probably keep those and get rid of the few darker ones. I can honestly see us culling about half of the hens, plus Jorge's rooster, and probably even the lighter Swedish/Aloha rooster.

As we roll into June, when the hens truly will stop laying, I want to cut things down to only the hens that I say to myself, "I would like to hatch out EVERY chick from that hen." If I have to pause and think, "Well, hmm, maybe with the right rooster, I might get something cool from her?" or any other excuses, she's gone. LOL!!!

I'll be keeping probably about a dozen of my "old school" tiny but super colorful hens, plus a few of the Swedish/Aloha hens, plus Nui and Beauty of course, but a lot of the others will get culled.

Have to make room for the new kids! Looking at those pens, I'd say we could see some really remarkable chicks.

And a note about the eggs that I sent with HEChicken - the chicks that I have here, from some of those eggs that I hatched, are looking quite nice! Lots of yellow legs, too, BTW.

OH - and remember the two hatchery NHR that I put in there with those babies? And I couldn't pick them out? Now you can see them in there, because they are the solid colored chicks, but get this - they are NOT the largest babies. That's right, we have Aloha chicks, from "Little" Yellow Legs the roo, who are looking BIGGER than a hatchery NHR! Granted, that's hatchery stock, not German NHR. But, it's still awesome, right? I need to update with some photos for y'all. Seriously, we are right on the edge of overcoming the size issue. So close . . .

 

[alohachickens]

I was just thinking about them last night and planning to ask you for an update on how they are doing! So excited to follow their progress....

Sommer, thanks for that great detail about what we are going for again. I've read it before but the reminder is always good. I think I'm going to copy that over to a file so I can refer back to it easily in the future. My exchequer leghorns will be here next week - I'm glad to start the first step, although it will be some time before I have any results to offer up.

I'm so eager to see the Exchequer/NHR crosses . . . or rather, THEIR crosses . . . but so much waiting until then! Arrrrrrrgggghhh!!!!

 

[tazcat70]

Sommer it is great to see where we are going.

Heather, I can't wait to see what they produce!

Karen, I hope all of your special eggs hatch.

 

[HEChicken]

I'm so eager to see the Exchequer/NHR crosses . . . or rather, THEIR crosses . . . but so much waiting until then! Arrrrrrrgggghhh!!!!

I know, right? Its the waiting that'st he hardest......

Tazcat, I did not realize how close you are I are until this weekend when I was driving to visit a friend and saw a sign off to your town. We are maybe 15 minutes apart - I'll have to get up and see you sometime!

 

[tazcat70]

Really? That is awesome! I thought you were much closer to Derby.