The Aloha Chicken Project

[notinoz2007]

horsiefly that is awful sad news, sorry for your losses.

 

[alohachickens]

Notinoz, I'm so sad about Snickerdoodle! But I am excited about your new chicks from your "own" breeder group. Hopefully there will be some Snickerdoodle chicks in there?

 

[jbolt]

Here's some pics of my best chicks. My fav is the huge yellow legged roo

 

[jbolt]

 

[jbolt]

 

[jbolt]

Just the ones that would stand for pics. I'd imagine that I will have 10 to 12 breeder hens and 2 to 3 roosters,after I cull again in August. High hopes......Sommer I would like to buy 20 chicks.......let me know if you are going to be incubating.......

 

[HEChicken]

Notinoz, sorry for the loss of Snickerdoodle. I did have to laugh a little at the name though because I have a Snickerdoodle too! We have a hen named Cookie and when this chick hatched, she looked just like Cookie. DD was naming the second batch with names that started with S, so she picked Snickerdoodle for the one that looks like Cookie.

I thought maybe it is time for an update on my project chicks. They are now 8 weeks old and going strong. To back track....

I ordered 25 chicks:
15 Exchequer Leghorns
2 Anconas
2 Mottled Javas

and the rest were chicks that arrived looking like chipmunks. I separated out those 3 breeds because as you can guess, they all looked alike and I never knew which were the Anconas or MJ's. Okay, so of the 19 black/yellow chicks, I lost 2 in the first couple of days but the rest grew up nicely. At 6 weeks, DH noticed one of them was about half the size of the others and on looking closer, I realized it was not thriving. Not only was it half the size, but it wasn't feathering out either - it still had chick fluff where, at 6 weeks, the rest of them were pretty well fully feathered. It died a day or two after that, which was no huge surprise. So, I am left with 16 eight-weekers, that are healthy and active. By 6 weeks I was very disappointed in them as project birds, because they were pretty much just black and white chickens - no mottling on any of them. In fact, a friend came to visit, who knew about the project, but when she saw them running around, asked "What are those black and white chickens?" As she has Anconas and was hoping to buy a couple of Leghorns from me after I no longer need them, I could tell she was disappointed in their lack of mottling at that point.

However two weeks later, at 8 weeks, I am pleased to see some mottling developing. I guess it is something that continues to develop as they mature. Last night I watched one at the feeder that is looking truly pleasing. Another - the largest, so I'm thinking perhaps it is a Mottled Java - has a solid black back, but a lot of mottling around the face, neck and chest.

I will try to get out and get some pictures of them here in the next day or two.

In other news, I got my German NH rooster, Paul, from Deerfield last Friday. Unfortunately, my existing cock bird wants to kill Paul so I have him housed in my hoop coop. I had hoped to integrate them at some point but the news I am getting from the research I've done is not promising for integrating two mature roosters. I'm still hopeful they can share the coop by winter, but if not, we will make do. He currently has no hens since "his" hens are now only 8 weeks old, but I may put my NH hens with him so I can hatch a few pure-bred chicks, and give him something to do while he waits for the leghorns.

 

[notinoz2007]

hechicken, sounds like a cool project going on there. i like the idea of giving the NH some hens until the others grow up, a rooster without a hen is a sad rooster, lol. unfortunately i have had NO luck at introducing adult males, only the ones that grow up together are even half way friendly to each other - but there is still a dominant and submissive. also, even if they have grown up together and they dont see each other for a few hours, their reintroduction isnt a pleasant one.

i am really glad i started saving eggs when my roo, The Jerk, was on his way out the door, otherwise i would not have any of snickerdoodles eggs to hatch at all. i only had 14 and i am hoping half were hers

snickerdoodle is my favorite cookie! and we called her snickers too, which is my favorite candy bar! ... makes me so sad sometimes. in other news, i saved one of my moms hens from overheating yesterday. woohoo! i had read in another thread to put cool water under their wings and it worked. she was starting to perk up and walk a little after only 5 minutes.

 

[HEChicken]

I do NOT envy you the heat down there in Phoenix! Two summers ago we had 55 days that were in the triple digits and that was bad enough for me. Last year we got a few days where my thermometer ready 112 but fortunately they were only a few, and by August it had cooled down. As you know, being from here, normally July/August are the two hot months but last year June and July were the hottest and by August it was down to double digits and stayed there. I think this year might do the same. We have a forecast of mid-90's all of next week and since its the only the second week of June, unless a cool front comes through, I anticipate triples by the following week. I'm not ready but I don't think that's going to make a difference. I spend a lot of time worrying on the truly hot days - didn't lose any to heat the past two summers but still.....

Just as I had plans to put the NH hens in with Paul, one of them decided to go broody on me! (I only have 2). She is really young - only about 7 months old - and it's this weird situation where she and my oldest hen, who has never been broody a day in her life before, both decided at the same time to sit. So they are squeezed into a nest box side-by-side - and they are both large hens so I mean it when I say "squeezed". I need to get them moved or I'm concerned they will overheat next week when the temps get high. I don't even try to break broodies as the best method I've found of breaking them is to let them hatch, but I can't say I'm excited about this development because I don't have any eggs I want incubated right now. I don't want to end up with barnyard mixes but only have a couple of options of purebred birds. One of those options was the NH hen under Paul but as she's one of the broodies she's not even laying

So I can still put the other NH hen with Paul, and my other pure option is a BR hen under my BR flock leader. She only lays every other day and she's not keeping up with all the broody hens! I've set every egg she's laid in the last 3 weeks under one hen or another but every time I think I'm caught up, another hen or two decide to sit. The first of her eggs hatched last night under a broody Silchin so at least I know they're fertile.

 

[HEChicken]

I finally got out this morning and took some pics of the project birds. Amazingly, I can see a difference even since yesterday in the amount of mottling on most of them. These two did not look this spotted just yesterday.


This one is more black and white but I can see a few little spots coming in.

Until a few days ago, most looked like this except without the little black patches on the chest.

I'm liking watching the mottling develop on this one.

The one in back is my most mottled in the neck and chest, but the most solid black on the back, so I dunno. This one is also noticeably larger than the rest so I suspect is actually a Mottled Java rather than a Exchequer Leghorn. However as both breeds have yellow legs, black and white mottling and single combs, I decided to see what would happen adding the MJ's to the mix.