The Aloha Chicken Project

[alohachickens]

I went to a friend's house today. Back in Spring, I'd given her hubby some Aloha chicks to raise. They hatched out 11 roosters and only 6 hens. Unfortunately, I didn't see the culled roosters! I spaced out, I should have hounded them, so I could see the baby roos before they took the extras out to the feed store. So, who knows what I lost in the rooter department.

Anyway, it was a wet miserable day, so this is all I was able to photograph. Still, not a bad group!

All of them could use more white, though one hen is pretty well spotted for barely 6 months old.

 

[fosterson]

Well, I decided that I wanted to split my birds into breeding pens before the weather got really gnarly. Since my little Speckled guy isn't going to be 'roostering' for a good while still, I happened upon a handsome fella to help get me some big red birds with single combs and some seriously yellow legs.



This is Goliath. He's half RIR/half Brown Leghorn and ALL boy. He's 18lbs and 6 months old. Got him tossed in free when I picked up some 'eatin' roosters. He makes my RIR girls who weigh 8 lbs look like bantams! And he's already spotted them from the isolation pen and is doing his rooster dance and making sweet love-songs to them -- he sounds like Barry White! I have never heard a basso rooster before! LOL!

And his legs! Good grief, they're the color of road signs and his feet are nearly as long as my hands.

 

[5moore]

He is HUGE!

 

[alohachickens]

Well, I decided that I wanted to split my birds into breeding pens before the weather got really gnarly. Since my little Speckled guy isn't going to be 'roostering' for a good while still, I happened upon a handsome fella to help get me some big red birds with single combs and some seriously yellow legs.



This is Goliath. He's half RIR/half Brown Leghorn and ALL boy. He's 18lbs and 6 months old. Got him tossed in free when I picked up some 'eatin' roosters. He makes my RIR girls who weigh 8 lbs look like bantams! And he's already spotted them from the isolation pen and is doing his rooster dance and making sweet love-songs to them -- he sounds like Barry White! I have never heard a basso rooster before! LOL!

And his legs! Good grief, they're the color of road signs and his feet are nearly as long as my hands.

18 POUNDS??? Am I reading that right?

18 POUNDS!!!

That is seriously, seriously awesome. His type looks fabulous from what I can see. Does he have a decent tail length? Would be a nice plus, though at 18 pounds I'm not complaining either way. LOL. If I had him here to cross over my colorful little girls . . . . . wow! He would REALLY get them over the size issues in a hurry!!!!

 

[alohachickens]

OMG, I just realized that's at 6 months.

The Swedish get pretty decent size, but they take about 8-10 to mature fully. So, yeah . . . he has a LOT to offer.

Good find!

Can you cross him with the Buff Sussex girls? The offspring would be huge, lighter in color than he is, plus carry the gene for yellow legs. They would also cross well with your super-spotty Sussex boy, and give him more "girlfriends" in the future!

 

[alohachickens]

Oh - and I have now shipped out 100+ Aloha chicks to the San Diego area! They will be divided between three new homes. Yay, it's a SoCal Aloha Invasion!!!

 

[fosterson]

OMG, I just realized that's at 6 months.

The Swedish get pretty decent size, but they take about 8-10 to mature fully. So, yeah . . . he has a LOT to offer.

Good find!

Can you cross him with the Buff Sussex girls? The offspring would be huge, lighter in color than he is, plus carry the gene for yellow legs. They would also cross well with your super-spotty Sussex boy, and give him more "girlfriends" in the future!

That is actually currently my plan. I'm scared the Sussex girls aren't going to keep their fertility up long enough for my spotty kiddo, so I'm going to put him in with the Big Red Girls to try and get some more Big Red Chickens.

His tail feathers are black and not that long YET, but I suspect he's got another molt in him before he's fully furnished. His spurs are still buds yet! He's a big baby!



This is him next to his 'clutchmate" (different parents, a NN/bantam cross) Lee (who came as an 'eatin rooster' but he's too dang ugly/cute to do just yet) and Bling (the half Imported Orpington...she's only 5 months old herself...that's a 14 x 10 inch box he's eating sprouts out of). Bling is so besotted by him she flew out of my layer pen to join them this morning

 

[alohachickens]

It's good he's so young. If I can get you some Aloha chicks by late Spring (April?) I would love to see him crossed to the small but super colorful girls I get in my flock.

 

[fosterson]

Sure! I will have decided on and culled out my layer flock by then, so I'll have room again. I can rotate the pens to put the smaller layers in the smaller pen because they won't need the warmth that the big coop provides them in our bitter winters. And I'd be willing to try some shipped eggs too, but I can't take receipt of them this time of year. It's just too cold.

 

[Bernie56]

Its been awhile since I've been on this thread. Looks like your making good progress. I ended up getting a good deal on some Swedish Flower Hens and so went that way. I applaud your efforts, I just didn't have the space to do your project justice. I noticed that at one point it was said that "ginger" doesn't appear in SFHs. Here are a few photos of some of my red/white hens.



I would suggest that if you are using Swedish roosters, get a red/white one. My original birds were red/white, and it has taken me two years, and 3 different lines to start getting more of the different colors. I do love the red/white, but I wanted a variety of color as well. Good luck with your project, and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!