The Aloha Chicken Project

[fosterson]

Wow! Some really "egg"citing news there, Sommer!

I have a little news myself...

I brought my little Speckled Sussex cockerel home tonight -- he's only 3 months old - so cute! And because I didn't want him to be lonely, I got 2 girlfriends for him. An Easter Egger and a speckled Icelandic! She's really really red, no matter what these photos say!

Young Spotty

Amelia the Wonder Aviator (EE pullet)

Helga, who did not care for her closeup.

Sorry for the crummy cell phone photos, but my 'good' camera was recharging and I wanted to get these babies in bed ASAP!

 

[alohachickens]

I am still blown away by that spotty roo. Looks like nobody was interested in posing for the camera, LOL! You'll have to get some more shots of them later when they're feeling more photogenic!

I've seen a stray Icelandic that could transition into the Aloha program nicely, but since they allow all colors and types, it's hard to find the specific one that might work.

Example, the hen in the foreground here is PERFECT but the black and whites behind her not so much:

http://www.chickenforum.com/images/4/4/4/icelandic-2.jpg

The tail of the 4th one down also looks promising, LOL.

I think I even contacted that breeder and she was willing to send eggs but since her whole flock free-ranged there was no way to only get eggs from certain hens and specific roos. My hatch rate with shipped eggs has been so dismal, I didn't pursue it, because to hatch out the numbers needed of her Icelandics and then to raise them to adulthood and hope that ONE had the right traits was just going to be almost impossible!

And the Icelandic rooster shown here would be wonderful for the Aloha program:

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6143/6029156813_2cf915ef41_o.jpg

I always thought if I lived near a breeder of Iceys who had some nice mottleds, and was able to pick out just a few of the ones that would work perfect for the Aloha program, it would be really helpful. So, in other words, good call. You seem to be a natural at this. LOL!

 

[fosterson]

I am still blown away by that spotty roo. Looks like nobody was interested in posing for the camera, LOL! You'll have to get some more shots of them later when they're feeling more photogenic!

I always thought if I lived near a breeder of Iceys who had some nice mottleds, and was able to pick out just a few of the ones that would work perfect for the Aloha program, it would be really helpful. So, in other words, good call.

You seem to be a natural at this. LOL!

As far as being a 'natural', well. I have to confess, I have a head start. My mom bred show cats when I was a kid, so I got thoroughly versed in cat color genetics at a young age. I fell in love with horses as a youngster and by the time I was 13 I was pretty versant -- up until recently I did consultation for color breeding for paints and appaloosas sort of as a hobby. So once I've got the 'lingo' for chicken color genetics down, it's easier to know what I'm looking at and what I want to breed for.

 

[fosterson]

Oh, and it looks like Helga might have yellow legs too - bonus!

I think right now my plans for my two breeding pens for next year are this:

Goliath will stay with the RIRs and my funky EEr cross (I think she's got dominant white + splash going on), and probably Helga (speckled Icelandic). Helga's chicks will be split for speckles, straight comb, and yellow legs. The RIR crosses will be pure for straight comb, yellow legs. I just wanna see what I get from the funky EEr, but her chicks will at least be split for yellow leg and straight comb.

Spotty will get any pullets I get from Goliath X Sussex (straight comb, split for yellow, potentially split for speckles from Queenie), any I get from Goliath X Icelandic and I'll put the Sussex in with him as well. This will make their chicks pure for straight comb, split for speckles, and some will carry for yellow legs.

Since I'm not likely to get many (if any) spotted in the first F1s, I will then cull for overall size, comb, and light red color. Those who make the cut will mostly be pure for straight comb, split for speckles and for yellow legs, which would make my F2 crosses between those two pens have something like a 75-100% chance for straight comb, 50-75% chance for yellow legs, and 50% chance for speckles.

Of course, if I get some actual Aloha eggs to hatch out, this could potentially be improved.

 

[alohachickens]

Oh, and it looks like Helga might have yellow legs too - bonus!

I think right now my plans for my two breeding pens for next year are this:

Goliath will stay with the RIRs and my funky EEr cross (I think she's got dominant white + splash going on), and probably Helga (speckled Icelandic). Helga's chicks will be split for speckles, straight comb, and yellow legs. The RIR crosses will be pure for straight comb, yellow legs. I just wanna see what I get from the funky EEr, but her chicks will at least be split for yellow leg and straight comb.

Spotty will get any pullets I get from Goliath X Sussex (straight comb, split for yellow, potentially split for speckles from Queenie), any I get from Goliath X Icelandic and I'll put the Sussex in with him as well. This will make their chicks pure for straight comb, split for speckles, and some will carry for yellow legs.

Since I'm not likely to get many (if any) spotted in the first F1s, I will then cull for overall size, comb, and light red color. Those who make the cut will mostly be pure for straight comb, split for speckles and for yellow legs, which would make my F2 crosses between those two pens have something like a 75-100% chance for straight comb, 50-75% chance for yellow legs, and 50% chance for speckles.

Of course, if I get some actual Aloha eggs to hatch out, this could potentially be improved.

Sounds like a perfect plan. Now to try and get the chickens to:

1. Survive long enough to reproduce

2. Hatch the next generation

3. Get the F2's to survive long enough to repeat steps 1-2.

So many possible "blips" along the way. That's what has plagued me here . . . like you come up with the perfect plan, but when so much is riding on one member of the flock (like your spotty roo) if something happens to that special one, you're stuck until you can find some kind of alternative!

Right now, I have only ONE stinkin' chick hatched from the Buff Sussex roo's pen. Just moved him and a group of 12 other chicks (kept the others JUST to act as buddies to this ONE chick.) Two chicks had escaped from the pen, the latch fell open. Of the 13 chicks, guess who was one of the missing ones? Yep, the ONE chick. He was one of the missing two babies.

Luckily, I found him in the coop and was able to catch him again before tragedy befell, but I swear, raising chickens can be so scary sometimes! There are so many ways for the darn things to try and hurt themselves . . . .

I won't feel OK until I get something like at least 20 chicks hatched out of the Buff Sussex Roo's pen, and spread out in new homes like a few offspring everywhere. Some with Jess, a few with me, and with whoever else needs some. (You, the new San Diego peeps, etc.)

 

[alohachickens]

Oh, and it looks like Helga might have yellow legs too - bonus!

I think right now my plans for my two breeding pens for next year are this:

Goliath will stay with the RIRs and my funky EEr cross (I think she's got dominant white + splash going on), and probably Helga (speckled Icelandic). Helga's chicks will be split for speckles, straight comb, and yellow legs.

That's a really interesting idea. Goliath would overcome the Icey's tendency to be too small. The chicks would show a ton of red. Crossed back to the Sussex they'd be 3/4 very large chicken, and 1/4 Icey, (smallish chicken) so should be full size all the way, and possibly very spotted to boot. And carry for yellow legs . . .

Could be fabulous! Also might go really well with HeChicken's NHR x Exchequer crosses.

 

[HEChicken]

Also might go really well with HeChicken's NHR x Exchequer crosses.

That's if I can get any! I recently had my silkie go broody so I thought I'd get a head start on the project by giving her some of the Exchequer eggs to hatch. Since my NHR rooster is now my ONLY rooster, and my Exchequers are the only ones that lay white eggs, even though all of my birds run together, it seemed easy to just collect the white eggs to put under the silkie. I gave her a half dozen eggs but sadly, when I candled a week later not a single one was developing. I cracked them all open just to be sure and none of them was fertile. It appears the NHR does not favor the Exchequers as mates, possibly because he is so much bigger than they are. I've never seen him pay any attention to them but knowing how fast it is, I just assumed he was mating them when I am not looking.

The Exchequers have not proven to be good layers. I'm down to 6 hens (I picked out the 6 spottiest and sold the rest as POL pullets) and of the 6 I don't believe I've ever had more than one egg from them in a day. And, it has now been two weeks since I got the last egg from them at all. Coupled with being so late to start laying - 8 months old - I really wouldn't recommend them as layers.

In the spring, I will separate the NHR and the 6 Exchequer hens into a hoop house so that he has no other hens to breed and try again but so far this is proving to be sort of disappointing.

 

[alohachickens]

IRONY.

So, I just post about how fragile chickens are, and how ANYTHING can happen, right?

I go out to feed . . . and someone BROKE IN AND STOLE THE BUFF SUSSEX CHICK.

Yep.

They scaled the chain link fence, cut part of it (????) and stole about half the baby chicks in the cage out there last night.

Unfortunately, the one solitary Buff Sussex chick, which had a green leg band, is one of the missing.

Thank God they did not take the adults . . . .

 

[alohachickens]

I took one pic but it was after my boyfriend already tried fixing the hole . . . you can see the turqoise rabbit hutch is next to the alley where folks walk and ride and drive down every day and see my chickens. What you can't see in the pic, is we have chicken wire attached to the top of the six-foot chain link, and the chicken wire was tied to the chain link. That was done to prevent my chickens from flying out into the alley. The wire was lifted in a very large human-sized hole.

It seems first they tried to cut through the fence, and then they gave up and just climbed over. There was also a large wooden perch in the corner of the coop, and that was knocked down as they were climbing in or out of the coop.

As freaky and weird as it is, my first real predator issue here, is with the HUMAN kind.

Geeeez.


Above: You can see here how the hole was cut right next to the blue rabbit hutch. I think they figured they could reach through and grab the chicks while standing in the alley, but you can't, the rabbit coop is actually very deep and the chicks like to huddle way in the back.

I didn't think to take pics before we fixed it, I wish I had. The hole was all open with chain link all pushed to the sides.

 

[alohachickens]

Just talked to the neighbors and found out what happened. I guess yesterday two little boys were running up and down the alley, and they were trying to climb over my neighbor's fence to grab his Bantam roo. Then they were caught sneaking in three doors down from me, through a hole in the back fence, and were trying to corner a rooster. Later they were spotted running down the alley way with a rooster and an orange Home Depot bucket. I suspect that my chicks were in the bucket . . . .