The Aloha Chicken Project

[CheyAut]

I'll be happy to help out All my chickies are doing well. My Apparoosta (I still laugh at myself for calling him that!) Is a good size I think. Hesbigger than my Brahma hens anyhow. I'm far from a chicken expert but I think that's big?

When my chickies grow up I'll take pics so you can say who you'd cross him with and you are welcome to their eggs.

 

[5moore]

Oh, and I am raising a new batch of 15 from 2 breeder pens.

Two chicks are hatched from the Buff Sussex pen. (Buff Sussex rooster, over 1 Buff Sussex hen, 3 Speckled Sussex hen, 1 smaller buff mottled Aloha hen, and one gorgeous mottled mystery hen.)

The rest are from a nice spotty rooster over two Speckled Sussex hens (from different lines from Sussex in Buff pen) plus one gorgeous large Swedish x Aloha cross Mille hen.

All chicks should show improvement in size and (except for the possible pure Buff Sussex hen) all will either show or carry for Mottling. I am hoping to get at least two nice big roosters out of this batch of chicks! (Crosses fingers.)

MORE good news. The Buff Sussex pen (seen below) laid 12 eggs for me in the last 2 weeks! FINALLY!!!! Just picked them up from Stephen's!


The hen in the foreground is the only well-marked Buff Mottled Aloha that I have bred to date. Oh, and I forgot, the one Dun Sussex hen is in there too! So that cross would not produce spots, but would possibly introduce Dun gene.

More pics of the hens in that breeder pen:




The fact that to date, I have hatched exactly four chicks from this pen, and one was stolen by that kid, has been a source of endless frustration for me this season. ARRRGH.

So to finally have a full dozen eggs from this pen of egg-eaters is a huge thing. I have a guy here in town who says he can build a "rollaway" nest box for me in trade for Aloha chicks. Going to try and see if he can get something done for me SOON.

In the meantime, I brought them a Flock Block to peck on, and I bought dummy eggs for them to try and eat (unsuccessfully) and also brought out a couple of extra nest boxes. Hoping that next time I visit, maybe I will get 10 more eggs? This pen could finally fix our size problems, plus add Mille color, plus add Dun color. If I can just get enough babies hatched and grown!

That buff hen looks very promising!

 

[alohachickens]

Yes, she's the only truly spotty buff hen that I've ever hatched. I have another here right now, who is Buff with a few small specks, which is more typical. For some reason, it appears the same gene that causes the "all over" Buff color seen in Buff Rocks and Buff Orps, somehow represses or "blocks" the Mottling gene.

This is not reported in an Chicken Calculator or any other notes, anywhere on the internet.

But, that could be simply that no one has ever seriously TRIED to create a buff-spotted hen!

I guess the gene that allows the Mille Fleur color is technically "Buff Columbian" which is Buff with a black tail tip and ring of black around the base of the neck. I guess that color will "play nice" with the Mottling gene! Which is why I have been so desperate to find a Buff Sussex rooster. From what I understand, the Columbian color in this ginormous fellow, should allow the spotting to appear with no issues.

Another weird fact I just found out, maybe a year ago, (thanks to a fellow BYC'er!) is that color that I thought was just "white" on the Light Sussex, is actually a gene called "Silver" and from what this BYC'er says, you can use it to make Buff Columbian by adding red! (And then use the Buff Columbian to make a Mille Fleur.)

I have been avoiding using white birds because Dominant White (the color that makes white Leghorns white) can pop up for generations, giving you solid white birds. (Which is why sometimes folks get all-white Easter Eggers in a hatchery mix.) However, he says the Silver gene is a totally different gene!

So the "white" (er, SILVER) hen in there, her chicks should be BUFF if what he told me is correct??? Because he said the rooster determines the color on Silver, and the rooster is Buff, not Silver. And some chicks may have the Dun gene as well. All of them should be HUGE.

Anyway, that's why she's in the mix. Her chicks would be ginormous, and *probably* (if he's correct) Buff in color, with half showing a Dun colored (chocolate brown) tail instead of a black tail.

Assuming I can get any chicks of course, being as they have been eating their eggs. ARRRRGH.

Hoping a rollaway nest box could be the solution . . .

 

[alohachickens]

I'll be happy to help out

All my chickies are doing well. My Apparoosta (I still laugh at myself for calling him that!) Is a good size I think. Hesbigger than my Brahma hens anyhow. I'm far from a chicken expert but I think that's big?

When my chickies grow up I'll take pics so you can say who you'd cross him with and you are welcome to their eggs.

What part of town do you live in? If it's not too far, I could even stop by and evaluate the chicks at some point, in person. 4 months is when you know the final colors. Although, some can be culled before then, of course. Just expect lots of color changes as they grow. Like Appaloosa horses, they can go through some crazy color changes as they mature. They can both lose or gain white until they reach 5 months, although you get a pretty good idea at 4 months.

After they are fully grown, they will shed out each year with more white, just like an Appy horse.

Pics work just fine most of the time, though. It's just harder to judge size. Sometimes there is one with "blah" color that is kept because of size or body type is nice.

Oh, and of course, sometimes it's simply challenging to get a good picture when the zip around so much. LOL! So if you live not horribly far away, I can stop by in a few months, and point out the more promising ones for you.

 

[alohachickens]

Here's a new breeding pen that I just set up. I guarantee this one will confuse you. LOL.





Yes, those are Naked Necks. LOL.

My next door neighbor raised NN chicks, and while most are brown, and a few are black, a couple were this lovely Buff Columbian color. One has vibrant yellow legs. The other has slate legs with a yellow overlay, so she carries yellow, but also gray legs.

As weird as it seems, the Naked Neck gene, from what I understand, is a simple dominant. Meaning, that half the chicks will have it, and the other half, won't. In this cross, all chicks should show yellow legs (with a few having a gray cast as well) and all will carry Mottling from the Dad. Half will have Naked Necks and half will not.

My goal is to keep the "regular" neck chicks.

Once I got over the ugly neck thing, I realized these hens may have plenty to offer:



They are big, plump, healthy, good layers. Clean non-feathered yellow legs. Single comb. I mean, if you add the spots, and take away the Naked Neck, the body type fits. And it should ironically be much easier to take away the naked neck gene, than to add the yellow leg gene and larger size.

The rooster has GORGEOUS color, with more white that most any rooster I've had. What he lacks is type. His chest is narrow, and even though he's taller than Pumpkin, he is not nearly as nicely rounded or shaped as little Pumpkin is. You can kind of see his lack of width in this photo:



Here is little Pumpkin by comparison:


Pumpkin is small in size, but has great "shape" to his body, and is actually fairly stout and compact. This is more in keeping with what I am breeding for. Good round plump body. Just bigger, as Pumpkin is maybe only 7-8 pounds, I am guessing? About the same weight and size as my New Hampshire hens. While Pumpkin has good mottling, you can see the other rooster has so much more. He's also taller than Pumpkin by at least one inch, possibly two.

So, I'm hoping the offspring from the NN pen, will inherit some of the hen's genes for light golden color and improved heft, while carrying the Dad's genes for incredible color. Yellow legs and single upright combs should be displayed in all. My neighbor who loaned me the hens will gladly take all the slate-legged naked neck babies! She is very excited.

The pen was set up Saturday and it can take up to two weeks to clear out the other rooster's DNA. So I will not be able to even begin to collect hatching eggs until after the 29th, or even first week of April, if I want to be super-safe to make sure I only have this roo's DNA in there.

Then a week's wait to collect eggs, and three weeks to hatch 'em. If I'm lucky, will get babies hatched by early to mid May.

 

[draye]

Here's a new breeding pen that I just set up. I guarantee this one will confuse you. LOL.





Yes, those are Naked Necks. LOL.

My next door neighbor raised NN chicks, and while most are brown, and a few are black, a couple were this lovely Buff Columbian color. One has vibrant yellow legs. The other has slate legs with a yellow overlay, so she carries yellow, but also gray legs.

As weird as it seems, the Naked Neck gene, from what I understand, is a simple dominant. Meaning, that half the chicks will have it, and the other half, won't. In this cross, all chicks should show yellow legs (with a few having a gray cast as well) and all will carry Mottling from the Dad. Half will have Naked Necks and half will not.

My goal is to keep the "regular" neck chicks.

Once I got over the ugly neck thing, I realized these hens may have plenty to offer:



They are big, plump, healthy, good layers. Clean non-feathered yellow legs. Single comb. I mean, if you add the spots, and take away the Naked Neck, the body type fits. And it should ironically be much easier to take away the naked neck gene, than to add the yellow leg gene and larger size.

The rooster has GORGEOUS color, with more white that most any rooster I've had. What he lacks is type. His chest is narrow, and even though he's taller than Pumpkin, he is not nearly as nicely rounded or shaped as little Pumpkin is. You can kind of see his lack of width in this photo:



Here is little Pumpkin by comparison:


Pumpkin is small in size, but has great "shape" to his body, and is actually fairly stout and compact. This is more in keeping with what I am breeding for. Good round plump body. Just bigger, as Pumpkin is maybe only 7-8 pounds, I am guessing? About the same weight and size as my New Hampshire hens. While Pumpkin has good mottling, you can see the other rooster has so much more. He's also taller than Pumpkin by at least one inch, possibly two.

So, I'm hoping the offspring from the NN pen, will inherit some of the hen's genes for light golden color and improved heft, while carrying the Dad's genes for incredible color. Yellow legs and single upright combs should be displayed in all. My neighbor who loaned me the hens will gladly take all the slate-legged naked neck babies! She is very excited.

The pen was set up Saturday and it can take up to two weeks to clear out the other rooster's DNA. So I will not be able to even begin to collect hatching eggs until after the 29th, or even first week of April, if I want to be super-safe to make sure I only have this roo's DNA in there.

Then a week's wait to collect eggs, and three weeks to hatch 'em. If I'm lucky, will get babies hatched by early to mid May.

You'll love those Naked Necks before you're through with them. Be sure to post them on the NN thread when they hatch out.

 

[draye]

You'll have to send me the Naked Necked ones if you don't want them. I can do the Aloha Naked Necks. LOL.

 

[alohachickens]

What is interesting, Draye, is that one hen next door, actually had signs of mottling. Not actual mottling present, but she did display a bit of white on one tail feather and two other specks of white on other areas. This is commonly seen on Alohas who have one solid parent and one mottled parent. The mottling really doesn't show up on the first generation, but often there will be a little "tell" on a few stray feathers. So interestingly, this one hen must carry Mottling in her heritage. I am guessing perhaps some Speckled Sussex in her way-back parentage?

Have you ever heard of Mottled Naked Necks?

These are hatchery stock and would likely be from Privett Hatchery in NM, which is the supplier of our local feed store. (Which is where I am guessing she picked them up.)

 

[alohachickens]

Well, gosh darn, Draye, you should have mentioned that NN's carry Mottling. I never checked that thread before, and look what I found:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/301500/naked-neck-turken-thread/3660#post_8634541

Check out post #3666. Looks like this might work!!!

 

[CheyAut]

I'm not terribly far from you. I'm near Dysart and Peoria.