The Aloha Chicken Project

[alohachickens]

Ok, so here's something interesting! The girls are laying really well so I put up an ad for hatching eggs on Ebay. The hatch rate on shipped eggs in general is just dismal, so I gave up on shipping eggs to folks years ago as a way to start new flocks, but I thought I'd post it just to get the breed some attention and exposure. Let's hope it works!

Check it out here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=251499444856

Of course dedicated BYC'ers don't have to go to Ebay to get started on breeding, but I also wanted the non-BYC chicken folks out there to know that Alohas exist. LOL!

I don't expect the shipped eggs to equal a new breeder, but maybe tossing a listing up from time to time can get the Aloha "idea" out there in the public eye?

 

[HEChicken]

The ad looks great Sommer!

 

[CheyAut]

Here are some pics of my Aloha chicks I got from you, taken today... about 3 weeks old








And my week older chicks I hatched out, from my Aloha roo and my buff and light brahmas (and one barred rock I bought at a feed store simply because I love them lol). They got moved outside after I took these pics

 

[knjinnm]

Quote: I really like this guy. How much does he weigh?
Thanks

 

[alohachickens]

I really like this guy. How much does he weigh?
Thanks

He's small. I really should weigh him. I'd have to guess maybe only six pounds but that's a total guess, I honestly have no real idea.

I love his round shape and cool color, though. And his personality is FANTASTIC. He thinks he's a dog! He follows me around the yard, "supervising" while I feed the other chickens. He doesn't have his own breeding pen set up right now, so he lives free in the yard and roosts on top of the smallest breeding pen. He also hangs out on the back patio with us.

I'm going to re-home him and some of my best hens at a good friend's house. It's a chicken paradise, a beautiful garden, shady with lots of trees. Grape vines growing up a trellis. Fruit trees that are low and shrubby, perfect to lie under on hot days. I want to collect eggs back from her and hatch his kids. Hopefully for at least another year, if he survives over there?

They used to have hawk problems, but she has since netted over the area, last I heard? That was a few months back so of course I'm going to check in and make sure that's working before I hand him over. I'd like to re-home him with my two pure Sussex hens, a beautiful half-Swedish hen, plus a couple of my favorite "old school" Aloha hens that are ready to retire (because they are small and getting older) but are simply gorgeous.

The babies with him and the Alohas would be spectacular in color but probably nearly Banty-sized. With the larger hens, they could be really nice in size and color. Years ago before the hawk issues, this friend used to let her flock freely breed and raise their own chicks until she had about 50 wandering her one-acre yard. If this was allowed to happen again over there, on a flock based on Pumpkin-roo, I would love to see the results in a few years!

The hawk issues are concerning, but on the other hand, if I need to make room, I know the quality of life over there is fantastic. Bugs, grass, shade, a wading pool, all the joys in life a chicken could want! I have another friend who is building a pen and can take some, but for safety reasons, they would have the "coop life" and I hate to see Pumpkin cooped, he's such a pet.

 

[alohachickens]

Yep, that looks about like my NH over my Exchequers.

The good news is….definitely a fetus bopping around in 1 of the first 7 eggs I set.

Wait-to-see news is…..I set 2 additional eggs the 2nd day and 3 additional eggs the 4th day. I just figured since not many of the first group were developing, if I added a few more eggs, I'd have a better chance of ending up with more than 1 chick, and at even 3 days past the initial hatch, the chicks should be accepted into the brooder. Those last 5 eggs I haven't candled yet, since they are too new. I'm just hoping with everything I have that they develop.

I have 4 broody hens (yes already), so I will probably stick "Aloha" eggs under a couple of them in addition to some other eggs more likely to hatch. Who knows? Maybe they'll hatch and raise some for me.

So I'm still trying. Would really love for this to be working a little easier though.

Great news, HEChicken! I just candled the eggs from the Dun Sussex roo over tiny Alohas, and it looks like about 5 or more of the eggs are fertile!

So, we know it CAN work. Maybe it just takes longer for things to happen in this kind of "odd couples" situation? Because I tried to hatch eggs from this same pen last fall, same as you tried to hatch from yours, and it wasn't working out. Of the few eggs that I collected (I think about 18 is all we got last fall from this breeder pen) none of them were fertile.

Anyway . . . we're only partway there . . . still have to hatch . . . and keep the babies alive. But, it is a start. FINALLY!!!

That rooster must have known, 'cause if these eggs were sterile, I was going to break up the pen, sell him, and put a nice Aloha roo in with those cute hens!


Babies will probably all be Silver color but at least they will carry for Mottling. And of course size will be much improved!

 

[alohachickens]

Here are some pics of my Aloha chicks I got from you, taken today... about 3 weeks old








And my week older chicks I hatched out, from my Aloha roo and my buff and light brahmas (and one barred rock I bought at a feed store simply because I love them lol). They got moved outside after I took these pics

Looking good so far! I see a lot of Sussex influence in these. They are going to change a lot in the next few months, though. You won't be able to tell what they will look like until they are about 4 months, though. Some chicks with a ton of white will suddenly "drop" color. (Mostly the roosters.) Meanwhile a few boring ones will suddenly "blossom" and get MORE spots. (Usually the hens color up late.) But you said you're into Appaloosas so the idea of color change while babies grow won't be a new concept. LOL.

 

[alohachickens]

Sommer here is where I am at on the project. Hasnt been quite a year yet! It will be a year in May. Of the 34 chicks that Sommer sent me last May, I kept 7 (2 roosters and 5 hens) to go with the two hens I received from Deerfield. During the heat wave last year I lost one of the hens from Deerfield. So my flock is now 8.




Lots of orange.... lots of spots! AND lots of eggs!


Look at the tips of those feathers....WHITE! Love this hen, although she has willow legs.


My favorite roo!


My husbands favorite roo.... and he is dominant.

The lemon cuckoo orpington roo that I had in this pen for several months was lost during the extreme cold this winter. BUT I did hatch some of his chicks.
Speaking of hatching chicks.... I put 32 eggs in incubator in December. 26 hatched on December 28th.

Just curious, I had someone on the Ebay auctions ask how these do in the cold. So, how DID they manage? Obviously they can handle 110 out here but not sure of the other way. LOL.

 

[alohachickens]

Ooops, I forgot to include "my" chicks. Well, they aren't all Alohas, there are a few Swedish, a couple from the Buff Sussex pen, and probably about 10 Sussex/Aloha crosses. So, I'll count the Aloha crosses.

That's about 140 hatched from 3/17 to 3/21. I'm going to try to note the numbers hatched in the next 6 weeks until hatching stops. Will be fun to see how many make it!

This would not count the eggs hatched at Derek's. I think I've given him about 12-18 dozen Aloha eggs, so far?

Also does not count all the chicks I sold around Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year's. Or the extra eggs given to local BYC'ers to try and hatch. So I'll just keep count of what comes out of my own incubators in the next six weeks. After that, will need to shut things down for the season, due to heat. But for now, the weather is perfect in AZ for baby chicks!

Update on sales hatches:

Hatched and sold about 50 chicks from the 4/4 hatch. SOLD immediately!

Hatched and sold 75 chicks from yesterday's 4/8 hatch. SOLD OUT in one day!

Next hatch: 4/14 Hoping for 75 live chicks. (Set 90 eggs)

Next after that: 4/30 (and will share chicks with neighbor, exchange for a couple hens back) Hoping for 75 chicks. (Set 90 eggs)

Total hatched and sold since 3/17: Over 265 Alohas! I'm hoping the more I get out into the world, the more will make it . . .

Plus, I sold a bunch of eggs to some teachers in Cave Creek/Carefree (an area out of town that allows roosters) and when I found out the kids would be able to keep the chicks, I gave them about 5-6 dozen extra free eggs. I bet the kids will LOVE them.

 

[HEChicken]

Great news about your Dun Sussex pen! I guess it is the time of year for reproducing, even if its not their preferred hens.

My final count in my incubator is 4 "Aloha" fetuses. One that was set to hatch as a turkey tutor, two the next day and 1 two days after that. I have lots of broody hens already so I may end up giving that last one to a broody (if it hatches, of course).

One of my broodies is my only Aloha hen. If you recall, two summers ago I got an Aloha hen from Karen. She was from the group that you had exchanged at the side of the road She was an awesome broody hen for me last year - she brooded three times and raised turkeys, ducklings and chicks. If it was a baby, she'd coo to it and tuck it under her wing and mother it. One of the smartest hens I've ever had too. In fact, she was so savvy and smart I always said I worried less about her being the victim of a predator than about any other hen. Unfortunately….that turned out to be off base. I had a fox for about 3 months last year and it got 2 hens and multiple ducks and she was one of them. I was truly sad when she was gone.

Meanwhile, last spring Karen gave me what was supposed to be 2 NH eggs to hatch as turkey tutors but her kids got the eggs mixed up and I wound up with 1 NH and 1 Aloha. As both grew into pullets, I couldn't complain too much. This Aloha isn't as spotty as the first hen, but is a really decent size. Anyway, she is full on broody already. I've never heard screeching and screaming like this - and I've had a LOT of broodies in the past few years. All I have to do is look at her and she screams bloody murder! So I guess it would be quite fitting if my broody Aloha got to raise my first generation chicks from my Aloha sub-project, wouldn't it?

You asked how they do in the cold. I'm in the same general climate zone as 5moore and I can report they do wonderfully in the cold. I really think chickens are built to be more cold hardy than heat hardy. I have a silkie and a couple of Seramas as well and they all do just fine through our winters. Our winter this year was particularly harsh - long and some colder temps than we've had since I've lived here. It got below zero on more than one occasion and we had MANY days where the high for the day didn't break past the teens. I've never lost a bird to the cold and I can honestly say that though they'll stay in the coop more, especially if the wind is blowing or there is snow on the ground, I've never even seen one shiver.