The Aloha Chicken Project

[draye]

Send him my way if you decide not to keep him,lol!!!!!!!!!!!!! He'd go great with my mottled bird, I now think that it is a she.
Only if I were closer to Arizona.

 

[alohachickens]

Send him my way if you decide not to keep him,lol!!!!!!!!!!!!! He'd go great with my mottled bird, I now think that it is a she.
Only if I were closer to Arizona.

I know, Draye, pretty darn nice looking baby roo, isn't he?

If I have room I'll do a breeder pen of NN's and send you eggs. We really need to get the new coop built. In a perfect world I'd have 4 breeder pens plus a chick grow-out pen or two, and could do more silly stuff like NN's and other side projects. But I keep putting it off, having the coop re-done, despite the fact my guy's been offering to build it, because I need to cough up the money for materials.

I think it's going to cost $600-$1000 in materials to make four stalls of breeder pens. Each pen would probably be a roomy 6 x 16 feet. Big enough to comfortably hold up to 10-12 chickens in each pen, although even 30 adults gave me more eggs than I could hatch last season! (Even with the giant 300 egg incubator, I was still selling hatching eggs on the side. LOL.) So it would probably be more like 5-8 hens in each pen with a rooster.

 

[draye]

I know, Draye, pretty darn nice looking baby roo, isn't he?

If I have room I'll do a breeder pen of NN's and send you eggs. We really need to get the new coop built. In a perfect world I'd have 4 breeder pens plus a chick grow-out pen or two, and could do more silly stuff like NN's and other side projects. But I keep putting it off, having the coop re-done, despite the fact my guy's been offering to build it, because I need to cough up the money for materials.

I think it's going to cost $600-$1000 in materials to make four stalls of breeder pens. Each pen would probably be a roomy 6 x 16 feet. Big enough to comfortably hold up to 10-12 chickens in each pen, although even 30 adults gave me more eggs than I could hatch last season! (Even with the giant 300 egg incubator, I was still selling hatching eggs on the side. LOL.) So it would probably be more like 5-8 hens in each pen with a rooster.

Materials are expensive here also. I used a dog kennel pen the last time I needed a pen. Even with buying the netting to go over the top and 2 8" privacy fence panels I spent less than $400.00.

 

[a little chiken]

Hey Sommer since I have so many NN if you want me to work on a pen with them I will. Please let me know when you decide to sell those NN even the roo because I am interested. I have 14 NN now. My fav breed and I was planning on breeding my white roo to a Aloha hen...

his chick pic



here he is now, the white one in front




anyway I will get more pics of that pen of Aloha's Sommer. There are several roo's.

 

[alohachickens]

Materials are expensive here also. I used a dog kennel pen the last time I needed a pen. Even with buying the netting to go over the top and 2 8" privacy fence panels I spent less than $400.00.

Most of my pens right now are chain link with shade stuff draped over the sides. But we had kids scale the chain link and steal chicks, and even though the bottom is covered with chicken wire, there were a few gaps, so when the kids set loose the chicks while stealing them, about half escaped and were eaten by my boyfriend dog (who reluctantly leaves adults alone but will chomp baby chicks at a moment's notice.)

New coops will be solid sheets of metal, on the bottom part, at least. I would like some wire in the fronts and on the East side to allow air flow since it's so hot here. Boyfriend is suggesting a solid back, however, to keep kids wandering down the alley from seeing what is inside. The West side would also be solid, to provide max shade. And right now it has one of those "pop up" shade tarps for the roof, and the new one would have an actual metal roof. Which would be nice because the $60 tarps only last about two years so they have already been replaced 3 times now! The entire coop will probably be about 12-16 feet by 24-32 feet, divided into four breeding "stalls". Current size is one big open room about 20 x 20 but it's such a waste, because they always lurk under the nest boxes and a rabbit hutch where it's the most shady, so the majority of the space goes totally unused!

 

[alohachickens]

Hey Sommer since I have so many NN if you want me to work on a pen with them I will. Please let me know when you decide to sell those NN even the roo because I am interested. I have 14 NN now. My fav breed and I was planning on breeding my white roo to a Aloha hen...

I will keep you posted on the NN's. Right now it looks like I have a ton of hens, like 6 or 7 total, but that seems odd. (Two roos and seven hens? I am never THAT lucky.) I suspect that a couple might be "sneaky" smaller roos. I will sell some of the extras if I do have that many hens, (I was going to post extras on Craigslist) but you would have to come up to Phoenix to get them!

My neighbor, who I borrowed the NN's from, still has these two pretty Buff hens, and she also has a HUGE new Aloha roo, who has just now reached maturity. He was from some chicks they bought back in February. The rooster is 100% the same size as their pure hatchery Rhode Island Red roosters that are also wandering back there. I already have the OK to borrow the big roo and the two hens again to re-do this pen. The resulting chicks would have zero size issues and would all carry Mottling. This roo is not quite as white as the "skinny" one that I used before, but he's not slouch, either. He has much more white than any Speckled Sussex - truly the Aloha look about him.

Also of note to you or Draye, an ended Ebay auction for Mottled Turken eggs. Only one photo but it's very pretty hen. I wonder if they are all black and white? I can't fault the body shape and size, however. It's really nice. I'd prefer some lighter colors (not because I don't like black and white, it's gorgeous) but the black color will dominate so you have to watch out. Can be managed, however, if you kept only black and white hens and used a lighter Aloha roo.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/naked-neck-...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Anyway, those eggs could be good for building a dual-purpose Aloha OR Turken flock. Go for creating super-spotty big yellow-legged chickens. The ones with naked necks would be called Turkens, and the spotty ones with regular feathery necks would be called Alohas. LOL.

 

[HEChicken]

Sommer, have you considered building hoop coops instead? I built mine for a fraction of the cost you mentioned (step-by-step directions are in my signature). I had some of the materials already but I estimated I could have built it buying the materials new for around $100. That is for a pen that is 13' long and 10' wide. For the cost of one more livestock panel ($20) you can go 17' long and 10' wide. The most expensive aspect of mine was the tarp that is reflective silver on the side facing up to the sun, to try to keep it cooler for them. However in your climate you might be better covering it with shade cloth instead of a tarp. I needed protection from rain as well but I'm guessing in Phoenix that is less of a concern.

I truly love the hoop coop. I don't have to worry about rain/snow load, and it stands up better to our high winds here than a pen with a sheer side (rectangular).

 

[urbanchicker]

Hello all,

I recently picked up a couple of great NH cockerels to add to my flock to replace a NH roo I lost and in the process I was introduced to this project. After looking at much of the information, I discovered I have a flock that might have something to contribute. I am curious to know if anyone has used the Ancona breed to add the mottling gene? I currently own some, and upon reviewing their background, it seems they also come in red in Australia, which would indicate that while they are black based, they are able to take on the red coloration. In fact, the red version looks like some of the aloha chickens on the web, at least to me. Another bird that might add some color is the buttercup. I used to own a couple, but don't currently. I might have to consider adding them back to the flock. If I remember correctly their comb is recessive so the only problem might be the slate legs, and the NH factor should improve their laying deficit.

What I have to work with currently would be NH roos (from a project location, one of which appears to have some speckling), over ancona, buff & partridge chanteclers (great winter layers), NH, and a couple of EEs (including a partridge roo). After reading some about the project, I plan to pen my RIR with my buff orp to get some offspring there to work with also. Luckily I read that was a good combo, as he was on the cull list for being such a pain, but in a pen he can't harass everyone.

Does anyone have comments or suggestions on this combination?

 

[alohachickens]

Hello all,

I recently picked up a couple of great NH cockerels to add to my flock to replace a NH roo I lost and in the process I was introduced to this project. After looking at much of the information, I discovered I have a flock that might have something to contribute. I am curious to know if anyone has used the Ancona breed to add the mottling gene? I currently own some, and upon reviewing their background, it seems they also come in red in Australia, which would indicate that while they are black based, they are able to take on the red coloration. In fact, the red version looks like some of the aloha chickens on the web, at least to me. Another bird that might add some color is the buttercup. I used to own a couple, but don't currently. I might have to consider adding them back to the flock. If I remember correctly their comb is recessive so the only problem might be the slate legs, and the NH factor should improve their laying deficit.

What I have to work with currently would be NH roos (from a project location, one of which appears to have some speckling), over ancona, buff & partridge chanteclers (great winter layers), NH, and a couple of EEs (including a partridge roo). After reading some about the project, I plan to pen my RIR with my buff orp to get some offspring there to work with also. Luckily I read that was a good combo, as he was on the cull list for being such a pain, but in a pen he can't harass everyone.

Does anyone have comments or suggestions on this combination?

You have some fun combos and plenty to work with.

I would say that the EE's and the Chanteclers will have you fighting the Pea Comb gene for years. And the EE'ers often have gray legs, that has proven very challenging to breed out. You would be fighting those genes for a while.

The Ancona body shape looks good. Nice upright combs, yellow legs, long flowy tail. You will get really dark chicks for quite a while but if you hatch a TON of chicks, and pick out the lightest ones with the most red color, eventually you will get through it. But the Anconas do not have a lot of white spotting, so your strain would probably look a bit subdued.

I would say the best best would be to use the Ancona X NHR's and avoid the EE'ers and Buff Chanteclers. (The solid Buff color has been resistant to spotting for some reason.) You could bring in the Partridge Chanteclers if you like, for size and laying ability. Just trying to add spots to this mix and get rid of pea combs and black color would keep you busy for 2-3 years before you'd even have to think about buying a new breed of chicken, LOL.

But if you stuck with it, and culled away all the too-dark, pea combed babies and kept everything with spots, eventually you'd end up with some brown big hens with small white spots. Probably have some nice sized hens that were very good layers. That's not a bad thing regardless of color.

Then I'd be able to send you some eggs from a really flashy Aloha pen, and that would be it! Add an Aloha roo to the mix once you go that far, and you'd have your own really nice unique Aloha strain of practical, spotted layers, that you could share or sell in your local community.

So absolutely, you could do this, using what you have now. Just takes time, patience, and a lot of hatching of peeps. LOL

 

[urbanchicker]

You have some fun combos and plenty to work with.

I would say that the EE's and the Chanteclers will have you fighting the Pea Comb gene for years. And the EE'ers often have gray legs, that has proven very challenging to breed out. You would be fighting those genes for a while.

The Ancona body shape looks good. Nice upright combs, yellow legs, long flowy tail. You will get really dark chicks for quite a while but if you hatch a TON of chicks, and pick out the lightest ones with the most red color, eventually you will get through it. But the Anconas do not have a lot of white spotting, so your strain would probably look a bit subdued.

I would say the best best would be to use the Ancona X NHR's and avoid the EE'ers and Buff Chanteclers. (The solid Buff color has been resistant to spotting for some reason.) You could bring in the Partridge Chanteclers if you like, for size and laying ability. Just trying to add spots to this mix and get rid of pea combs and black color would keep you busy for 2-3 years before you'd even have to think about buying a new breed of chicken, LOL.

But if you stuck with it, and culled away all the too-dark, pea combed babies and kept everything with spots, eventually you'd end up with some brown big hens with small white spots. Probably have some nice sized hens that were very good layers. That's not a bad thing regardless of color.

Then I'd be able to send you some eggs from a really flashy Aloha pen, and that would be it! Add an Aloha roo to the mix once you go that far, and you'd have your own really nice unique Aloha strain of practical, spotted layers, that you could share or sell in your local community.

I So absolutely, you could do this, using what you have now. Just takes time, patience, and a lot of hatching of peeps. LOL

It sounds like the leg coloring is harder to overcome than the pea comb, my EE are wyandotte mix and have the yellow legs. Would that change the situation for using them? I do think I will try to pick up some Buttercups also, they have a nice golden color that might carry over since the buff has not been successful. I am curious why that is, I picked up a buff d'uccle this year, so some breeds have been successful. At any rate, is sounds like the Midwest team has a new member