The Aloha Chicken Project

[grlnamedsue]

I don't know much about a lot of colors, either! I'm still very much learning.

What I can tell you is Leroy has the right body shape, body size, and leg color that makes him PERFECT for the project. But his color is all wrong.

If you were to cross him with Speckled Sussex hens, I don't know for sure what you would get? But I would suspect they would all have:

Upright Combs (good!)
Large Size (good!)
Long, flowing tail (good!)
Color - not mottled, probably silver? (bad)

Most likely, the legs would be white/pink, because that gene is dominant over yellow legs. But, those babies would CARRY the gene for yellow legs. So let's say you put Leroy in with a bunch of Speckled Sussex hens. The chicks would not show any spots, but they would carry the gene for spots, and for yellow legs.

If you kept the girls from this cross, and a rooster from this cross, and put them together for one generation (which would be OK, I am sure there is enough diversity in Leroy's background to prevent inbreeding) you could then pick out babies that showed the "hidden" (recessive) spotting and yellow legs, which would re-appear in Leroy's grand-chicks.

Color wise - not sure what would happen, honestly. But either way, you would end up with some pretty and nice layers, good sized, yellow legged, probably stronger in constitution than a pure Speckled Sussex. (Since "mutts" of anything are often tougher than purebreds.) From there we'd have to look at where to go next. But trust me, as easy as it was for me to type that, we are talking about a lot of work just to get to that point!

So if you want to forge ahead with something like that - be my guest. Anyone is welcome to play along and Leroy is quite handsome.

So rememebr how I was wondering how the babies would turn out? Well, I had some babies hatch way back on July 10th, and I ended up selling pretty much all of them, which I imeidatley regretted after seeing this thread. Well, I had told the lady I was glad to return any roosters she might get. So, when I went to deliver another batch of chicks, I took the roos back with me. Among them was this guy, Leroy and my SS hen's beautiful baby. He's several shades lighter than his SS mother, and most of the black has been washed out, and the mahogany has been brightened to a lovely shade or orangey-red (Leroy apparently has some dilute going on, and it's glorious!) Here's the best I could get as far as pictures go of the rooster I took back.







That's not barring on his back either, it's where the black has been replaced by lighter orange of some sort? Strange, but beautiful!

 

[alohachickens]

So rememebr how I was wondering how the babies would turn out? Well, I had some babies hatch way back on July 10th, and I ended up selling pretty much all of them, which I imeidatley regretted after seeing this thread. Well, I had told the lady I was glad to return any roosters she might get. So, when I went to deliver another batch of chicks, I took the roos back with me. Among them was this guy, Leroy and my SS hen's beautiful baby. He's several shades lighter than his SS mother, and most of the black has been washed out, and the mahogany has been brightened to a lovely shade or orangey-red (Leroy apparently has some dilute going on, and it's glorious!) Here's the best I could get as far as pictures go of the rooster I took back.







That's not barring on his back either, it's where the black has been replaced by lighter orange of some sort? Strange, but beautiful!

Hey, that's not bad at all. Let's see how this guy grows out! The fact that he is showing spots is a good sign. But, don't be surprised if as he grows, the spots disappear. That's OK, he still carries the gene. The fact he is solid brown and not some weird mishmash of colors, is great news. No Barring, no silver - basically, nothing "funky" here. YAY!

 

[chisandchicks]

I have a gorgeous rooster named "Kona" - he was a gift (and I am now trying to find the person's phone number who was so kind to me; his name is Derrick and he helps raise this wonderful breed for someone else - I would appreciate his phone number if anyone has it - he is in the *San Tan Valley/Queen Creek [Az.] area)
Anyway, Kona has had some children (lol) and they are just beautiful! I gave my mom the creamy-blonde and white pullet and there are 2 others that are dark brown tri-colors - one is lighter than the other; these are from my red sex link my gold sex link. I also have 2 from Kona and my Speckled Sussex hen. They are nice but don't have the necessary amount of white to be impressive as reps of the breed 'Aloha' - or so I'm told. I am totally intrigued by this wonderful colorful breed! I would like to learn more so I might do justice to developing a line of the breed myself or at the very least help to strengthen the breed already as it is established.
My Kona looks much like the roo in the pic only more colorful and evenly so. He does have what I understand is suppose to be a 'fault' - white legs - but I had told Derrick that I really like the white legs and I suppose that was one reason he gave me Kona. I don't care about the white legs - Kona is gorgeous! He stands so proudly and I really didn't expect him to get as big as he has!
I would appreciate any help I can get in learning more about the "Aloha"..............
Thank you for allowing me to share with you!
God bless you and yours.

 

[chisandchicks]

getting to be quite handsome! Can't wait to see more pics of him in a couple of months!

 

[alohachickens]

I have a gorgeous rooster named "Kona" - he was a gift (and I am now trying to find the person's phone number who was so kind to me; his name is Derrick and he helps raise this wonderful breed for someone else - I would appreciate his phone number if anyone has it - he is in the *San Tan Valley/Queen Creek [Az.] area)
Anyway, Kona has had some children (lol) and they are just beautiful! I gave my mom the creamy-blonde and white pullet and there are 2 others that are dark brown tri-colors - one is lighter than the other; these are from my red sex link my gold sex link. I also have 2 from Kona and my Speckled Sussex hen.

I would appreciate any help I can get in learning more about the "Aloha"..............
Thank you for allowing me to share with you!
God bless you and yours.

I would love to see photos of Kona! I'm so glad you enjoy him and are helping with the breed by keeping him with a few hens. If you like them and can keep a larger flock of hens, I would be happy to provide you with chicks or eggs. Derek had my permission to share the Aloha chicks that he hatched with any one he chose, in hopes some would make their way into caring homes, like yours.

I can provide you Derek's number via PM if you need it. I'd love to see a photo of your Kona and of the Speckled Sussex, and of course, any of their chicks!

 

[knjinnm]

Is everyone in Arizona OK with the extreme weather??
JAC

 

[alohachickens]

Yes, it was super flooded in my back yard, and front, almost to the door. But it got better quickly after the rain stopped!

 

[knjinnm]

Good!
How are the chicken pens?
Are they all wearing waders?
LOL!

 

[draye]

Somer,
Are you still having hot weather in Arizona?

 

[alohachickens]

Somer,
Are you still having hot weather in Arizona?

Yes, but showing some signs of relief. The afternoons are still very uncomfortable, but it is staying cooler much longer in the mornings and evenings. The lows are still around 80 degrees - still quite warm!

Taking advantage of the warm nights to raise small batches of peeps. I only have a few hens laying, so it's impossible for me to hatch 20-30 peeps at one time right now. But I did manage to hatch 5 chicks a few weeks ago, and 10 chicks this weekend. Only the BEST adult hens are left, so I'm keeping these babies to grow out.

All of them should have wonderful color. The 5 chicks hatched several weeks ago all have bright yellow legs. They should be wonderful Alohas. If all goes well, the hens would begin laying in March, which means I could possibly use them in my end-of-season breeding pens.

Small incubator is FULL right now. But, not a great hatch rate on eggs yet. So I'm guessing I'll only get 20-25 chicks. Next due dates are September 24 and October 2.