The Aloha Chicken Project

[Deerfield Acres]

Sommer, the best one of my Jubilee Orpingtons has blue eyes.

 

[alohachickens]

Sommer, the best one of my Jubilee Orpingtons has blue eyes.

WHAAAATT???? Pics! Pics! Pics!!!

 

[alohachickens]

alohachickens, (and everyone else

) I got a couple Jubilee Orpingtons this last weekend because they have a lot of white mottling and so I thought it may be interesting to sneak that in there crossed with my Buffs. I meant to get a pic (10 - 20 times) but couldn't manage to hold the thought long enough to actually pick up the camera and take it outside. Sheesh.

wornoutmomto3, That's a pretty bird... nice find!

I think that sounds like fun, to see what the Jubilee Orps do crossed with the Buffs.

Would love to see the birds - it's all the "right" ones with enough spotting that matters?

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Okay, here are the two Jubilee Orps. Both birds are the same age, around 4 months. #2 is quite a bit larger than #1. #1 with the brown eyes has the most white...










#2 has turned into a pea green eyed bird once the pics were taken. I swear they were bright blue this morning. The kids say they are blue-green this evening but the pic looks pea green. Anyway, you CAN tell they are very light. I'm too exhausted from gardening to excess to go take another look at the bird. DD took the pics with her Nikon for me. Anyway, if I get any blue-eyed birds to cross with this blue-green eyed bird it would be interesting.

 

[alohachickens]

My friend Deb faked me out, said she had two with blue eyes. Turns out it was just the "second eyelid" thing - that blue-ish film - that tricked her! Looks like the one hen over here is the only blue eyed hen so far. I hope those eggs that I sent you are hers - and if they are hers that maybe one could have blue eyes? My blue eyed girl is a GREAT hen. Not only is she spotty and has blue eyes, her eggs are ginormous. (Because she is part Swedish Flower - probably about half - and they lay the huge eggs.)
Going to be fun to see how the Jubilee turn out crossed with Buffs. Okay, so they will have pink legs and loose feathers. But holy cow, I bet they will be HUGE.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Those are going to be enormous birds. That will be a lovely thing to cross back to the Alohas. The loose feathers can be corrected in one cross. I have one Buff crossed with my Aloha that has nice tight feathers. Nothing puffy about her and she has a nice straight back. She's a big girl but doesn't look as big as the Buffs just because her feathering is closer.

Re: Deb... So maybe that's why they looked blue to me too! Well, how tricky is that? Learn something new about chickens all the time.

 

[wornoutmomto3]

I picked up this hen on Saturday. They would only confirm that she was a possible hybrid. I suspect she has Swedish Flower Hen in her, so not likely Aloha Chicken. Can you help me in determining this? I love the look of her so she is sticking around no matter what. I am just curious.

Oooh la la! What a beautiful pattern! First question: Where are you located? That could tell you if she is part Aloha. I shipped three batches of chicks to the OR / WA area several years ago. Also, hatching eggs went to KS and MO. I also shipped some chicks to San Diego a while back - two batches. If you are not near any of these areas, it would be unlikely that she is Aloha. However, she does not look like a Swedish Flower hen. How is her SIZE? Do you have any other breeds to compare her to? OK, this gal has the "gamey" look of many of my Alohas - especially the earlier ones. While I suspected the color of the original Alohas may have come from Game chickens - I recently found this web site that I think proves it: http://www.billrobertsfinefowl.com/spangled-butcher.html My first Alohas were not quite THAT leggy or fine boned, but they weren't too hefty, either. So I think what we have here (and on the original Alohas) is a Game or Game mix. Arizona was one of the last states to outlaw cockfighting, in 1998. The weird hen that I found, that was in maybe 2007 or 2008? Her pattern and her babies look much like the Spangled Butcher in colors. What I think happened, is that a few colorful Mexican game chickens made their way over the border, and bred with some other backyard stock, in South Phoneix, and that is what made the original Aloha stock. That's because the hens looked "game-y" but not quite like the pure Game hens that many of my neighbors had. They were small, but a bit rounder and a tad less leggy than actual Games. So I think the original Alohas were some kind of game/backyard mix. Funny note - I watched the show "The Soup" on my DVR and there was a clip from a Mexican soap opera, and this guy had a small chicken on his dining room table! It was black and white spotted! Kind of Exchequer leghorn-ish in color but not the same breed. (Maybe I can upload the clip to YouTube?) ANYWAY - it just proves that yes, there are small spotty chickens in Mexico, that's all. Also, I found some small spotted hens in Hawaii - which also had (unfortunately) a lot of cockfighting. When a hurricane swept through and destroyed many coops, it was the smaller lighter-bodied Game type chickens that were best suited to survive, and now these run free in Kauai. Look at photo 2 of 6 on this page of the lovely spotted hen: http://afterglobe.net/kauai-chickens-unofficial-bird-kauai/ So, wherever she came from - you now have the PERFECT "starter" for your own unique and beautiful Aloha flock! Here's what I would suggest. First, find her a good boy! My first pick: Swedish Flower rooster, with no blue, and no crest. Preferably a boy who looks like this: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qaFq0HLOjxQ/T_G9Kneg60I/AAAAAAAAAXc/6wgJq4Mro9w/s1600/july+2012+022.JPG That was my Swedish boy, I picked him out of a bunch of chicks for the best spots! No blue, no crest. IF you can't find that in your area, then next pick could be a New Hampshire Red boy. NEW HAMPSHIRE - not Rhode Island! This is actually important. The dark color of the Rhode Island is the "Mahogany" gene and you don't want that, it's really hard to remove later. NHR's are big, good layers, yellow legs. However, they have zero spots! But the chicks will all carry fabulous spotting, thanks to Mom! Third pick would be a Speckled Sussex rooster, with good size and good spotting. If you use Swedish, it is important that you find the RIGHT rooster! If your area has a breeder, that could be perfect, you can tell them what you need and most breeders will be happy to save one lucky rooster from the stew pot! If you go for New Hampshire, try to find Heritage or German lines. The most important thing, is to try and find a rooster ASAP and get some babies on the ground. It has to be the RIGHT rooster, but also, you need to find one fast, because if this hen dies for whatever reason before you get her babies hatched, you're out of luck! So let's start by figuring out what part of the country you are from, and who around you might be able to help you get started with a nice boy?

Wow! Thank you for all the information. It is very helpful. She is a medium size hen, not huge but still good size. I am in North Florida. Green Fire Farms is about 1.5 - 2 hours west of here. They breed Swedish Flower Hens, so it is possible she is crossed with those bloodlines. Her "breeder" isn't certain couldn't confirm or deny the possibility. They did have a handsome rooster as well. He was pretty dark, so I am not sure he would be a good fit. Also, he is a bit flighty. I'm not sure the flightyness is personality or because he has been all alone(no chicken friends) for several days.

 

[alohachickens]

That rooster is pretty dark, but he also has the yellow legs. He does not quite look like a Swedish Flower, either? What a mystery!
Florida is thick with Game birds, so I would say that is still a strong possibility.
This 2003 news article said Florida had (at that time) about 2,500 Game bird farms:
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/06/16/State/Fighting_Chance.shtml
I would say the background is *probably* similar to Alohas - remnants of former Game stock, mixed in with "regular" farm chickens? That rooster is much like the Alohas - not quite a Game type, not quite a Swedish, and not really Sussex either. (A bit lighter, more upright?) The pair of them could make "more of the same" and perhaps more hens like her?
I would still prefer an extra Swedish Flower rooster as her mate, but if you wanted to get something started now, he wouldn't be a terrible choice. I'd try to get a few more hens colored like her but with the yellow legs or yellow leg gene. He's too dark and not enough spots at all. But he's still better than say, a Barred Rock or an Ameraucana! LOL.

 

[alohachickens]

I just poked around some North Florida Craigslist listings.
I found a nice Mille Turken with yellow legs, and the rooster appears to carry Mottling, but unfortunately has pink legs. So . . . eh, I don't know? The hen is AWESOME but looking for a rooster. LOL. (I would seriously love that hen in the Aloha program.)
http://gainesville.craigslist.org/grd/5013043176.html

There appears to be a nicely spotted Speckled Sussex rooster in this ad. (To be able to cross him with that Mille Turken in the other ad, oh boy!)
http://lakecity.craigslist.org/grd/4973741094.html

I got no hits when I searched for Swedish Flower, but maybe the local BYC thread? Or see if Greenfire can help you out with the RIGHT boy when they have an extra? No crest, no blue. The "boy" version of Mille Fleur.

 

[draye]

Well I thought I was getting a Red Naked Neck rooster and a hen ( not knowing what color on the hen). Phone trade. These are babies that were babies from chicks that I bred, so getting back some if my own bloodlines back.
Here is the hen:

A shoot from each side. The typical Red Columbian color of hatchery Naked Necks. Good find as Sommer says that the Columbian coloring is good for holding the mottling.

Next is the rooster that was advertised all I saw was that he was red.

Side shot.

Head. Shot.

One shoulder.

The other shoulder.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered the mottling on his shoulders and running into the wing feathers.
His parents were both sibling/ half siblings if my Salmon naked Neck rooster. I saw a picture of his dad and he was solid red and there were several hens in the bunch so it could have been any of them as mom. Which being by Salmon Boy could have been carrying the mottling. Any way I lucked into some more chickens for the Aloha Naked Neck program.