The Aloha Chicken Project

[myfivegirls]

Aloha Chickens - like the very popular Icelandic and Swedish Flower - are allowed to look DIFFERENT. They are supposed to be strong, tough, and productive. But also, enjoyable to look at.

The end goal: Something that is as useful on a farm, as a Rhode Island Red or Leghorn, but uniquely colored.

Prettier than plain brown chickens, but every bit as useful.

People have made chickens PETS. They want chickens to love, to be companions, and YES - they want chickens to be beautiful to look at.

I want a chicken that is not only beautiful, but also practical and tough. That's what the point is.

Well said, and that's why I love following your project - it's an inspiration! I love "eye-candy" chickens that aren't clones of each other, but each one is unique and different.
But unlike other "ornamental" breeds of chickens, they're also hardy, productive and have that "pet" quality.
And I've found that many other local "backyard chicken" people are looking for that.
Keep up the good work!

 

[FridayYet]

Well said, and that's why I love following your project - it's an inspiration!  I love "eye-candy" chickens that aren't clones of each other, but each one is unique and different.
But unlike other "ornamental" breeds of chickens, they're also hardy, productive and have that "pet" quality. 
And I've found that many other local "backyard chicken" people are looking for that. 
Keep up the good work!

X 2!!

 

[Deerfield Acres]

I wonder how many Heritage breeds Debbieore is saving? Personally I, a great lover of the Aloha project, am "saving" Buff Sussex, Silver Sussex, Light Sussex, and Speckled Sussex. All of which I learned about and fell in love with because I initially needed them for the Aloha Project. Oh gee, and then there are the Ancona and Standard Silver Appleyard Ducks I am also "saving". Of course, not everyone has 5 acres like we do either. A fellow project enthusiast has heritage New Hampshire, as well as heritage sheep, goats and milk cows. I think Debbieore is probably one of those people who would have railed against the development of the Delaware or New Hamp. There have always been people who like to build a better chicken, and that's no crime or sin.

 

[draye]

My one and only Aloha pullet: first shot us the head and neck part the second is the tail and mid section to show the coloring.

Next is some shots of the only Aloha Naked Neck. Same arrangement as above.

I did get one more pullet from the Aloha eggs but she dies not have a spot on her at all, solid red.

The next two shots are of a NN and Golden Comet cross that I got from @learycow here on BYC from an egg swap chain. I'm going to put with the Aloha NN cockerel and see what I get from that cross.

Going to see what a dose if dominant white will do for the Alohas

All three pullets are 15 weeks old.
@alohachickens. How old are the Alohas when they usually start laying?

 

[alohachickens]

My one and only Aloha pullet: first shot us the head and neck part the second is the tail and mid section to show the coloring.




Next is some shots of the only Aloha Naked Neck. Same arrangement as above.





I did get one more pullet from the Aloha eggs but she dies not have a spot on her at all, solid red.

The next two shots are of a NN and Golden Comet cross that I got from @learycow here on BYC from an egg swap chain. I'm going to put with the Aloha NN cockerel and see what I get from that cross.





Going to see what a dose if dominant white will do for the Alohas

All three pullets are 15 weeks old.
@alohachickens . How old are the Alohas when they usually start laying?

The Aloha Naked Neck is lovely! Showing great color. The lighter one, not a lot of vivid spotting, but I am guessing Buff Sussex breeding, could have good size on her.

The solid red "Aloha" - could be a Speckled Sussex / Buff Sussex cross. May be a carrier of spots, even if she doesn't show it. I also have one NHR / Aloha cross hen. Only half of her chicks would show spotting. But she had good body type, and the NHR is overall a great breed. (Her dad was super colorful.) Anyway, odds are probably 50/50 or better that the solid one is a Mottled gene carrier. So if her body and type is good, and you like her, keep her and try breeding. She may surprise you with spotty chicks.

These usually start laying right at 6 months.

 

[alohachickens]

I realized that I haven't taken new photos for a while.

So here's where I'm at. I have 3 hens that are the "end goal" Alohas:


To the right: Three super spotty hens, all big with yellow legs.


Here they are with the rooster, who is a bit light in body, but if I can add a bit more mass he's otherwise perfect.


This hen has perfect Aloha coloring on the more extreme white end of the spectrum.


This hen has the darker, more "Sussex" coloring, but clearly differs from Sussex.
LOTS more white than any Speckled Sussex breeder would want, plus she has yellow legs.

Size comparison:

FINALLY, it happened. I never thought I'd get there!
On Right - Last year's hen, typical Aloha size, 12 - 14 months old.
On Left - NEW hen, about 7 months old, looks like a scaled up version of the hen on the right.
Which is exactly what I've been trying to make happen! Ugh, that took FOREVER!


Another size photo. Small Aloha hen on left, "new" Aloha hen on right. See size improvement?


Front: "New" Aloha hen. Back: Waltz's Ark Buff Sussex. (HUGE)

As you can see, this large Aloha is not as big as the private-bred Buff Sussex.
But the "new" Aloha trio are not small at all, similar to many hatchery-bred Speckled Sussex.

So that's my current tiny, tiny flock of what I'd call "end goal" Alohas. This is what I hope to offer to chicken enthusiasts very soon.

----------------------

Then, I kept about 20 of the adult breeding stock hens from last season. Obviously these beautiful hens came from . . . somewhere??? Kept the Buff Sussex and several super colorful Aloha hens, that are small but have color galore.

----------------------

Next: Babies!

I've been growing out two pens of babies. One pen, had about 25 teenage pullets. (Well, SUPPOSEDLY all pullets, but a few have turned out to be roos!)

Out of 25 teenage girls - er, girls and such - only one is what I'd call the "final product". She is #4 who I would add to my tiny flock of "end goal" Alohas.

That is the Mille hen with yellow legs that a kind local fellow allowed me to take back from his batch of chicks. I showed photos of her at two months old. She is extremely feisty, and crabby! Total Aloha personality. What a diva! Not afraid of you, I had to literally touch her to get her to stop dust bathing, but she wouldn't stop squacking and complaining afterwards. LOL. I think she will start laying in September? Size, she may not be quite as big as the other three, but she is not tiny, either. Also, she has another month (at least) of growing to do! Here are current photos. I think she is four months old now. Maybe pushing 5 months? Her color is now "set" and I don't expect any major color changes. She is what I would say is the minimum amount of white that I'd like to see on Alohas, which is about 50/50 white to color ratio:









Next, in that same teenage pen, is this BIG girl, who is a bit too Speckled Sussex-y to be a perfect Aloha. But, she is large and has yellow legs, and is not bad at all. Good sized hen.

I'd like to see more of a Buff-y background color, and a bit more white, but she's not shabby.

Here is a teenage rooster, about the same age, Buff Sussex breeding. May cross very well with tall hen shown above.

Very similar to Thing 1, who was half Buff Sussex, but this boy is showing a bit more white than either Thing 1 or Thing 2, who were both half Buff Sussex. He has more body mass than the other Aloha rooster, and more spotting than either of the Things.

The other adult Aloha rooster (shown in group photo second from the top) has better comb, better long tail, better color, but is overall a bit light-bodied. That rooster is somewhat Leghorn in type. This boy is more "meaty" and what we'd want to see if you were going to process extra roosters for food. So going to let him grow out and see how he develops? Ideal body type is going to be heavier than Leghorn, but I do want to keep some Mediterranean breed type characteristics, like the long flowy tail and upright comb.


This hen is showing very striking color contrast. A bit young, still, and needs another month at least before she can be evaluated properly. But promising.

There are a bunch more teenage hens, but it's the same old story on most of them. The bigger ones do not show the flashy color, and then there are a few smaller ones with fabulous color, that I will keep, but it will be "more of the same" - little colorful Aloha girls.

I think total in that teenager pen, I will be keeping maybe seven hens out of 20+. One great Mille hen, one large Sussex type with yellow legs. The mid-size hen with striking color. Two small but ultra colorful Aloha hens. And two spotted Aloha Naked Necks. I will probably end up selling a dozen or more hens that didn't make the cut. But going to wait a few more weeks, it's still a dangerous time of year with this heat. We've got at least a month to six weeks before we'll be looking at any drop in temperatures!

Average high in Phoenix in June: 104
Average high in Phoenix in July: 107
Average high in Phoenix in August: 105
Average high in Phoenix in September: 99

So, if I can get towards the end of August without major losses, I will do a huge culling then. Sell all extra hens, clean out that new coop WELL and add new bedding, then take my tiny flock of my very best hens, and pen them to collect eggs. The young Mille hen may even be laying by late August. Then the plan is to hatch ALL THE EGGS by that little group!!! And keep hatching all the eggs from those hens, trying a new rooster every 4-6 weeks.

I also have this big group of peeps that were hatched mid May into mid June:


I culled 25 baby roosters from this group today. Sold them on Craigslist. There are probably about 15 more boys in there? Pus maybe 30-40 hens. They are all only 4-8 weeks old right now, so they are way too young to evaluate. I don't know if I have anything good in here or not? They are sure to change a lot in the weeks to come. 55 to 60 youngsters total.

I will continue to cull these down as they grow, until I work down to about 15 to 20 teenagers. But these won't be laying until November or December. Long way to go! Good news is they have been tolerating the heat very well. So far, we have only lost one peep! Yay!

The two turkeys in there are gifts that I hatched out for a friend and will be leaving soon.

So that's the latest. Five great Aloha hens, and a lot of other Aloha "ingredients"! Just have to keep trying trying trying to make the goal.

 

[alohachickens]

I wanted to post the Aloha Naked Neck group separately, as those will make good breeding stock for Alohas, but are going to be marketed differently. Of course I will hatch a few to keep, but I am mostly going to see if the sales of hatching eggs will go over well on Ebay. I would love to get about $20 per dozen on the eggs, sold to Turken / Naked Neck enthusiasts. This would be to help offset feed costs on the project. So far, I have four hens that I've decided to keep for this breeding pen.

One is brown with white dots, is a nice size:



The second is a Mille, gold with small white spots, she's a bit smaller. She was being shy today so no new pic.

The third is this hen who has really interesting black markings in with spots:


Last is this hen who is also large and light brown with white dots. Her size is a great feature:

(Lurking behind her is the younger hen that I took a photo of and posted above - the one with the striking markings.)

I see the neighbor has a gorgeous chick, that maybe I can borrow back:



Still a big young but I've got my eye on this one! LOL.

And I'll be borrowing back Robin, who has turned into a total jerk for my friend Deb. I will probably need a stick or something to collect eggs, I guess he's quite aggressive. But gorgeous!


So it will be a very nice pen. But mostly for selling, though I may obviously raise a few batches of these to keep the best.

 

[alohachickens]

I also have a few random chicks running around the property. I had broody hens who refused to give up, so I gave them some newborn peeps from various sale batches. They fit in great with the adults, but they move and hide so hard to evaluate. They're doing well running amuck, so letting them be. Will evaluate them properly in another month or so.

 

[mpsteve]

How much will the end goal hens weigh. I really like these birds. Just got chickens for the first time this spring. Started with buff orpingtons. Would be nice if your birds get close to the same size as orpingtons or bigger

 

[alohachickens]

How much will the end gaol hens weigh. I really like these birds. Just got chickens for the first time this spring. Started with buff orpingtons. Would be nice if your birds get close to the same size as orpingtons or bigger

Orp's are pretty much on the maximum end of the spectrum when it comes to chickens! It is doubtful I could ever get mine that big, for a couple of reasons. One, the "base" Alohas that I started with, that had these nice colors, were small, game-type chickens. So that will always be tough to overcome.

The other issue is where I'm located. We get extreme heat in Phoenix, and when the heat hits, the chickens with the most massive body mass suffer the most. That's why Mediterranean breeds like Leghorns tend to be so small. In hot climates like Italy and Spain, heavy chickens are at a disadvantage. Sussex don't do well here in Phoenix, but that is understandable since they were developed in cool England.

The only exception to this general rule is Australorp, which are huge black chickens that were developed in Australia, which has a hot dry climate much like Phoenix. Unfortunately, the Australorp color does not mix well with the Alohas. But seeing that breeders in Australia managed to make a heat-tolerant offshoot of the Orpington gives me a lot of hope!

However, when the heat gets super bad - I mean 110+ - it's usually the biggest and most massive chickens that die first. So far I've lost five, on the week that we had 112-116 degree temps, and all were either full or part large breed. None of the smaller Alohas died, not a single one! However, I do have five large Sussex hens that are now on their second Phoenix summer. Whoever survives the rest of this summer, has a better chance of passing heat tolerance to their babies. Will keep my fingers crossed for these gals!!!