The Aloha Chicken Project

[alohachickens]

Hooray I found the thread !! Newbie here and have a beautiful aloha roo, looking for any professional advice And was thinking of crossing the aloha roo with a cream legbar. ? Here is a pic of him ...

Crossing with Cream Legbar would be GREAT for introducing the blue egg gene, which would be a real neat thing! I'd love to see that.

So here's the pros / cons and how it will work.

Pros: Cross him with Legbar hens, and all the babies should carry blue egg gene! They will also have yellow legs (good) and a single upright comb (also good.)

Cons: All chicks will be dominant for Barring, and will only have one copy of the Mottled gene, so none will show any spots. Also, they will not show any size improvement, as Legbars are about the same size as Alohas. (I have a friend who has a few Legbars and Alohas running together.)

They will be tough chickies, though, and good layers, so happy backyard mutts! They should lay reliably and be good in heat and all weather. Nothing bad on this cross!

Now how to get them better? Going to need to cross them with a Mottled Aloha, with no barring, on the next generation. Keep the ones with no barring. Then cross together, and IF it works, in about a year - maybe a year and a half? May get BLUE EGG LAYING Alohas.

If you want to proceed with this plan, you have my full support and I can provide you with the proper rooster for the next generation.

The first cross is easy, just hatch out chicks and keep the hens. Keep the biggest and most robust girls, cull any small ones.

I hope you go for it! Removing the barring on the next cross would be tricky, but it COULD be done, and it would be possible to get blue egg laying Alohas, which I think would be SUPER popular. I would love to pursue this, but have to much going on here, and have to work on one step at a time! Would love the assistance if you want to give it a whirl.

 

[enola]

What color are Alohas eggs?

 

[alohachickens]

Here is where I am at on the program. These are this years hatches. Loving how they are looking.

In the first pic, on the right you will see two white birds. One a pullet and one a cockerel. This year I had about 8 that hatched out like this. I kept a pullet and cockerel for some test breeding next srping.

I just want to say first, that I really love the color on this hen!

I wish I could explain the white ones? Others have had them pop up, too, out here. I have culled them out ruthlessly so I don't really see those but I do have some of the white ones with gold heads pop up from time to time? I haven't tried a test breeding so I don't know what they would throw?

But, I was wondering, did you at one point say you had a possible source for Jubilee Orp? I kind of wonder if that might be a fun outcross for your flock here - just a dash of it - like outcross and then cross back in again so it would only be 25%. I want to say it feels like that would give them a nice boost. Or better yet, maybe an extra roo from Deerfield's Speckled Sussex / Buff Sussex? I feel like you've got the color nailed on a bunch of them, and now it's time to try and boost body type as you move forward.

Overall, looking really really good! I can always send you a few hatching eggs from select chickies out here, too. Just say the word when you need fresh blood.

 

[alohachickens]

What color are Alohas eggs?

They are a pale cream color.

 

[enola]

If you are going to use Legbars to get a blue egg gene, make sure you get a line of Legbars that actually lay blue eggs. A lot of Legbars lay green eggs. And I am sure you know barring will really mess with mottled pattern genes.

I think your Alohas are beautiful!!

 

[cgmaster]

Crossing with Cream Legbar would be GREAT for introducing the blue egg gene, which would be a real neat thing!  I'd love to see that.

So here's the pros / cons and how it will work.

Pros:  Cross him with Legbar hens, and all the babies should carry blue egg gene!  They will also have yellow legs (good) and a single upright comb (also good.) 

Cons:  All chicks will be dominant for Barring, and will only have one copy of the Mottled gene, so none will show any spots.  Also, they will not show any size improvement, as Legbars are about the same size as Alohas.  (I have a friend who has a few Legbars and Alohas running together.)  

They will be tough chickies, though, and good layers, so happy backyard mutts!  They should lay reliably and be good in heat and all weather.  Nothing bad on this cross!

Now how to get them better?  Going to need to cross them with a Mottled Aloha, with no barring, on the next generation.  Keep the ones with no barring.   Then cross together, and IF it works, in about a year - maybe a year and a half?  May get BLUE EGG LAYING Alohas.

If you want to proceed with this plan, you have my full support and I can provide you with the proper rooster for the next generation.  

The first cross is easy, just hatch out chicks and keep the hens.  Keep the biggest and most robust girls, cull any small ones.  

I hope you go for it!  Removing the barring on the next cross would be tricky, but it COULD be done, and it would be possible to get blue egg laying Alohas, which I think would be SUPER popular.  I would love to pursue this, but have to much going on here, and have to work on one step at a time!  Would love the assistance if you want to give it a whirl.  

actuall if the hen is the one that has barring only the roosters from this cross will be barred. unless it isn't sexlinked barring but if it is the hens can only carry one copy and this one copy would only go to the roosters whereas if the rooster was pure for barred all the chicks would have one gene for barring because the rooster has two barring genes (at least that's how it works with barred rocks and easter eggers)

 

[alohachickens]

actuall if the hen is the one that has barring only the roosters from this cross will be barred. unless it isn't sexlinked barring but if it is the hens can only carry one copy and this one copy would only go to the roosters whereas if the rooster was pure for barred all the chicks would have one gene for barring because the rooster has two barring genes (at least that's how it works with barred rocks and easter eggers)

Thank you for the insight That is great news. I thought both hens AND roosters could be homozygous for the barred gene.

I'm so used to genetics in mammals. Almost all color genes in mammals are unrelated to gender. (Calico cats are about the only exception that comes to mind.) The sex-linked genes in birds really confuses me! I always get tripped up there.

 

[cgmaster]

Thank you for the insight  That is great news.  I thought both hens AND roosters could be homozygous for the barred gene.

I'm so used to genetics in mammals.  Almost all color genes in mammals are unrelated to gender.  (Calico cats are about the only exception that comes to mind.) The sex-linked genes in birds really confuses me!  I always get tripped up there.  

BTW its possible to have a male calico cat but he would be a mutant basically because he would have an extra sex gene and he would be infertile (it really rare though)

 

[johnandashley]

actuall if the hen is the one that has barring only the roosters from this cross will be barred. unless it isn't sexlinked barring but if it is the hens can only carry one copy and this one copy would only go to the roosters whereas if the rooster was pure for barred all the chicks would have one gene for barring because the rooster has two barring genes (at least that's how it works with barred rocks and easter eggers)

Awesome so glad to see an answer here and so much info ! Like I said being a newcomer I rely on common sense and info from you guys I would love to trade info with you, I believe we already have some real life mutual friends. (Whom I obviously won't mention here I have tons of questions, getting some work done and will hop in with some more pics later. my legbars didn't make it !! But I am looking for more as we speak . Thanks to everyone !!!

 

[alohachickens]

Awesome

so glad to see an answer here and so much info ! Like I said being a newcomer I rely on common sense and info from you guys

I would love to trade info with you, I believe we already have some real life mutual friends. (Whom I obviously won't mention here I have tons of questions, getting some work done and will hop in with some more pics later.

my legbars didn't make it

!! But I am looking for more as we speak

. Thanks to everyone

!

Sorry to hear about your Legbars! I have some friends down here who may be able to provide some Legbar / Aloha cross eggs by the way - which would jump you one generation already! They have a few Aloha hens and a Legbar rooster. Obviously, that would be something for when the temps cool down a bit. LOL.