The Aloha Chicken Project

[Kev]

That is a variation of wheaten chick down. For reasons I don't fully understand, large/dual purpose breeds based on wheaten often are solid colored but in fighting games, it is normal for their wheaten chicks to have some striping... mainly a single stripe down the middle, starting on the head, can be absent on neck and then again on middle of back.

It may be a result of being not pure for wheaten, maybe something like wheaten/partridge- those often have a middle stripe plus two stripes on each side of back.

My guess- since the Co gene is probably present in the chick due to NH and Aloha type breeding, it will be a "black tail buff", possibly with a little extra black detailing on the body.

 

[alohachickens]

That is a variation of wheaten chick down. For reasons I don't fully understand, large/dual purpose breeds based on wheaten often are solid colored but in fighting games, it is normal for their wheaten chicks to have some striping... mainly a single stripe down the middle, starting on the head, can be absent on neck and then again on middle of back.

It may be a result of being not pure for wheaten, maybe something like wheaten/partridge- those often have a middle stripe plus two stripes on each side of back.

My guess- since the Co gene is probably present in the chick due to NH and Aloha type breeding, it will be a "black tail buff", possibly with a little extra black detailing on the body.

It is genetically half Exchequer Leghorn (black and white mottled) and half New Hampshire. Both parents are 50 / 50 of these breeds. It's not "Aloha" from my stock, it's a new mix of the two existing breeds.

Do you think black tail buff can come out of that? Or is there really no way to tell?

 

[Kev]

It is genetically half Exchequer Leghorn (black and white mottled) and half New Hampshire. Both parents are 50 / 50 of these breeds. It's not "Aloha" from my stock, it's a new mix of the two existing breeds.

Do you think black tail buff can come out of that? Or is there really no way to tell?

Oh! had missed the parentage, So both mother and father are EL and NH crosses? If that's correct then yes you can expect some black tail buffs, mottled black tail buffs.

A possible explanation for one chick being lighter is if the EL are silver, it can sometimes lighten the down on wheaten chicks.. in this case, you could also expect black tail whites(both mottled or not)

I had missed the EL part of the equation so I have to revise it to possibly part of normal wheaten down expression, possibly silver wheaten, possibly mottled-something...

I recall someone mentioning German NH.. is that the NH part of your birds? You're going to produce awesome birds!

 

[HEChicken]

Quote: Just for clarification, the more orange chick in that pic is a pure NH - I only put it in the pic for comparison of the difference in color of this lighter colored chick.

I've had either 3 or 4 hatch that have been moved into the brooder. The pure NH hatch finished last night but the "Aloha" hatch was only just beginning then. I have another hatched in the incubator that will stay there all night - it is not looking very strong yet but I'm hopeful it will recover and do well. And then I have 4 more that are pipped. This is the end of day 22 and I really don't like these late hatches as the chicks often don't seem to do as well - they have a harder time hatching and then are slow to recover. Partway through today I decided to candle the unzipped eggs. Sure enough the first three there were no signs of life. I picked up the fourth that had no pip and heard the unmistakable sound of cheeping coming from within. That egg only just pipped in the past couple of hours so it could be another 24 hours yet before it zips. Crazy.

So anyway, there are the few in the brooder, the one hatched in the incubator and the four more that are pipped. I'm anxious to get the next lot of eggs going in the incubator which is also the reason I'm frustrated by how long these guys are taking to hatch! Hopefully I can get the next 26 eggs in tomorrow. They're getting older by the day so I don't like having to wait.

Quote: That is correct. The first generation are out of German NH rooster and Exchequer Leghorn hens. That generation is then crossed to one another to get Gen 2. So since both parents are 50/50 NH/EL, that means these chicks are genetically also NH/EL. What we are hoping is that we'll get some hens that are bigger than the original EL hens, have the mottling gene and lose the black/white but gain the reddish coloring. I'm surprised so far by the diversity. The first chick to hatch was brown, the second yellow and the third closer to black/white. The one in the incubator....I think also black/white but it is hard to tell yet.

 

[alohachickens]

Just for clarification, the more orange chick in that pic is a pure NH - I only put it in the pic for comparison of the difference in color of this lighter colored chick.

That is correct. The first generation are out of German NH rooster and Exchequer Leghorn hens. That generation is then crossed to one another to get Gen 2. So since both parents are 50/50 NH/EL, that means these chicks are genetically also NH/EL. What we are hoping is that we'll get some hens that are bigger than the original EL hens, have the mottling gene and lose the black/white but gain the reddish coloring. I'm surprised so far by the diversity. The first chick to hatch was brown, the second yellow and the third closer to black/white. The one in the incubator....I think also black/white but it is hard to tell yet.

This is very interesting to see the variation in this hatch. I really thought all of them would look exactly like EL peeps, only some might be red and white (or brown and white) instead of black and white. The brown chick with the white tummy does not shock me, but the odd light one truly does!

 

[Kev]

That is correct. The first generation are out of German NH rooster and Exchequer Leghorn hens. That generation is then crossed to one another to get Gen 2. So since both parents are 50/50 NH/EL, that means these chicks are genetically also NH/EL. What we are hoping is that we'll get some hens that are bigger than the original EL hens, have the mottling gene and lose the black/white but gain the reddish coloring. I'm surprised so far by the diversity. The first chick to hatch was brown, the second yellow and the third closer to black/white. The one in the incubator....I think also black/white but it is hard to tell yet.

You'll see a whole spectrum.. solid black, leaky blacks, mottled blacks/leakys, black tail whites, also some mottled(can seem solid white if mottling is extensive), black tail buffs, also some mottled,

unfortunately chances for mottled buffs is very low... with leaky black(start out black but develop some color on feathers as they grow.. could be red/brown or brassy/white) being the most common. More mottleds will be b/w than buff.

for red mottle the most desirable are of course the buff mottles but also bt buff as there is a good chance these are mottle carriers. also good are mottles showing red/brown leakage- those have ditched the silver gene. Mottle with white leakage will continue to throw more silvers if used.

 

[HEChicken]

bt buff

What does the "bt" stand for?

 

[draye]

What does the "bt" stand for?

Black tailed. Took me moment to figure it out.
I think what you're doing fir the Sluha project is great.

I'm working on the Naked Neck version if the Aloha. Been trying to figure out some way to bring in some new blood for mine. I think tough if I can ever get the money together I could use another dose of Sommers Aloha blood. As I wound up with just a rooster from the regular Alohas and a solid red NN hen from the NN branch.

I'm currently incubating the second round of Aloha to my NN chicks, I've already hatched a few bug them off to make room for this round. A thing I've discovered though us that my hens are also carrying mottling do I'm a step ahead I. Getting to my spots. I even hatched a sex linked cross of the Aloha out of some Barred NN hens and got a cockerel that was barred and mottled also.

 

[HEChicken]

More mottleds will be b/w than buff.

Yes, we are figuring maybe 1 in 8 will be reddish and mottled.

Thanks Draye - I should have figured that out myself!

 

[Kev]

Yes, we are figuring maybe 1 in 8 will be reddish and mottled.

Thanks Draye - I should have figured that out myself!

Good, you are aware n prepared.

I would love to see pictures of the F1 plus the chicks as they grow out..