The Aloha Chicken Project

[alohachickens]

Since this program is so far along, I've decided to set up a new thread for it.

What is the "Aloha Chicken Project"?

A few years ago, before Greenfire Farms imported the fabulous Swedish Flower Hens, I set about trying to create an American version of it. Now that Greenfire has imported the Swedish Flower Hens, or Blommehons, finally we have the ability to buy Blommehons in the U.S. Yay!

However, in the meantime, something pretty cool happened in my backyard, with what I was working with. I started to get some amazing colors and feather patterning. So, even though the original goal was to re-create the Swedish Flower Hen breed in the United States, and now it's here, I've decided to go own developing the American version, because it has a unique charm all its own.

These chickens shown below have NO SWEDISH FLOWER HEN bloodlines:

Right now, these chickens are smaller than what I would like, but improvement to size is happening. A few other people have now stepped in to help. Everyone is welcome!

Links to other info:

History/info from the start of the program in late 2008 through spring 2011:

http://alohachickens.webs.com/

Brand new Blog, for updates from Fall 2011 onward:

http://alohachickens.blogspot.com/

And a previous BYC thread, titled "Orange Mottled Chicken" - it's still going, but I thought that we're so far along that someone starting at the beginnng of that thread would have a lot to cover by now, ha ha. So if you haven't read through that whole thread, or don't want to, you can start here.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=259853

I am not sure where this program will end up, but the goals have started to diverge from the Swedish Flower Hens. If you were to ask "how are these different from Flower Hens?" I'd say: No feather crests on Alohas. More emphasis on orange/gold/red/bright colors. Less black/brown mottled. The "Confetti" color is another thing - the color I've called "Confetti" looks similar to some Swedish Flower Hen photos I've seen. These photos are on Feathersite and I also found some in this light pattern on a breeder's page over in Sweden a while back. However, none of the imports from Greenfire have shown up in this color, as far as I can tell? At least, not yet. Maybe it will show up in time, but right now, this color is very prominent in the Alohas. If you were to describe it, instead of a "colored chicken with light dots" you would call these "a white chicken with dark spots". Here's another example:

There is still a long ways to go, but I hope you'll enjoy following along! I thought enough progress has been made that perhaps it deserved a "breed thread" by now. LOL!

 

[upthecreek]

beautiful chickens

 

[robbiespot]

what if you bread the lighter colored blue andalusians they have some speckling in them, and are good layers. or you could take a mutt that is part blue andalusians dont know if that would be helpful to the new bread you are working on but it is an idea

 

[alohachickens]

Quote:
The reason I haven't used breeds like Blue Andalusian and Mottled Java, is blue is basically "black" that has been lightened to gray. Black chickens will make all the colors darker. I'd lose all the bright reds and golds. So, for this reason, I've been trying to use a lot of bright gold and red chickens, and will be adding plenty of Buff Rock, Buff Orpington, New Hampshire Red, and Speckled Sussex into the mix. I think those breeds will add PLENTY of outside blood to improve size.

However, someday it would be really neat to add either the Lavender gene or the Dun gene.

I did have Blue Mottled in there for a while, but it has been bred out for now. The reason is, a Splash bird looks similar to a Mottled "Confetti" Aloha. So, I don't want to get them confused. I would rather re-introduce a "gray" color using Lavender, or Dun, down the road. Both Lavender and Dun just lighten black up, but they don't make a Splash color.

But, if you'd like to see what Blue looked like, check out these pics! Here's a Blue Wheaten Mottled, and a Blue Mottled. Both came from Blue Mottled Easter Egger lines. They were lovely birds! This color could be bred back in at any time. I just have decided to do things "one step at a time" from here on out, ha ha:

The blue mottled hen is to the far left in the above picture . . . from early in the program . . .

 

[robbiespot]

well that makes sense now that i think about it, i just know that i have been breeding my blue andalusians and they are almost white but none of there offspring have gone back to the dark color.

 

[alohachickens]

Here is a link to a Splash Andalusian Roo:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=104212

He looks a little different from my blue mottled hens, but not all that much! If I was getting Splash roosters like him, I'd have such a hard time telling them apart from Blue Mottled, ha ha.

I was able to "prove" the above hen was a true Blue Mottled, because she hatched out Black Mottled chicks. (If she had been Splash, her chicks would have been all blue.)

I've heard that Splash to Black makes all Blue. So I guess, if you have an Andalusian that looks like it, and breed it to a solid black, all the chicks will end up Blue! My head was hurting from keeping it all straight, so for now, I've just cut Blue out of the program. Does anyone know if Blue is in Swedish Flower Hens, or is the gray in their tail feathers from the Lavender gene? Guess I'd better pop over to that thread and ask them, ha ha.

 

[Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex]

Hello all from the Oregon branch of the Aloha Project!
For now I have no new photos to add (all these were posted on the aforementioned thread) but I figured I would share a few old ones anyway.
These lovely birds were shipped to me last spring as day old chicks by alohachickens. They are all so beautiful and unique!
Starting this spring I will be crossing them with some Speckled Sussex and Buff Orpingtons to try to make bigger chickens (hopefully with smaller wings so they don't do so much 'exploring' in places they don't belong!)

These are the two roosters I kept, Easter and Nameless

My favorite pullet, Blackbeak Larry (still missing, but I have not given up hope yet!)

Another shot of my rooster, Easter

Digit, a small, but lovely pullet

Goldy, one of the pullets

The best group shot I have of the whole batch of them... this was taken months ago- ignore the Polish and the Wyandotte!

Wow... looking back at all these pictures makes me realize how much I need to update! They have all changed so much since then (all for the better!) and I have to show off what they look like now. The roosters are growing stunning tails, and the pullets are putting on more spots all the time. Their feathers are lovely and they are clever and curious birds. My hope is that the Sussex I am adding to the mix will improve them by making them heavier so they will stay on the ground a bit more (a 7 foot fence is nothing to a teenaged Aloha) I am also quite enthralled with the unusually friendly nature of my Sussexes, and I am hoping that will rub off. But The colors, patterns, and feathering of the Alohas is great! They feather out quickly and continue to change as they get older, getting prettier all the time.

 

[alohachickens]

Tam'ra, I can't wait to see them all grown up . . . the adventuring should settle a bit when they gain their final adult weight. Although yes, I have seen mine fly all the way to the top of my horse trailer, which is probably ten feet? Not often . . . but a couple of times.

I am really, really liking the Sussex influence. Here is a Blog post about Sussex crossed with Alohas:

http://alohachickens.blogspot.com/2011/11/sussex-influence.html

First generation the babies look like terrible quality Sussex, ha ha ha! Outcross back to Aloha (or an Aloha mix) the unique colors come back again. I have an AWESOME full Sussex roo in with some hens that are part Buff Orp and part Aloha. I also have two full Sussex hens to add size with various colorful Aloha roosters. The full Sussex roo is huge and very friendly. I can't wait to see his chicks. The chicks will be a good "preview" of what your Aloha stock will start to look like soon, ha ha. My program is running just one generation ahead of yours right now.

Here's a hen that is one quarter Sussex. The other 3/4 might be all Aloha, but I suspect her dad was my half NHR x half Aloha. She's definately bigger than the regular Alohas and really round. I love her color, she's stunning. We're getting really close on her, just a teeny bit bigger and she would qualify as the "end goal" of the program:

Great photo except she blinked, hee hee. Her eyes are orange.

Right now, I am SO CLOSE to getting the first "real" Aloha Chicken. It's exciting but frustrating, too! I keep waiting for it to happen. Needs to be big and round enough in body but with amazing color, too.

 

[draye]

Awesome thread. I've been keeping up with the project. Hopefully one day I can join in a help with this project.


Beautiful chickens.

 

[AinaWGSD]

Thanks for the updates. I've been kind of keeping an eye on this project since I started in chickens "back in" 2009. I'm really loving the bright, flashy colors and the hens that are just as pretty as the roosters. If I had room, and no close neighbors, I would love to get involved. As such, I'll just have to sit on the sidelines and wait for this project to get closer to it's goal so I can maybe get in on some hatching eggs when you're ready to release them to non-breeders.