The Aloha Chicken Project

[Deerfield Acres]

I just came in from visiting the chicks. I never get tired of watching them.

LoVE the pics! I see SPoTs! Wow! When I first got hooked on these birds I didn't care too much for any black but I'm really loving that bird with a tiny bit of black to contrast with the ginger and white. Beautiful bird! It looks to be a good size, also. After watching my Easter Eggers feathering up into an amazing array of color, I've come to appreciate the black and greys. I do know that's not what we're looking for now.

Then the spotted ginger girl with the pink legs, another beauty! I'm so excited to see how mine turn out. Has anyone had a bright yellow colored background, chipmunk striped chick grow up yet? I'm so curious to see how they feather up. I just have a couple of them but they sure are different.

My birds are 8 weeks now and I culled the smaller Buff Orps and the birds with the least white of the Sussex. I still have too many but want to wait until weeks 12 - 15 before I cull anymore. I kept only one bird that has less white because she is so, so sweet. I also have another dark roo that is very sweet also and am just hanging on to them while I decide if I'm going to breed any of them to sell.

My biggest SSX cockerel with lots of white is very, very friendly. Hope he stays that way.

I have one chick that was born with a crippled leg. I wanted to give him time to come around but I can see his life is going to be very difficult like this. He just doesn't have any use of his leg below his, for lack of a better term, knee. Sigh. I really like watching the little guy. While the others are flapping, chest bumping and comparing height, he's just very determinedly going about his own business.

 

[alohachickens]

Here are some...



and yet another:

You have a lot of cuties but I love the color and white on the top pic! Nice!

And the bottom one looks like it's going to be a Confetti color - but how funny that it's all patchy like that! Wow! It is actually kind of cool. Pinto chickens . . . hee hee.

 

[tazcat70]

Karen adorable chick pics.

Sommer I cannot believe all the color sprouting! I can not wait to see these chicks in a few weeks! I had really hoped to keep them all marked who they came from and such, but life is too crazy right now. I am just hanging in there. Every time I check on the chicks I just stand there watching them for 15 minutes.

Runs it is so amazing the difference a little time makes. In another 2 mos. they may look completely different.

 

[alohachickens]

A couple more days have passed, and now the youngest chicks are changing even more. For the better, so far!

I need to move them into the grower pen where Cheeto's babies are. Cheeto's kids are pushing three months old now. They were hatched towards the end of Jan. (Jan 25th or something?) I really need their pen for the siblings of Runswscissor's chicks, they are in a big rabbit hutch cage right now, but it looks like the cage is shrinking on me! (It's actually the chicks that are growing, but same effect, ha ha.)

I shipped Runswithscissors 30 chicks and kept everything else to grow out. Haven't culled anyone yet because they really just started to feather in now. In the bigger grower pen on the ground, where Cheeto's babies are, I have culled down from 13 to 9. One hen got sick, and I gave away some solid color rooster chicks. I'm keeping the solid hens and the spotted boys. Um, except one of the solid "hens" is now looking roo-ish to me and will get culled soon. So that will leave me with three spotted boys and five buff color hens that carry the genes for spotting. That's eight newbies to grow out for next year's breeding stock.

Of the 25 Thanksgiving chicks (Sussex rooster over various hens) looks like only two babies will make the final cut. (Into next year's breeding stock, I mean.)

A smallish hen that shows fabulous spotting:



And "Nui" (Hawaiian for "big") who is my half-Sussex, half Aloha hen. Good spotting AND she's taller than both the pure Swedish hen, and taller than the pure Sussex hens! WOW!



That's it. Two hens out of twenty five chicks hatched. When I say my motto is "Breed Extensively, Cull Ruthlessly" - I mean it. LOL!

Add five buff hen chicks to that - and I am up to seven new hens for next year.

Add one pure Swedish Flower hen - that makes eight new hens for next year.

Add whatever comes out of the chicks in the rabbit hutch (???) and see where that goes.

Even when culling this harshly, it still is going to be a full coop of new hens next season!

 

[AZ Game Birds]

Hello All I'm Sommers friend Derek with the 5 cabinet incubators. I figured I should start posting some pictures of the chicks I have been hatching out for the Aloha Project.

Here are some of my 2-3 month olds

.

 

[alohachickens]

YAY!

I'm so glad you signed up here, Derek!

I just gave Derek *** 15 DOZEN *** Aloha eggs!

Wow - he is going to be flooded with Aloha chicks in three weeks . . . . that's around May 2nd.

Warning - high fertility has been reported from Notinoz. Hmm, 180+ eggs and a high hatch rate? You're going to busy in a few weeks!

By the way, that's an awesome chick there!

 

[AZ Game Birds]

And here are some of my day old to 2 week old chicks and turkeys.

 

[AZ Game Birds]

Here is one of my Aloha Roo's with 2 Wellsummer hens and 4 Buff Orpington hens.

 

[AZ Game Birds]

And here are my other Roo's

 

[AZ Game Birds]

I have about thirty eggs in the incubator from my Aloha/wellsummer/Buff Orpington pen now and will be switching out the roo this week with one of my other lucky Roo's.
What roo from the picture above do you think i should put in with them next Sommer?