The Aloha Chicken Project

[runsw/scissors]

Thanks so much for the input Sommer! Great idea using different hatcheries as well.

Chicken shopping will have to wait until I get paid next month.

 

[alohachickens]

The Swedish Flower x Aloha chicks are starting to feather up, and so far, there is lots of color!

I'm so nervous about losing them in this super-scary heat! They already have three one-gallon chick waterers in the rabbit hutch. When they get a little bigger, I'll move them to the grow-out pen which (in my opinion) is a little cooler. Either way, the heat in AZ is really in full force now, and it's brutal out there. I feel so sorry for those little babies out there . . . . 110 degrees is just so tough for little chickies to deal with!

I can't wait to show pics, but they are still getting the feathers in. I know if I wait just five or so more days, you'll really be able to see how they look! So exciting!

 

[15littlem]

Fans, fans, fans... If you have ready access to electricity, get some cheep (had to do the pun) fans. Just being able to constantly circulate the air will allow for a massive cooling effect for the chickens. The more fans you can get, the better.

 

[alohachickens]

There is no electricity in the coop. I wonder how long the battery operated ones would last? LOL!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

There is no electricity in the coop. I wonder how long the battery operated ones would last? LOL!

Solar powered fans. I have heard good things, but have no personal experience. I think Laree has some.

 

[15littlem]

http://www.dieflyranch.com/ http://www.theomeletranch.com/
Check out these breeders. Look at the Mille Fleur Leghorns.

Look familiar? Also look at Jubilee Orpingtons. If you are using Speckled Sussexes, say goodbye to them.

The Jubilees will give you the same color benefits, along with a great body size. Not only that, but they replace the skittish and gamey-ness of the regular Alohas with the docility of an Orpington. These places are a bit pricey, but you can probably look around for cheaper places.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

15littlem, I think the difficulty with the Mille Fleur leghorns is that the leghorn cannot be used for eggs and meat. They just don't end up with enough meat on their bones. See their triangle shaped bodies? They also lay white eggs while we are going for a brown egg. The difficulty with the Jubilee Orpington is that they are extremely pricey but have faults with feathering. They have beautifully round bodies but they are more loosely feathered and the tails are short and stumpy, whereas, the Alohas have nice plumey tails. While we do use Orpingtons crossed with Sussex, the Sussex are more tightly feathered and have more plumy tail feathers than the Orpington alone, which increases the odds of having a decent tail while still carrying the speckling gene in the offspring. Sommer, correct me if I'm wrong but this is my understanding.

It is Arizona hot here in Kansas! Over the next week it is supposed to be between 103 and 106 with 30 to 40% humidity. In effect, today we had a heat index of 105. The kids and I are icing the waterers and providing wading pool with water changed twice a day to help cool the birds off. We change their water 3X a day and have moved their fence back to a more shaded area and there is a fan running 24/7 in the coop. I sure hope these birds make it through this summer. I've been using 68 Soluble in their water daily as well. It's a combination of probiotics, electrolytes and vitamins. I've ordered some misters and hope they arrive soon. In the meantime, the wind is providing mist from the sprinkler running all day in the garden. This is ridiculous for Kansas but it's very similar to last year.

I'm considering using Oxine in the basement to eliminate any mold or fungal spores and move the birds back in with a dehumidifier.

 

[alohachickens]

15littlem, I think the difficulty with the Mille Fleur leghorns is that the leghorn cannot be used for eggs and meat. They just don't end up with enough meat on their bones. See their triangle shaped bodies? They also lay white eggs while we are going for a brown egg. The difficulty with the Jubilee Orpington is that they are extremely pricey but have faults with feathering. They have beautifully round bodies but they are more loosely feathered and the tails are short and stumpy, whereas, the Alohas have nice plumey tails. While we do use Orpingtons crossed with Sussex, the Sussex are more tightly feathered and have more plumy tail feathers than the Orpington alone, which increases the odds of having a decent tail while still carrying the speckling gene in the offspring. Sommer, correct me if I'm wrong but this is my understanding.

KarenS summed it up perfectly. Yes, the Mille Leghorns could be somewhat helpful, those yellow legs are great, and good egg laying ability on Leghorns for sure! But currently my Alohas are about 3-4 lbs - pretty much the same size as Leghorns, so they aren't going to aid greatly in the size improvement or adding girth or weight to the bodies.

Ultimately, a closer comparison to what an Aloha should look like, in terms of body shape and size, would be to resemble to a large, privately-bred Speckled Sussex - the really BIG strains of Sussex. My friend Laree gave me a rooster that was hatched from stock someone here on BYC bred. (Someone on here sent her some Sussex eggs and she got a ton of roos.) He made my half Buff Rock rooster, Cheeto, look like a Banty! That's how huge he is! Stephen is using him on Aloha hens in one of the breeder pens, and he was also the dad of my biggest half- Aloha hen, Nui, who just started laying recently.

This whole project would be a cinch except the Sussex genes are freakishly strong, and they tend to make EVERYTHING look exactly like a Sussex. All my half Sussex have pretty much looked exactly like full Sussex! LOL! So we have to bring a bunch of "other" stuff in there to try and break up that Sussex color at first, and to add yellow legs. But replace the pale white/pink Sussex legs with bright yellow, and add a huge range of mottled colors, and that is pretty much what an Aloha should look like.

You can't tell looking at the hens, but Orpington roosters have the most ridiculously stubby little tails! They do have size, but if you pick them up, they are more "fluff" than "meat". That's why I've chosen to use Buff Rock - which also has stubby tail issues, but carries a giant body frame and huge bone, but has slick, smooth feathers like a Sussex. (I'm hoping that as the Buff Rock blood gets crossed with Sussex that we can get the long tail back again someday.)

However, the Mottled Leghorns could certainly be useful. Someone could cross an extra Mottled Leghorn rooster with some Sussex that have been hand-picked (keep the ones with too much white for the Sussex standard) and keep the chicks with the most white and yellow legs. I can already tell you the Sussex dark will totally overwhelm the color on the Mottled Leghorns. They will pretty much all be colored like Sussex that first generation. But at least you'd have mottled birds with long tails and yellow legs, and that's great! Would make a good "base stock" to bring in Aloha bloodlines to.

The interesting thing about the Aloha strain that I have here, is that there is nothing else quite like it? The colors/patterning came from one odd little hen that I got from a neighbor. Her background was unknown. She was Banty sized which is why I still have size issues with these. But I was having absolutely NO LUCK in getting "new" colors or patterns using Sussex and Exchequer Leghorns, until she was brought into the mix! She had the strangest coloring I'd ever seen. But it reminded me of some photos of Swedish Flower Hens that I'd seen on Feathersite.com. She was crossed with a half Sussex, half Exchequer rooster. All my Alohas descend from four of her offspring, two roosters and two hens, and her grandchicks still display colors that are totally unique. Now we have to get those colors on BIG bodies . . . that's the hard part! LOL!

 

[alohachickens]

It is Arizona hot here in Kansas! Over the next week it is supposed to be between 103 and 106 with 30 to 40% humidity. In effect, today we had a heat index of 105. The kids and I are icing the waterers and providing wading pool with water changed twice a day to help cool the birds off. We change their water 3X a day and have moved their fence back to a more shaded area and there is a fan running 24/7 in the coop. I sure hope these birds make it through this summer. I've been using 68 Soluble in their water daily as well. It's a combination of probiotics, electrolytes and vitamins. I've ordered some misters and hope they arrive soon. In the meantime, the wind is providing mist from the sprinkler running all day in the garden. This is ridiculous for Kansas but it's very similar to last year.

I'm considering using Oxine in the basement to eliminate any mold or fungal spores and move the birds back in with a dehumidifier.

Karen, they should make it all right, as long as the water doesn't run out. Especially the Alohas. They are tough birds!!! I have had my Alohas manage in 115 degree heat. Yeah, you read that right. LOL! And while everyone always gives us that "dry heat" line about Arizona, the truth is, the summer is when our Monsoon rains come up from Mexico, and our humidity goes through the roof. So yes, we can reach 105-110, and ADD humidity to that! (It just doesn't stay humid for weeks on end like it does in the Midwest. Our humidity spikes and then it pours rain. It goes back down again, after each summer storm.)

I don't think you'd have to bring them into the basement at this age. I'm more worried about my baby chicks. The adults will do great with a wading pool and fan. Mine love to wade in the waterers! I get concerned that the baby chicks won't be able to regulate their temps like the adults can, but surprisingly, I have only lost one of the 37 chicks so far. (Looks like it drowned itself in the waterer.)

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Karen, they should make it all right, as long as the water doesn't run out. Especially the Alohas. They are tough birds!!! I have had my Alohas manage in 115 degree heat. Yeah, you read that right. LOL! And while everyone always gives us that "dry heat" line about Arizona, the truth is, the summer is when our Monsoon rains come up from Mexico, and our humidity goes through the roof. So yes, we can reach 105-110, and ADD humidity to that! (It just doesn't stay humid for weeks on end like it does in the Midwest. Our humidity spikes and then it pours rain. It goes back down again, after each summer storm.)

I don't think you'd have to bring them into the basement at this age. I'm more worried about my baby chicks. The adults will do great with a wading pool and fan. Mine love to wade in the waterers! I get concerned that the baby chicks won't be able to regulate their temps like the adults can, but surprisingly, I have only lost one of the 37 chicks so far. (Looks like it drowned itself in the waterer.)

Oh thank goodness they can mange those kinds of temps. That's such a relief to know, I really hate the thought of putting them in the basement but certainly will, if I have to. I had no idea you guys had to put up with humidity also. That's a real bummer!

I had some in town friends call up and say they wanted to come purchase a couple hens for friends of theirs who live in town and want them for pets and eggs. I decided to sell them two of the Alohas after learning they wanted birds that were closer to bantam than large fowl size. I sold them two of the really small, gamey looking hens knowing I'll know where they are, if I need them later. It was really hard to part with them. I love them all! I guess I'm going to have to get more used to reducing the numbers but sheesh!

I'm really sorry you lost a chick, I hate when that happens! Still, at least it was more likely clumsiness than caused by the heat directly.