The Aloha Chicken Project

[runsw/scissors]

Just checking in real quick here, my neighbor started complaining about the racket the roos were making (they were 13 of them!) so I culled 7 of them and hopefully that will be enough.

I have kept the best 4 Aloha roos and have sequestered them with the ladies. In another week or so I'll be able to save their eggs see what hatches. I can't believe all but two of the girls are laying. In the space of perhaps a week they all started laying! The eggs are funny coloured too. Mostly they are a pale brown, although two lay an egg so light in colour they look pink.

I have the 2 spare roos with the off breed ladies (buff rocks and the larger mixed breed girls) just to see what they will produce that will go into the 'bator as well.

It has been really hot here and I am very impressed with how well these guys tolerate the heat! They haven't missed a day with the egg production and have remained pleasant and easy going as well!

 

[alohachickens]

Just checking in real quick here, my neighbor started complaining about the racket the roos were making (they were 13 of them!) so I culled 7 of them and hopefully that will be enough.

Well, that was nice of the neighbor to tolerate it for that long, LOL!

OMG!!! Hatching Time! I'm so egg-cited!

Sorry about the horrible pun . . . . you can tell it's been a long time since I've run the 'bator. Please keep us updated when you get the eggs in there and it's running. That is so awesome!

Most of mine lay pale pink or cream eggs, with the occasional very light brown.

 

[runsw/scissors]

I thought it was super kind of them too. The other neighbor, who just bought the house next door, offered me some of their eggs the other day.

I was hoping she would consider taking any culls off of my hands, that was a fail for both of us!

 

[alohachickens]

I just ordered some eggs on Ebay that are large fowl carrying the Dun gene. So we may have "Cocoa Alohas" in about a year! Will keep everyone posted to see if it works . . . first have to get the shipped eggs to hatch, see if I can get through the first step, ha ha.

 

[hunter109]

nice birds hope you get to what you want would love to start breeding like that

 

[Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex]

I figured I should check in!
Sadly the birds I am most excited about are camera shy... but here's a few pics. Check out the handsome boy in the back there! His name is Sokka, and he's a half Sussex/half aloha. He has a vivid dark orange base color with TONS of black and white spots ALL over his body. And he's just now starting to cluck instead of peeping and he is already the size of my Aloha roo. I love him and I am so excited to have him in the flock. I hope to get better pics soon, but he is WAY spottier than my Sussex, and much lighter too. Nice single comb, it looks like his tail will be long...he does have pink legs. He's in the lanky faze so I can't tell about his body type yet, but he is stunning. Too bad I don't have any of his sisters coming along so nicely

Digit, the little sneak, went off and hatched out some peeps in a secret nest. Of 12, 9 remain at 2 weeks old and they are the SMARTEST chicks I have ever seen. They range in color from pinkish to brown, but all have spots so far. Some look sussex-ish, and the rest look just like Digit as a chick. One thing I can be sure of is that ALL of them are hers. I will keep you updated as they grow up. Crossing my fingers for lots of pullets that are bigger than their mother!

And finally I got a pic of my camera shy Sussex rooster. Twisty is the friendliest roo I have, but somehow he dodges photos like no one else! I know this isn't the best pic, but you can see he has a nice lightish red and quite a bit of white. For a Sussex, that is. Almost ever feather has a white tip, though its hard tell at this distance, I know.

So that's what's going on over here.

 

[alohachickens]

Nice, but I still wish we could find a Sussex rooster like this one:

http://www.pumasprings.com/global/Image/gallery/Speckled_Sussex_Rooster_1.jpg

I emailed the lady who owned this one - the web site was for a winery in Sonoma area. She was really nice and told me he was from Murray McMurray hatchery!

Shot right over to their web site . . . and no Speckled Sussex available in the near future. DARN! Looks like both Murray McMurray and Ideal chicks will have to wait until spring.

But, hey, at least we know where he came from! That's still a great help.

 

[alohachickens]

I figured I should check in!
Sadly the birds I am most excited about are camera shy... but here's a few pics. Check out the handsome boy in the back there! His name is Sokka, and he's a half Sussex/half aloha. He has a vivid dark orange base color with TONS of black and white spots ALL over his body. And he's just now starting to cluck instead of peeping and he is already the size of my Aloha roo. I love him and I am so excited to have him in the flock. I hope to get better pics soon, but he is WAY spottier than my Sussex, and much lighter too. Nice single comb, it looks like his tail will be long...he does have pink legs. He's in the lanky faze so I can't tell about his body type yet, but he is stunning. Too bad I don't have any of his sisters coming along so nicely

Digit, the little sneak, went off and hatched out some peeps in a secret nest. Of 12, 9 remain at 2 weeks old and they are the SMARTEST chicks I have ever seen. They range in color from pinkish to brown, but all have spots so far. Some look sussex-ish, and the rest look just like Digit as a chick. One thing I can be sure of is that ALL of them are hers. I will keep you updated as they grow up. Crossing my fingers for lots of pullets that are bigger than their mother!

And finally I got a pic of my camera shy Sussex rooster. Twisty is the friendliest roo I have, but somehow he dodges photos like no one else! I know this isn't the best pic, but you can see he has a nice lightish red and quite a bit of white. For a Sussex, that is. Almost ever feather has a white tip, though its hard tell at this distance, I know.

So that's what's going on over here.

Thank you for the update! It is hard to tell from the photo but from what I can see it does look like Sokka is coming along very nicely. The fact that you are seeing ANY color variance in a half-Sussex is actually really encouraging. Most half Speckled Sussex chicks that I've hatched ended up looking like purebreds in color. And if he has more spots than an average Sussex, that's also encouraging for out-crossing - like crossing him over even pure hens like New Hampshire Reds to introduce the Mottled gene.

OMG the photo of Digit and her babies is just adorable!!! Digit is so totally "old school" Aloha, and let me tell you, those little hens are CRAFTY. Tamra, did you see the latest Blog post with the "wild" chickens of Hawaii? The old blood Aloha hens are so smart, just like those hens living feral. The fact that they are nearly IDENTICAL in physical type is amazing.

http://alohachickens.blogspot.com/

It kind of makes sense, though, I believe the Mottling in my Alohas came from "mutt" Game type stock that was mixed with other more domestic breeds. Over in Kauai, the same thing happened accidentally, when a hurricane ripped the tops off of chicken coops all over the Island in 1992. The games plus layers all mixed together and this is what you get from 20 years of natural selection. Small, clever hens that are excellent fliers, excellent mothers. Many of them are mottled and when you see that photo I posted of that one mottled hen in the brown leaves, you can see how the mottling breaks up her outline and actually works as wonderful camo against the dappled forest floor.

On other news, I've been doing some research and have more "clues" on how to lighten the base Mahogany of the Speckled Sussex to a light buff color. If it works . . . I hope! The eggs that I ordered off of Ebay may have the right genetic "ingredients" for doing this, but I won't know for sure for another year. If it works, next winter, you'll see an Aloha chicken like you've never seen before, ha ha ha!

Anyway, the shipped eggs arrived and while they are intact, the box was HAMMERED. So we'll see if anything hatches.

Thanks so much for the update! I can't wait until the next generation when you and MaBo swap the out-crosses around. Generation Two is always SO much more fun, and it just gets more interesting after that!

 

[runsw/scissors]

Please do count me in as well! I would love to swap roos and hens... I have a dozen eggs in the 'bator and next Friday I'll add another 6 for an even 18.

I'm really hoping that they will hatch... I haven't real good luck with hatching. So far none of my hens have displayed the slightest indication of broodiness. Brats! lol.

 

[alohachickens]

Ha ha . . . 'Scissors, the broodiness is double-edged . . . sometimes I have several little Alohas piled on top of each other trying to fight over who gets to sit on eggs! Meanwhile, NOBODY will be laying!

Well, the Ebay eggs made it into the 'bator. Lost an auction on some German New Hampshire. I usually have horrid hatch rates on shipped eggs - I'm talking two chicks out of 12 eggs if I'm lucky, and I don't want to get just a couple chicks because they would be too lonely. So I grabbed whatever Aloha eggs were in there and tossed 'em in the Bator, too. UGH - this is going to be freaky, I have NO IDEA what is going to come out of these! Ha ha! I have five roos, and several are evenly matched, which means there's lots of sneaky breeding going on here.

Like, for example, I have two sons of Cheeto that have yellow legs and improved body size. Both carry mottling, one was super-flashy as a chick, but had his spots "disappear" as he matured. The other had no spots, but as he matured, I see a white feather-tip on his wing which means he's for sure a carrier. Anyway, I saw him breed another daughter of Cheeto who had spots but those disappeared on her, too. So in theory, a spotted x spotted only makes more spots. But does it count if the spots faded???

What I get out of these eggs could be anyone's guess. It's certainly not ideal, but not sure what else I could do until the pens are set up. LOL.