The Calico/Aloha/Mottled Naked Neck Thread

[alohachickens]

@alohachickens - This is WONDERFUL - thank you so much for sharing your extensive knowledge on this. VERY helpful. I got 10 New Hampshire Reds along with my Naked Necks from Ideal with the idea to cross them to increase size, but the Naked Necks are noticeably bigger than the NHs all on their own (with the hatchery strain), so I'm not keeping any of the NHs - they're all going to the freezer. (Though I reserve the right to hold on to a pullet or two if they look good and I have room.)

Chicken Math attack - I just got 5 Speckled Sussex chicks from the local feed store (they were there, they were cute, no Post Office drama), with the hope that they can at least be bigger than the NHs and be pretty in the process. I figure I'll keep good looking pullets to have in my Naked Neck flock with my big NN roosters.

(MORE chicks in the brooder! I must be out of my mind!!!!!

)

- Ant Farm

Does anyone have the German strain of NHR's? Those are FANTASTIC. Get some if you can. But, I've been looking for some myself, and I can't seem to find them right now? I've been a bit concerned. Used to see several breeders of German New Hampshires but no active auctions listed on BYC since 2013 and Google isn't coming up with any breeders.

 

[alohachickens]

Look at the incredible quality of the German New Hampshire red line. IF you can find these, they would be amazing outcross for the NN's to improve size:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/754147/12-german-new-hampshire-eggs-buy-it-now

Simply beautiful!

And YES - did tests with NHR's and it's quite easy to add spots to this color.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Look at the incredible quality of the German New Hampshire red line. IF you can find these, they would be amazing outcross for the NN's to improve size:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/754147/12-german-new-hampshire-eggs-buy-it-now

Simply beautiful!

And YES - did tests with NHR's and it's quite easy to add spots to this color.

Wowza! Impressive birds!!! Please let me know if you do find a source for these...

- Ant Farm

 

[Kev]

Finally took pictures.. was moving chicks to a different pen. This is a hatchery turken.. in person the contrast is not that strong, was not sure if she was mottled or something else.. however the camera did an interesting thing and made it more plain she probably is mottled... is she?

not the best pictures, it is hard to hold chicks and try to take pictures at the same time..

 

[draye]

Finally took pictures.. was moving chicks to a different pen. This is a hatchery turken.. in person the contrast is not that strong, was not sure if she was mottled or something else.. however the camera did an interesting thing and made it more plain she probably is mottled... is she? not the best pictures, it is hard to hold chicks and try to take pictures at the same time..

Can't really tell for sure, but it does look like it may be. How old is it? I've have a couple of chicks that had that color about as they grew and putting on their real feathers. They grew up to be what I was calling Salmin Buff, that may not be the proper term for the color but was all I could think of. Regardless if its mottling or not it is a pretty color. It should give you some nice colors.

 

[alohachickens]

Finally took pictures.. was moving chicks to a different pen. This is a hatchery turken.. in person the contrast is not that strong, was not sure if she was mottled or something else.. however the camera did an interesting thing and made it more plain she probably is mottled... is she?

not the best pictures, it is hard to hold chicks and try to take pictures at the same time..

It's possible, but kind of tough to tell.

A couple of hints:

*Mottling will often show up as a couple of clear white "dots" on the end of the tail feathers. I have rarely seen a "solid" chicken with a random stray white dot on the tail tip.

*The head is another place to check. Often there will be tiny dots on the head feathers. Again, I haven't really seen this on chickens who might just have lighter underfluff or light colored patches. Dots will look crisp.

Also, if the chicken has just one copy of the Mottling gene, the clues may be very subtle. I call these "tells".

Here is a hen that I bred. Her dad was a SUPER spotty rooster. Here is the daddy:



Mom was a plain red hatchery New Hampshire hen.

Here is the daughter:


She looks brown, right? That's because Mottling is recessive. Both parents need to have the gene for it to really show.

However, there are often "hints" that the gene is present. I call them "tells". It will usually be a tiny spot, on a tail tip, on a wing tip. A stray random spot on the chest.

Here is the photo of the same "plain brown" hen that I took yesterday:



Look at her wing! You can only see this "tell" when she holds it just right.

Since Turkens can carry the Mottling gene, if you raise a batch of black-tailed buff, or red chickens with black tails like this hen, always take a really close look at them. Look at the tail, spread out the wings, look under the wing and under the belly. If you find a random weird white spot on an otherwise solid chicken, it might mean she's a carrier.


Here is another "solid" hen. Look at the tail and the wing. See the little white tips? But notice she doesn't have any faded patches anywhere else. No light "undercoat" or anything. She looks like a nicely built "mutt hen" of light brown color.

Anyway, if you get a super colorful rooster and breed to hens that are carriers like these ones, statistically half the chicks will be spotted again!

 

[draye]

Finally took pictures.. was moving chicks to a different pen. This is a hatchery turken.. in person the contrast is not that strong, was not sure if she was mottled or something else.. however the camera did an interesting thing and made it more plain she probably is mottled... is she? not the best pictures, it is hard to hold chicks and try to take pictures at the same time..

You said it was a hatchery stick Turken. I'm supposing it us a pullet. One way to tell for sure if its mottling, bred her to airy led something rooster. If she is then the chicks should be mottled. One other option. You could always send her up me. I love unusual colors, and probably think of some project to do with her.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

I was just over on the Texas thread, and someone posted a nice photo of a jubilee orpington.

Has anyone tried these for this project, or for alohas? I was wondering what a cross of these and NN might yield for a mottled/calico/aloha NN. (My speckled sussex chicks are adorable, but I am resigned to them being little and not as suited to the cross if I want to keep the size up.)

- Ant Farm

 

[draye]

I was just over on the Texas thread, and someone posted a nice photo of a jubilee orpington. 

Has anyone tried these for this project, or for alohas? I was wondering what a cross of these and NN might yield for a mottled/calico/aloha NN. (My speckled sussex chicks are adorable, but I am resigned to them being little and not as suited to the cross if I want to keep the size up.)

- Ant Farm

I'm sure they'd work fine for adding mottling and spangles.
I'm not sure the leg coloring on the Jubilee Orpington but most Otphngtons have white legs and that would be something you'd have to deal with unless you don't care about leg color.

Me I'm shooting for yellow legs but on the mottled but I'm getting slate legs. I'll have to check the babies I'm but sure on them.

I do know that she is wanting yellow legs on the Alohas. She's still battling the white legs from the Orpington.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

I'm sure they'd work fine for adding mottling and spangles.
I'm not sure the leg coloring on the Jubilee Orpington but most Otphngtons have white legs and that would be something you'd have to deal with unless you don't care about leg color.

Me I'm shooting for yellow legs but on the mottled but I'm getting slate legs. I'll have to check the babies I'm but sure on them.

I do know that she is wanting yellow legs on the Alohas. She's still battling the white legs from the Orpington.

Help me understand - other than an expected leg color for a given SOP, what is the benefit of yellow legs over legs of another color?

- Ant Farm