The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[h2oratt]

Someone else sent me here.

http://www.brinkhavenacres.com/store/p15/Heritage_Barred_Plymouth_Rock_Hatching_Eggs.html

They look nice

 

[speckledhen]

Someone else sent me here.

http://www.brinkhavenacres.com/store/p15/Heritage_Barred_Plymouth_Rock_Hatching_Eggs.html

They look nice

The males could use a better yellow leg color, but overall, very nice.

 

[h2oratt]

She has an auction going on rarebreed auctions. It seems pretty cold to be shipping chicks.

I would rather wait til feb

 

[h2oratt]

Oh it's not that place, just someone who got their birds from them.

 

[speckledhen]

She has an auction going on rarebreed auctions. It seems pretty cold to be shipping chicks.

I would rather wait til feb

Shipping eggs wouldn't be much of a problem, but chicks are a different matter unless you ship locally in a warm locale.

 

[1muttsfan]

Up here eggs can freeze this time of year during shipping.

One of the problems with selecting birds for barring quality alone is that sometimes other things can slip - type (absolutely crucial), leg color, comb, etc. Having it all in one package is the goal, but a very difficult one.

 

[h2oratt]

Yep just like breeding dogs.

 

[speckledhen]

Up here eggs can freeze this time of year during shipping.

One of the problems with selecting birds for barring quality alone is that sometimes other things can slip - type (absolutely crucial), leg color, comb, etc. Having it all in one package is the goal, but a very difficult one.

100% agreed. Type is paramount, of course. You can have very nice type plus stunningly crisp barring in one bird, of course. But because there are two parents involved in the creation of every chick, even if one lacks in one trait, you can hopefully make up for it in the other parent. For instance, the Stukels are known to have far better tails on the males than the Good Shepherd line. Both have excellent barring, though I overall prefer the Stukel line's. They tend to take longer to bulk up, though, than the GS males.

In many of the lines with gorgeous barring, I see less than satisfactory leg color. It should not depend on what they eat, IMO, because leg color is a breed trait. Because Atlas was created using my Delaware male to get his own sire, Rex #2, I believe the leg color was improved from my original Stukels, though they had better than most, IMO. My Delaware males were known for their bright yellow legs. So, my BR line has nice leg color on the males. And as there is more and more concentration of Stukel blood, I've seen the barring improve from single factor barred Rex, to properly barred, though more chevron shaped than it should be, on Atlas, to really nice barring on Apollo. I'd say Apollo and Hector have comparable barring. But, of course, Apollo has that beautiful, full Stukel tail that is very close to the original Stukel cockerel, Rex #1. It's a long process to get back to that going the round-about way I had to do it, and thankfully, Mary made sure I got some new blood in those pretty barred girls that hatched with Hector so I could not have all my birds so closely related. Apollo may produce some super fine progeny. And, if I get Hector over the Stukel descended girls, he could as well.

Even if you get chicks from a breeder of fine quality BRs, some of those may not be up to par. Even two perfect parents, per standard, don't always produce perfection. But that perfect barring, the gravy boat chest, the nice head with a 5 pointer comb and that flowing tail on the rooster makes for some real eye candy!

 

[h2oratt]

Thanks for your advice.

 

[getaclue]

Go to some of the APA Poultry shows in your area, and find a breeder.