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

[1muttsfan]

That is fascinating in a very unfortunate way.

 

[speckledhen]

That is fascinating in a very unfortunate way.

Yeah, tell me about it.

What do I do with a dwarf cockerel? He's healthy, friendly, fast, first to get bugs, etc. But, none of those original dwarfs lived long enough to know if they were even fertile. They were a very, very small percentage of the total Delawares hatched, maybe 10% or less. I think a friend of mine got a pure Delaware dwarf years ago, the small short legged type, not the debilitating form of it, and he lived much longer than the other kind does. I'll have to ask her about it. I think I had a photo of him somewhere standing on the porch with her others. Let me check.

I do know that dwarfism can appear spontaneously in a line where it was never previously known to exist. My original hatchery BRs once produced a dwarf, only one ever, never happened again. The person who got him named him Midge and he lived a few years.

This is from a post by kathyinmo (hope you dont mind, Kathy, I pulled it from one of your posts). This is the debilitating type, which also causes feather deformities as well as the other issues. The dwarf is the same age as the one on the left side. It had super crooked toes on both feet. My little black one doesn't have that at all. These are often mistaken for pullets for awhile because they are slow to mature, but my little one has a very red face at less than 5 weeks old so he gave up his secret early.



And the other one that is a different type of dwarfism-my friend sent me the photo a couple of years ago, I think, same age as the other one pictured. Note the normal toes:



ETA: It was a pullet, her body outgrew her legs. She laid a couple of eggs and died about 9 months of age, she thinks.

 

[crazyhen]

Oh! No !I esp. wanted the male for breeding with my Delewares from Kathy. Thats not a good gene to have. Humm this is not a good day for decisions due to the loss of the jubilee chicks.
The one i ordered the eggs from called and said he and two others also had a problem. I think the flock was a bit young and also they were getting reg feed, not a high protein one. We talked a long while. I believe he is coming my way later this yr. and will bring me some chicks. I sure hope so. He and his wife sound really nice. i may still get me a rooster.
How long do these males that have the dwarfing genes live? Poor things. I hate to say no to him. But what would I do with a dwarf. I only have so much space. Sigh some decisions are very hard.

 

[speckledhen]

Oh! No !I esp. wanted the male for breeding with my Delewares from Kathy. Thats not a good gene to have. Humm this is not a good day for decisions due to the loss of the jubilee chicks.
The one i ordered the eggs from called and said he and two others also had a problem. I think the flock was a bit young and also they were getting reg feed, not a high protein one. We talked a long while. I believe he is coming my way later this yr. and will bring me some chicks. I sure hope so. He and his wife sound really nice. i may still get me a rooster.
How long do these males that have the dwarfing genes live? Poor things. I hate to say no to him. But what would I do with a dwarf. I only have so much space. Sigh some decisions are very hard.

Gloria Jean, I'm not saying the Dellie colored male is an actual dwarf, but it's my considered opinion that he carries the gene due to the head shape and his slightly short stature. It's too similar to his black brother that I just discovered is most definitely a dwarf. Some carry the gene and some actually express the trait if they get two genes. If you just wanted a sweet pet rooster, that'd be fine, but you want a breeding rooster. This would introduce something you really do not need to introduce into your line.

The longest living one I've heard of was from this line the pullet I pictured above and she lived to only about 9 months old. The form of dwarfism that I used to see many years ago was so bad, they died much earlier than that. This is a second form of it, not the worst type, but I have no idea how long either of these males would live or even if they are fertile. They may be like mules, sterile, hard to say. We had all thought Isaac didn't carry a dwarf gene, I suppose by putting too much weight on a comment the vet doing the study made after seeing a photo of big Ike. I think it was something like, "That boy doesn't have any dwarf gene, no way", or something to that effect. But it was just an aside comment on Isaac's stature, I guess, no testing was done because at the time, LH lived in Oregon, nowhere near me.

The spontaneous dwarf out of my original Rocks lived several years. He was just super small. Some BYC member in Utah had him, named him Midge. But, still, no idea if he was ever fertile. I'm not sure why anyone would want to breed one other than some weird scientific experiment.

I still have the BR cockerel and the two pullets, though, if you want to go that way. I know space is limited, so is mine. I'm not sure where the heck to put these two males. I really hated to be the bearer of bad news on the tail of your bad hatch. I'm so sorry.

 

[speckledhen]

Gloria Jean, was taking a few pictures of the BR cockerel for you, in case you are still considering him. Also, I got a couple of the dwarf cutie. He's just so precious. I hate to think of him dying before he's a year old, but he might could live with the older hens as long as he doesn't really try to breed Amanda. The others could handle him fine. Problem is I already had in mind to put my bantam Cochin, Xander, in with them when his two older ladies passed on and I'm not sure how he'd deal with this one.

 

[crazyhen]

I really wanted the delawere feathers. I have three Del hens from Kathy and I thought I would use them together and be closser to the true delawers. Sigh! I still have not gotten over the loss of my Jubilee chick eggs. I do have a promise of some of the Jubs. from the seller. I had only one hatch and it looks like it was scalped and the brain maybe exposed.
I am getting softer hearted everyday and can not kill it. It does not appear to be in pain but is weaker today. Me ; I use to go out kill a chicken and dress it giving it to my family that night and was thankful for it too. I'm getting to soft hearted. Life is more precious no matter who or whats. I have even let snakes go or spiders thinking they have a reason to live too. Unless the snake is poison or after my hens esp. Life is a precious gift to treasure.

 

[speckledhen]

I really wanted the delawere feathers. I have three Del hens from Kathy and I thought I would use them together and be closser to the true delawers. Sigh! I still have not gotten over the loss of my Jubilee chick eggs. I do have a promise of some of the Jubs. from the seller. I had only one hatch and it looks like it was scalped and the brain maybe exposed.
I am getting softer hearted everyday and can not kill it. It does not appear to be in pain but is weaker today. Me ; I use to go out kill a chicken and dress it giving it to my family that night and was thankful for it too. I'm getting to soft hearted. Life is more precious no matter who or whats. I have even let snakes go or spiders thinking they have a reason to live too. Unless the snake is poison or after my hens esp. Life is a precious gift to treasure.

I don't think there's anything wrong with being soft hearted, GJ. Sometimes, though, it can really make it harder for me personally to make the decision to do what needs to be done with a bird. But, I think no one should apologize for not being able to kill a baby who made it all the way through to hatch and it just got a raw deal and won't be able to have a life. I've been there, euthanizing a beautiful blue Orp chick who was completely blind. Made me so, so sad.

I was holding all these chicks until you decided for sure what you wanted out of them. If you don't want the Delaware cockerel, Gloria Jean, may I go ahead an find another home for him when his mama is finished being mama? I do need two pullets to go with him so he's easier to rehome. I know I have two, but the third one is still making me guess. Not sure if it's a single barred male or a pullet yet, not for 100% sure anyway.

 

[1muttsfan]

 

[crazyhen]

Please find them good homes. Maybe someday I will order some Br. from you again. Right now I am not ready.

 

[speckledhen]

Please find them good homes. Maybe someday I will order some Br. from you again. Right now I am not ready.

I'm so sorry about the Jubilees and the dwarf stuff, GJ. This threw me for a loop. Just not our week, is it?