Just turned 11 weeks old and going strong...
Oh, I'm not even thinking about giving up! I know it's still early, but I see great potential in these birds. I try to envision what they'll transform into this Fall, but only time will tell if I'm right. While I'm seeing some heavy lacing in the hackles some birds, and very little ticking in others, I realize this may change dramatically when they get their adult feathers. I'm soaking every detail in like a sponge, and will pay close attention to the changes to see if I can detect patterns. Still working on breeding details. I know to not mate dark males to dark females, and a mating a male with smut to a female with little black can throw beautiful chicks, etc. I just wish I could have someone with experience on hand when I make my choice of breeders to make sure I make good decisions. If nothing else, I'll have to flood this thread and FB with detailed pics and descriptions of each bird so I can get 2nd, 3rd, 50th opinions...
Oh, I'm not even thinking about giving up! I know it's still early, but I see great potential in these birds. I try to envision what they'll transform into this Fall, but only time will tell if I'm right. While I'm seeing some heavy lacing in the hackles some birds, and very little ticking in others, I realize this may change dramatically when they get their adult feathers. I'm soaking every detail in like a sponge, and will pay close attention to the changes to see if I can detect patterns. Still working on breeding details. I know to not mate dark males to dark females, and a mating a male with smut to a female with little black can throw beautiful chicks, etc. I just wish I could have someone with experience on hand when I make my choice of breeders to make sure I make good decisions. If nothing else, I'll have to flood this thread and FB with detailed pics and descriptions of each bird so I can get 2nd, 3rd, 50th opinions...
No doubt they mature more slowly. Hatchery birds are developed to mature quickly and start laying sooner. Our RIR build skeleton and organs first, then put on the meat. Since they develop slower, they also tend to lay and live longer than hatchery birds. There's no instant gratification in either type of birds, but the wait is a bit longer with purebreds. With good birds, it's worth the wait...
The credit for how my birds look goes to cmom. She bred them. The next generations are on me, and my breeding selections will either make... or break me. I won't give up if it doesn't go perfectly the first time around. I'll simply try again...I think you're pretty knowledgable...at least to a newbie like me. We are all trying to learn something here. I think your birds look very nice and have a lot of potential. Hackle color is something that is very tricky to breed out, so I hope you are planning on culling those with overly marked hackles. And yes, like you said, it very well could change hugely when they molt. My birds(not RIRs) are starting to molt right now and they are 12 weeks. They'll be into their adult feathers soon hopefully. Of course, I wont be getting rid of them until they are really old, since you can't really tell who will be a champ or a cull until at least 6 months. I can't wait to see how yours turn out. I remember when you were posting on this thread with pics of them still in the incubator! Its fun to see how they grow up, and I will be sure to take lots of notes on who you cull and for what reasons.
