- Feb 2, 2012
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Hi, The last set of pictures are of lemon cuckoo not red cuckoo, there is a very fine line when some of the lemons are dark and the reds are light in colour, all the darker richly coloured cockerels are single factor lemon cuckoo of the desired colour for showing purposes, the lighter double factor cockerels are the ones used in the breeding pens and the lighter and more washed out they are in colour the better marked hens they produce, the temptation is always to use the well marked cockerels for breeding but unless the are used with well marked hens its doubtful they will produce anything worthwhile,
the red cuckoo hen pictured which is way too light in colour will this season be mated to the lemon cockerel also pictured, this mating should produce offspring of excellent type with well marked pullets of a richer lemon shade,
it has got to the stage now where the intermediate birds could be classed as buff cuckoo, neither lemon or red, my end goal has always been to produce very lemon coloured birds and very dark rich red coloured birds all with clear cuckoo markings, both these tasks are a lot harder to achieve than the mid range buffs
Bob

the red cuckoo hen pictured which is way too light in colour will this season be mated to the lemon cockerel also pictured, this mating should produce offspring of excellent type with well marked pullets of a richer lemon shade,
it has got to the stage now where the intermediate birds could be classed as buff cuckoo, neither lemon or red, my end goal has always been to produce very lemon coloured birds and very dark rich red coloured birds all with clear cuckoo markings, both these tasks are a lot harder to achieve than the mid range buffs
Bob