The Mix and Matches Breeding Project Thread

[yellowherb]

Update on my 3 little mixes. The white one with the spot lost his spot. He's now a solid white and shaped a lot like a Mille Fleur with gorgeous feathered legs and huge feathered feet. He has the sultan comb and a little bit of a poof starting.
The dark grey is still dark grey. I think it's possibly a female. She has a nice little head poof going on although no where near as poofy as a sultan chick of the same age.
The last chick I had born that was Mille x Sultan was a brown type color. It's maturing into a beautiful/ugly chicken. Not real sure of the sex but I'm leaning towards another rooster chick. It's a nasty brown color with black blotches, black head poof and beard. It's the ugliest thing I've ever seen. I'm waiting for it to blossom one day into the beautiful "swan".

I really love these little guys. They stay busy always and wander around out in the yard in a flock together. They all share a similar body shape and they all seem to have the dropped wing stance of Mille's. Their feet and legs are beautiful. I really hope UGLY turns into a female, but...It's easier to sex the white one since it has a red comb where the other two have dark straight combs..ugh? Not sure how that could happen since both Sultans and Mille are red combs.

 

[tlee1956]

Got a few questions about color possibilities. I've got a red frizzle bantam roo and I'm thinking about breeding him to a couple of my other bantams. I've got a partridge silkie and a mille fleur cochin. What colors might I expect from these pairings? I also have a light blue cochin bantam and I wonder what might be the color results of breeding him to either of the hens mentioned or to my white frizzle. Thanks for any help.

 

[yellowherb]

It's been a while since anyone posted but I guess with waiting for 1st gens to mature and lay eggs...

Well my two first gens have matured and I have my first chicks from them.
Rooster is white and black lightly splashed from Mille x sultan
Hen is brown and grey from sultan x Mille
Pure hens are sultans. and I have one pure young rooster who gets what he can.
My goal is for colored, better egg laying, more vigor/healthy sultans.

I'm up to 10 chicks at the moment with 4 being from the 1st gens and others are most likely from the 1st gen rooster over pure hens. The chicks are gorgeous and I even have one colored chick from a pure hen! Out of 10 chicks 6 are showing some color, black/yellow mottled or silver mottled being most dominate right now. Looked like I do have one splash since there is a pure yellow chick with a black spot.


1st gen hen and rooster that I kept. Ugly lays very well, every day. She hasn't shown any broody behavior yet but I do collect her egg daily (she has a plastic Easter egg in her nest to keep her there)


The black chick is from the hen above. The silver is from a pure sultan hen. Ugly(the bearded lady above) lays a off white creamy colored egg so it's easy to tell apart. Chick in the foreground has a black spot. Most chicks have 5 toes, Ugly only has 4 toes so I will get 50% of her offspring with 4 toes and have to pass on keeping those


3 days old with parents being first gens. Big poofy feet and ear muffs. Not as much skull vault as I want, but I think it will grow a nice head poof of feathers.
The pure rooster does toss his genes into the pool just to keep things interesting.

 

[yellowherb]

I have pictures.
My first gen crosses were mostly hawk bait I do have one nice hen chick left.

She will probably look like her mother, but I'm ok with that since her mom is throwing nice chicks with a pure sultan rooster. This black chick has 5 toes. yah! So even if it's not a girl as I suspect, I will still be able to use it. This chick is out of Milton x Ugly, both only half sultan and half D'uccle, just in reverse of each other.

Some recent Ugly chicks with a pure sultan rooster.

I think this one is a barred rooster chick. Got all he needs to be a sultan other than a large skull vault. He is out of a pure rooster with Ugly.



Only just figured out this little guy is colored. I have no idea what kind of pattern I'm seeing but it's a good looking chick with 5 toes and a skull vault. It's a keeper. This one was born "dirty" colored, but Ugly does throw splashes so I just figured it was a splash. But it's something different. Pretty sure Ugly is the mother and pure rooster is the father.


Broody "Ugly" with chicks. Only one she hatched came out colored and it's a pale silver, probably splash. Some of these with her are from the pure sultan hens and some are her white chicks. 1 out of 15 of hers are colored, rest are white or lightly splashed. Now it's just a waiting game. Waiting for the few colored chicks I have to grow up so I can cross those together and with pure sultans. Ugly does go broody!! Really hoping to keep that trait.

The black mottled is the chick from a earlier picture. Other's are Ugly x Milton roosters and are now rehomed. I did not keep any except the hen chick from the first picture in this post. I wanted to keep the mottled but since he was born with only 4 toes I decided not to keep him for my project.

 

[draye]

I have pictures. My first gen crosses were mostly hawk bait I do have one nice hen chick left. She will probably look like her mother, but I'm ok with that since her mom is throwing nice chicks with a pure sultan rooster. This black chick has 5 toes. yah! So even if it's not a girl as I suspect, I will still be able to use it. This chick is out of Milton x Ugly, both only half sultan and half D'uccle, just in reverse of each other. Some recent Ugly chicks with a pure sultan rooster. I think this one is a barred rooster chick. Got all he needs to be a sultan other than a large skull vault. He is out of a pure rooster with Ugly. Only just figured out this little guy is colored. I have no idea what kind of pattern I'm seeing but it's a good looking chick with 5 toes and a skull vault. It's a keeper. This one was born "dirty" colored, but Ugly does throw splashes so I just figured it was a splash. But it's something different. Pretty sure Ugly is the mother and pure rooster is the father. Broody "Ugly" with chicks. Only one she hatched came out colored and it's a pale silver, probably splash. Some of these with her are from the pure sultan hens and some are her white chicks. 1 out of 15 of hers are colored, rest are white or lightly splashed. Now it's just a waiting game. Waiting for the few colored chicks I have to grow up so I can cross those together and with pure sultans. Ugly does go broody!! Really hoping to keep that trait. The black mottled is the chick from a earlier picture. Other's are Ugly x Milton roosters and are now rehomed. I did not keep any except the hen chick from the first picture in this post. I wanted to keep the mottled but since he was born with only 4 toes I decided not to keep him for my project.

Nice birds.

 

[Tuhmu]

I actually like your broody "Ugly", I've always liked that blue wheaten look.

 

[Jayzandra]

I know I'm a tad bit late, but I have a project I've been wanting to work on for a while now. Like Draye, I'm working with Sultans. I just love the breed, but they're fragile. And my other favorite breed is the humble EE.

My goal is a Sultan type chicken that is larger, hardier, and frequently lays blue eggs.

What I have in the coop right now is a young Lavendar Ameraucana cockerel, a Sultan rooster with several EEs, 2 Sultan hens and a Buff Laced Polish hen. I also have a variety of other hens that I won't be using for this project.

I currently have 2 dozen blue/green eggs in the incubator due to hatch March 5th. I'm excited to see what I get!

I also ordered 3 black Ameraucans and 3 lavender Ameraucans from Cackle Hatchery due to arrive April 7th. We are in the process of building a few more breeding pens because we are also going to be breeding pure ameraucanas and sultans, but I will also be using them in the mix.

In my project breeding pen (once built) I'll have the sultan rooster and hens, the polish hen, and the EEs. I do plan on using one or two of the Ameraucanas in the future when they're old enough, but for now, the EEs will do. I will only hatch the white and the blue eggs and eat the green ones. I threw the polish hen in there to try and keep the larger crest.

I've looked for another breed of feather legged chicken that lays a white egg, but I could find any. Does anyone know of any?

We do have some Brahmas and some Cochins, but I really would like try and avoid introducing the brown egg gene if at all possible.

I'll try to get some pics tomorrow since it's already dark outside.

 

[yellowherb]

I know I'm a tad bit late, but I have a project I've been wanting to work on for a while now. Like Draye, I'm working with Sultans. I just love the breed, but they're fragile. And my other favorite breed is the humble EE.

My goal is a Sultan type chicken that is larger, hardier, and frequently lays blue eggs.

What I have in the coop right now is a young Lavendar Ameraucana cockerel, a Sultan rooster with several EEs, 2 Sultan hens and a Buff Laced Polish hen. I also have a variety of other hens that I won't be using for this project.

I currently have 2 dozen blue/green eggs in the incubator due to hatch March 5th. I'm excited to see what I get!

I also ordered 3 black Ameraucans and 3 lavender Ameraucans from Cackle Hatchery due to arrive April 7th. We are in the process of building a few more breeding pens because we are also going to be breeding pure ameraucanas and sultans, but I will also be using them in the mix.

In my project breeding pen (once built) I'll have the sultan rooster and hens, the polish hen, and the EEs. I do plan on using one or two of the Ameraucanas in the future when they're old enough, but for now, the EEs will do. I will only hatch the white and the blue eggs and eat the green ones. I threw the polish hen in there to try and keep the larger crest.

I've looked for another breed of feather legged chicken that lays a white egg, but I could find any. Does anyone know of any?

We do have some Brahmas and some Cochins, but I really would like try and avoid introducing the brown egg gene if at all possible.

I'll try to get some pics tomorrow since it's already dark outside.

It's me who's breeding sultans
If you have been to the sultan thread, someone there has crossed a sultan with a EE, it's very cute.

I'm getting eggs again from Ugly, they are a very pale cream color and unless you hold it against a white egg it's hard to tell it's not white. Could be that I just have that poor of eyesight though haha. She's d'uccle mix so throws out a pale creamy brown egg, but it's not as brown as a pure d'uccle.

I've ordered some standard cochins, some I will use with sultans. The egg colors do not really bother me and I'll get them back to white one day.
In my grow out, hoping to keep THESE away from hawks, I have 2 chicks from a buff brahma mixed hen with sultan rooster. They are really varied in size with the rooster chick being large and I believe a lavender color (if he's not lav he's a very pale blue) and the pullet chick is tiny and dark, almost black but I think she's blue. Meanwhile in the yard I have some pullets from Ugly who will probably be laying in another month. They are no where near a standard sultan size and I will eventually sell them on I think, especially since my husband just found out I ordered standard cochins. Seems his selective hearing blocked that out in January when I told him.

I think feather legs only are brown egg layers, I haven't found one yet who lays white eggs.
I would actually be happy to have my mixed sultans with colored eggs just so I know the difference. My incubator is sort of small holding 40 big eggs or up to 60 smaller, so for me to know which ones I need to set for my mixed project or for pures would be nice. I'm going to "try" to keep some of Ugly's pullet chicks to see if they will go broody like their mom. She's been a awesome broody and out of her 8 chicks at least 5 are alive and flourishing, the other 3 I think went to the coop with other chicks their size.

A hawk flew thru and Ugly was up in the air flying behind the hawk with HER talons out. He did not get any of her babies. She started taking her kids over the fence to forage in my neighbors garden, thought hubby was going to make me get rid of her right then. She's quit now that she's back to laying. I'm so happy with her though I wish I had 4 more just like her. The black chick above in my post turned out to be a pullet. She's 5 toed and is looking as good as her mom. She's on my keepers list until hubby starts having calves about how many chickens I have.


The 4 youngsters are Ugly's kids, or ones she hatched out. I think 2 or 3 of them actually are hers though. The little roo in the foreground is for sure. There's a little pullet chick in there that has feathers on all 5 toes and I'm dying to see what she grows up to look like, her feet anyway!

I changed out my rooster to the one pictured above. He has a better vault and crest. This is what he's throwing (the smaller one is ugly's)


That's a beautiful poof on this little girl.

 

[Jayzandra]

Oh, hahaha, I don't know why it's so hard for me to keep up with who's doing what.

I will use the Cochin if I have to, because I want to keep the profuse leg feathering, I'll just have to try to breed out the brown while keeping the qualities I want.
I have heard that it's best to start with two breeds to work on one trait, then once you get that, throw in the next breed for the next trait. My thoughts were to breed the sultan to the EEs, then use the polish or Cochin for the feathering if I need to. The color of the bird isn't as important to me as the the rest of the stuff, but I'm sure I'll end up with lots of blacks since it's such a dominant color. MY Cochins are black, splash and blue. And the Ameraucanas I ordered are black and Lavender.
The breeds I'm going to be breeding pure are the Cochins, Ameraucana, Sultans and welsummers. So I'll always have the first three to work with.

I'm very excited to get my first results!!

 

[BantyChooks]

I have an EE x Sultan project I've been working on a bit. So far I have two birds from the cross, and am pretty happy with them as a start. Too lazy to copy pics and details over, so I'll just give the link to the thread I have up.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1140483/my-ee-x-sultan-project/0_20

I am thinking to cross Sunshine over with a better layer/hardier breed to get better health and good feathers. Might not get blue eggs from that cross, but I'll be happy if I can just get a BA or WR with a bit more "foof." Still would keep a straight EE/sultan line, but I would like to compare health of the two lines before narrowing in on the traits I want to cement. Pretty birds ain't no use if they're always sick.