The Mix and Matches Breeding Project Thread

[yellowherb]

I've had one more mix and one more pure hatch. The mix has 5 toes on one foot, slight crest like the grey and over all shaped like the grey but it's more similar to the Mille coloration. It's beige and brown.

My Milles (hopefully) have found a new home and will be picked up tonight. So my mixes will only be occurring for the next month, that's eggs in the incubator and possibly already fertilized sultan hens. That should give me plenty to work with, especially by adding the buff partridge type silkies, partridge cochin, and a few silkie mixes out of my neighbors colorful mutts (if these are female chicks) and my pullets chicks of various breeds(brown leghorn, light brahmas, black sexlink, barred rock). Yeah, I can see me having a problem keeping my color pullets down to 5 haha. Poor hubby, he just can't win. 24ish Mille's out the door and I'm already making plans for a months worth of chicks from 6 hen/pullets.

 

[draye]

Keep them coming!

My project isn't really complicated. I'm trying to create Mottled and Calico Nsked Necks. There are a few ( very few ) around. Trying to get my whole flock there.

Currently working with a Red Mottled ( minimal mottles) NN rooster and a Mottled Partridge NN hen. I have a cockerel and three pullets from my first hatch in September from them. The offspring also have minimal mottling. More eggs in the incubator now for a Easter hatch.

I got some hatching eggs from the person that started the Aloha Chicken project ( see thread here in BYC) and hatched some chicks from them. After a opossum attack over several weeks lost all but a rooster that is Spangled and a solid red hen. I had the rooster with some red and barred NN hens and hatched a few chicks to test to see what is get ( sold all those), and got mostly mottled chicks from them ( it appears that my hens are mottled carriers). I have more if these I. The incubator also.

The rest of my flock consists a various colored NN's and a couple if NN/ Easter Egger cross hens some of the other hens carry EE blood with one of those hens that lays a green egg.

This project looks like it is slowly coming together.

A few pictures:

Spangled Aloha rooster.

Mottled Partridge hen.

Red Mottled NN rooster.

 

[yellowherb]

Beautiful.
I love mottled, spotted, speckled and patterned chickens..lol

 

[yellowherb]

I thought about working with naked necks eventually with a few of my sultans, I love, love love show girl silkies and think it would be interesting to see it also on a sultan type..but one project at a time. Its a fine line to walk keeping hubby happy with my numbers and me with compulsive collection tendencies on any project or hobby I take up.

 

[Wappoke]

Wish I could figure out how to add that to my sultan project. My only sex link chick is a black right now. She wasn't high on my priority list as a pullet for this project but since I ordered an assortment.. she came in that. If black was my intention I would have started with a crevecour to sultan.

Here are the 3 mixed chicks so far. (white with blotch is mille hen x sultan roo, dark is mille roo x sultan hen and white is pure) I'm amazed the dark one already looks so much like a sultan chick does, while the blotched side chick looks nothing like a sultan.

your sultan roo is carrying dominant white along with the recessive white. He is also split or heterozygous for the sultan traits not expressed in the chick. Does the chick have feathered shanks and feet?

 

[yellowherb]

The normal type chick has 5 toes but no feathered feet or legs. It is starting to get a feather poof, but I expect it to not be as great as the other chicks.

I've sense rehomed the rooster and got 2 new sultan roosters. My old guy had a missing toenail and the new guys have all of their toenails and imho a better shaped crest.

 

[Curnow]

Our broody Cuckoo Marans hen hatched some cross bred chicks 3 weeks ago. Unfortunately I didn't separate the roosters for specific hens....we just gathered eggs and winged it!

One cross that we are sure of is Appenzeller Spitzhauben rooster over Light Brahma hen. I was pretty sure in the beginning that's what that particular chick was, but now it's getting a crest! Yay! It has beautiful blue, lightly feathered legs, and spangled type pattern coming in nicely!

One of the chicks is considerably smaller than the rest and very slow feathering. I thought at first I might be from our bantam (mid size) Easter Egger. Even though we watched the chick hatching from that green egg, and was sure in the first days who mama was. After reading this, I'm wondering if it is a cross from my Sultan Rooster! This chick is all black! The hens would have been Red Sex Link, Cuckoo Marans, or Easter Egger. It's legs are dark over pink??? I don't see five toes though, and no head bump. Small white dot on head. Time will tell...I hope!

I have a varied mix of straight and pea type combs on the bunch. A couple are clearly starting to look like roosters if you judge by comb size. I don't always trust that though, we used to have a huge red hen (unknown) that had an enormous comb and pretty good size wattles...she was a prolific layer! But she looked very rooster like in the face...LOL

I am surprised with the difference in early barring pattern vs. spangling. Roosters with this flock are Cuckoo Marans (Big Rooster), Spitzhauben (Molly), and Sultan (Nester).

Do Sultans feather out slower? That one chick is still a ball of fluff except it's finally getting wing tip feathers!

When these mature more, I plan to do a bit more selective breeding. Winging it was a fun surprise though!

 

[yellowherb]

It's possible, I understand that the sultan white is recessive and 1st generation crosses should show as black. But some of mine colored and I only have 1 black.

Sultans do feather slower and grow slow in general compared to other breeds.

 

[Patriciaallison]

I bought a few dyed chicks for Easter and ended up with what I think is 3 Americans hens, 1 Cornish too, and an Idk bird. On that same trip I purchased a BC Murans hen as well. I asked for five and got 6 by mistake and did not notice until I got home. My question is is my Murans hen and Americana hens breed with the Cornish Roo will I end up with chickens that are to chest heavy and can't stand? I heard cornishcrosses are not good backyard breeds due to chest size and a standing issue. Is it just some mix breeds or am I way off? Any info would help.
Thanks
P

 

[yellowherb]

I don't know a whole lot about Cornish x's, but I do know they don't often live long enough to breed. My neighbor had a roo and hen several years ago and that roo grew so big so quickly he waddled around the yard. It's doubtful that a rooster could breed naturally unless his diet is strictly controlled. I'd be a bit afraid he's squash the hens too.