The Moonshiner's Leghorns

[U_Stormcrow]

Bro am I the only one whose numbers are the highest they’ve ever been?
All in spite of the feed costs, of course.

You do seem to be all alone in this crowd ATM, yes

 

[Canadian Wind]

Bro am I the only one whose numbers are the highest they’ve ever been?
All in spite of the feed costs, of course.

Well, technically I have ore right now due to all the babies, but most of those are going, as are some of the adults so I'll end up with less.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Damn, back to not getting alerts for my own thread.
That sucks that others have had to also slow down and/or reduce numbers.
Guess Amer is the chosen one that will have to get us all through. We're all counting on you girl, don't let us down.
So what are you breeding and hatching or working on this year?

 

[Amer]

Damn, back to not getting alerts for my own thread.
That sucks that others have had to also slow down and/or reduce numbers.
Guess Amer is the chosen one that will have to get us all through. We're all counting on you girl, don't let us down.
So what are you breeding and hatching or working on this year?

See, last year my family got our cabinet incubator. It would have been a huge year as well if not for the fact that we were moving and the new coop needed to be built.
This year, I have many quail blue/quail d'Anvers and my cuckoo d'Anvers project is finally making headway. I hatched a bunch of F2 Dominique d'Anvers cockerels and kept any with some kind of beard and white legs. As they age, I am scrutinizing their barring: it needs to be clear and not washed out. Most cuckoo d'Anvers males have brassy, washed out barring. That's where the Dominique comes in. The oldest one of the ones I kept is now old enough to test against a Welsummer bantam hen. I will hatch a bunch of theirs to begin with because it is easiest to know who sired which if they come in different hatches.
I am testing for homozygosity for the silver gene. Ideally, also homozygosity for a beard and white legs but clean color is what I specifically used the Dominique to achieve, plus I discovered my cuckoo d'Anvers hen carried yellow skin anyway, so one thing at a time.
But its not just me.

Spoiler: rambling about what other family members have

My brother also got a bumper crop of birds on the ground. We hatched dozens of Welsummers bantams and more than 40 white Crested and black Runner ducks.
Unfortunately, my mom did get the short end of the stick. Last year, I got rid of the last of my bantam Buckeyes for the move, since I'd be going to college during the school year. Except one nice little bantam hen, you know, just to run with the layer flock, very polite. My mom was the one who got me into Buckeyes in the first place and it turned out she wasn't ready to abandon the breed after all so she bought an unrelated cockerel months after I sold my last one! I had a good thing going, she could have spoken up when I was getting rid of all of mine. She also got large fowl birds because she enjoyed the LF Buckeyes we had years ago but these new ones are very messed up. So, we managed to hatch a pair. I named the pullet Martha and she just follows me all over the yard just to see what I'm doing. But Mom got some hatching eggs from Mike Sullivan and hatched a couple of hopefully better chicks but they were. Just cockerels. And our better hen went broody outdoors and promptly got eaten. So its all riding on one pullet now.
Randomly, my mom decided my little brother wanted white Ameraucana bantams. He actually was just going along with her, I've never seen him actually want a specific breed and ask for it himself. I explained this to her and so we got rid of the trio. But not until after hatching a bunch of Ameraucana bantams "for the fair" or something. I frankly don't remember why, but we sure have a lot of those running around.

Finally, I got a quality Arabian Trumpeter pigeon hen this year so my pigeons are finally producing what I want.

 

[The Moonshiner]

See, last year my family got our cabinet incubator. It would have been a huge year as well if not for the fact that we were moving and the new coop needed to be built.
This year, I have many quail blue/quail d'Anvers and my cuckoo d'Anvers project is finally making headway. I hatched a bunch of F2 Dominique d'Anvers cockerels and kept any with some kind of beard and white legs. As they age, I am scrutinizing their barring: it needs to be clear and not washed out. Most cuckoo d'Anvers males have brassy, washed out barring. That's where the Dominique comes in. The oldest one of the ones I kept is now old enough to test against a Welsummer bantam hen. I will hatch a bunch of theirs to begin with because it is easiest to know who sired which if they come in different hatches.
I am testing for homozygosity for the silver gene. Ideally, also homozygosity for a beard and white legs but clean color is what I specifically used the Dominique to achieve, plus I discovered my cuckoo d'Anvers hen carried yellow skin anyway, so one thing at a time.
But its not just me.

Spoiler: rambling about what other family members have

My brother also got a bumper crop of birds on the ground. We hatched dozens of Welsummers bantams and more than 40 white Crested and black Runner ducks.
Unfortunately, my mom did get the short end of the stick. Last year, I got rid of the last of my bantam Buckeyes for the move, since I'd be going to college during the school year. Except one nice little bantam hen, you know, just to run with the layer flock, very polite. My mom was the one who got me into Buckeyes in the first place and it turned out she wasn't ready to abandon the breed after all so she bought an unrelated cockerel months after I sold my last one! I had a good thing going, she could have spoken up when I was getting rid of all of mine. She also got large fowl birds because she enjoyed the LF Buckeyes we had years ago but these new ones are very messed up. So, we managed to hatch a pair. I named the pullet Martha and she just follows me all over the yard just to see what I'm doing. But Mom got some hatching eggs from Mike Sullivan and hatched a couple of hopefully better chicks but they were. Just cockerels. And our better hen went broody outdoors and promptly got eaten. So its all riding on one pullet now.
Randomly, my mom decided my little brother wanted white Ameraucana bantams. He actually was just going along with her, I've never seen him actually want a specific breed and ask for it himself. I explained this to her and so we got rid of the trio. But not until after hatching a bunch of Ameraucana bantams "for the fair" or something. I frankly don't remember why, but we sure have a lot of those running around.

Finally, I got a quality Arabian Trumpeter pigeon hen this year so my pigeons are finally producing what I want.

The cuckoo were what I was most curious if you were still working on.
I kind of got bored with my cuckoo after using them for the barring on other patterns. I let the plain cuckoo almost disappear here then my boy decided they were his favorite.
Oops. I was down to 2 decent hens I think it was. Might of been 3 then lost one. Anyways I started back at them and he took them over. That first round of course was only gonna produce barred males so he kind of got to learn a bit about how the sex linking worked.
I used a blue rooster over them so we'd have blue and black going. This spring I put a SF blue cuckoo with the 2 cuckoo hens and we been hatching some from them. I also put a different SF blue cuckoo rooster with a couple black hens.
He knew this round we'd be back to getting some cuckoo females and knows how the head spot at hatch worked so he's always eager to see what he hatches, black, blue, black with headspot or blue with headspot.
After a week they go to the chick house and grow out without much fuss. Few weeks ago we did a little inventory. I swear with the cuckoo we have 80% to 90% males. Hardly found any pullets.
But I did see a couple DF males so that was something new for him that I had to explain. He kind of got it. I mean he got it but not sure he gets all the pairing that produces what yet. He's 10 so. But he was trying and being interested. That was fun to watch.
I'm gonna keep working with those as long as he keeps interested in them. It's his first real interest in the genetics part.

 

[Amer]

The cuckoo were what I was most curious if you were still working on.
I kind of got bored with my cuckoo after using them for the barring on other patterns. I let the plain cuckoo almost disappear here then my boy decided they were his favorite.
Oops. I was down to 2 decent hens I think it was. Might of been 3 then lost one. Anyways I started back at them and he took them over. That first round of course was only gonna produce barred males so he kind of got to learn a bit about how the sex linking worked.
I used a blue rooster over them so we'd have blue and black going. This spring I put a SF blue cuckoo with the 2 cuckoo hens and we been hatching some from them. I also put a different SF blue cuckoo rooster with a couple black hens.
He knew this round we'd be back to getting some cuckoo females and knows how the head spot at hatch worked so he's always eager to see what he hatches, black, blue, black with headspot or blue with headspot.
After a week they go to the chick house and grow out without much fuss. Few weeks ago we did a little inventory. I swear with the cuckoo we have 80% to 90% males. Hardly found any pullets.
But I did see a couple DF males so that was something new for him that I had to explain. He kind of got it. I mean he got it but not sure he gets all the pairing that produces what yet. He's 10 so. But he was trying and being interested. That was fun to watch.
I'm gonna keep working with those as long as he keeps interested in them. It's his first real interest in the genetics part.

I'm glad your boy is gaining interest! Cuckoo is pretty basic, but the simple contrast of black and white is delightful.

 

[CastielH]

Bro am I the only one whose numbers are the highest they’ve ever been?
All in spite of the feed costs, of course.

Technically mine are but I don't think it counts since it's my first year hatching

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Technically mine are but I don't think it counts since it's my first year hatching

We'll give you a pass, this year...

 

[WallyG74]

Bro am I the only one whose numbers are the highest they’ve ever been?
All in spite of the feed costs, of course.

Not the most ever but real close. I have between 50 & 60 birds right now. We’re going through 100 lbs of feed a week. This is from 1 hatch way back at Easter. I have sold a few pullets and year old hens here and there.

 

[Canadian Wind]

Not the most ever but real close. I have between 50 & 60 birds right now. We’re going through 100 lbs of feed a week. This is from 1 hatch way back at Easter. I have sold a few pullets and year old hens here and there.

That was one heck of a hatch!