The Retford Grouseleg thread

[BlueTheBrahma]

There are a few genes affecting leg feathering, a version like you see in marans, and one like you see in Brahmas. Then toe feathering has its own genes too, a bit less predictable.

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

The colonel, a (to my knowledge) pure Brahma I had. He died last Easter but I have a daughter from him. He’s the inspiration for the red necked blue variety, as he had only gold on his neck and not shoulder or saddle.

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

Charlie, my oldest Brahma hen. Her colour is like a dark Brahma, but blue based and with autosomal red. This is the blue fawn female plumage. Hopefully I can get an F1 cross off her this year before she gets too old.

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

Echo in the background. He’s the male phenotype of Charlie, so blue fawn inspiration.

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

I think the photo dump is mostly over.
To summarise, I had to get rid of all my cockerels from my small holding due to noise complaints. Now, I only have a marans cock with a no-crow collar on.

So, until I sort out a better bit of land, I’m using only spare cockerels from other projects. The silver cuckoo Marans, or a marans I hatch this year, will be put in the Brahma pen at later half of the year, and this will be the F1 for the Grouseleg project.

They won’t be as productive as the original crosses, but can hopefully be bred to layers next year. I’ll also try and source some black Orpingtons and maybe wyandottes to juggle around the traits I want.

Once I have a good mix, I’ll pick the best and start a breeding pen or two, a try and get them to breed true. The solid colours will probably be first.