The Rhodebar thread!

[mrshawman]

These are the first three hatched. I have one female and another hatching now. Any thoughts on the Wheaten?

 

[RedRidge]

These are the first three hatched. I have one female and another hatching now. Any thoughts on the Wheaten?

Keep the 2 males with head spots, definitely cull the wheaten

 

[RedRidge]

Wow I can't believe how much that cockerel has changed... Can't wait to see him all grown up.

 

[RedRidge]

Is the Single bar or Double bar better for breeding?

ALL purebred females are single barred.
ALL purebred males are double barred.
So... Any single barred male can't be pure Rhodebar BUT depending on its genetics and what you cross it with it "might" be a good stepping stone to getting there.
Since females only have one barring gene they well never be double barred. That said, the single barring gene alone is not enough to make them purebred. My F1 Females all "look" like pure Rhodebars and are all single barred and looked like Rhodebar females at hatch. But i know what their genetics is and even though they "look" Rhodebar they are not purebred and will not breed true in this generation.

This is the confusion so many people with "supposed" Rhodebars are running into. They assume if it is autosexed and looks like a Rhodebar at hatch and as an adult then it is in fact a Rhodebar. The reality of it is that way too many of those do not have the correct genetics to breed true 100% of the time.
Take the cockerel in Richie's pic above... He is NOT an ideal cockerel. I raised him and can tell you every little thing that is wrong with him. But... I can also tell you that 100% of the chicks hatch by his parents and grandparents were 100% easy to autosex and they bred true. Do I have several nice cockerels here? Sure. But Richie was wise in taking the cockerel he did for a foundation cock because he knows exactly what he has. He had choices, and yes I have my opinion, but he chose the best "breeding program" cockerel that I was willing to part with.
Iow... He ain't purdy, but he is genetically what he should be.

 

[mrshawman]

So I need to swap my single bar out with my other Double bar in the breeding pen. I will have 2 double bar over 7 hens.

 

[mrshawman]

Final outcome of first hatch.

 

[Cynthia12]

Almost 6 months old..and finally, I get .. two eggs..at once. Now you have to know, that I have a small back yard flock. So I know who is laying, and who is getting ready to lay. She's been checking out the nest boxes the last few days, had a wind egg, got eaten, then yesterday, nice cream colored eggs..tiny of course. Do these birds lay a pretty good sized egg once they get going? And, how often do Rhodebars lay?

mrs..nice looking babies!

 

[nicalandia]

I'm off subject..but had to share. Our 33rd grandchild. Some of you have seen me on here a few times...enough to share this little hatchling. No assistance necessary!
Looks like his older brother, and dad.

was he/she easy to sex at hatch?......LOL such a cutie, but I cant believe its only your 33rd grand child, you are so young....



this is Angelito, my first and only child, here at 7 months old

 

[Cynthia12]

@nicalandia I don't think they had a hard time at all sexing their little boy. If only chickens were that easy.

Angelito is darling! Cute smile for the camera.
Not sure why you say I am so young. I feel young.. sometimes...my chickens help with that. They keep me busy. Like... watching out for this Rhodebar to start laying, any time now! I say it's about time. Really though, I think I have had others wait longer. Glad she finally got the hang of it. Now, I hope she lays better than the person that I bought the eggs from says Rhodebars do. She doesn't think that the Rhodbars are as good a layer as they thought they would be. She has laid two days in a row now..crossing fingers once she gets going, it will be like this, like my HRIR.

 

[RedRidge]

Ok @nicalandia etc... need some advice.
I have a variety of pure Rhodebar males and want to breed one to a few of my F1 pullets for a BC1. I've narrowed it down to 2 - #51 and #52.
F1s are getting close to pol so I need to decide...

#51 - structure is not a good as 52 but color is very correct and he has the best Rhodebar cock tail set I have ever seen. But he lacks the depth and width of 52.
#52 - good depth and width for a Rhodebar cock. Has a terrible high tail set and some blackening on his chest. This is the cockerel I bred to the hrir to create my f1s.

I went with 52 to create the F1s with the intention of using 51 for bc1. I'm now trying to decide if that is the correct decision. Trying to consider all the pros and cons. Or maybe I just use both and put each with their own F1 girls? Want to think long term too and don't want to use the same cock too many times to prevent fertility problems - not that twice is a problem but...
Thoughts? Pros and cons?