The Rhodebar thread!

[DMRippy]

I put 13 eggs in lockdown and hatched 11 pullets 2 roos.....that have been kind to me with pullets so far. every hatch but one has been pullet heavy.

 

[RedRidge]

So sorry... At least you got two cockerels

 

[DMRippy]

So sorry... At least you got two cockerels

LOL. Some of the pullets are REALLY REALLY DARK this time. I don't think I have seen pullets hatch that dark. THEY WILL STAY.

 

[RedRidge]

Sorry... I think I got confused. .. I thought you were one of the folks hoping for cockerels and not pullets.

 

[DMRippy]

Sorry... I think I got confused. .. I thought you were one of the folks hoping for cockerels and not pullets.

No I like my roo just fine.

 

[ortluk]

Sorry... I think I got confused. .. I thought you were one of the folks hoping for cockerels and not pullets.

I would love to get that kind of ratio 2 cockerels to 11 pullets. That means you can select the best roo and the top say 5 or 6 pullets and have a full pen to produce the next generation. That would give you a pretty full incubator too so you could have even more to select from for the next generation.

 

[RedRidge]

When I was hatching last year I was hoping for as many cockerels as I could get. I already had my HRIR for females so I was hoping for the largest selection of boys for the year that I could get. That would give me a lot more to choose from to get the best one I could over my hens.
There were several of us on here with that same goal in mind, so that is why I got confused.

I can produce Rhodebar pullets all day long... And cockerels. But high quality cocks just don't exist, so I needed to throw a lot of mud against the wall to begin the breed improvement program. It's the F1s I was anxious to begin hatching.

 

[RedRidge]

That said... I reread my previous post and it came out all wrong.
Was not meant to be worded that way.
We NEED more Rhodebars... cuddos to those of you hatching.
We also need to carefully track lines so we can swap genetics down the road, so please keep good records and make sure to toe punch.
For records make sure to take pics of the eggs you set, and especially the cockerels at hatch.
When you swap genetics with folks they will want documentation of what the cockerel looked like at hatch.

There are so few rhodebars and so few people breeding them at all.
And there are folks out there who want them.... but I know I will likely not have any for sale this year.
I will be breeding both pure rhodebars and F1s, but plan to keep my pullets since I am still not to the numbers I want.

If you will be selling hatching eggs and/or chicks this year, please let me know as I am getting a lot of requests and simply cannot provide them with chicks this year.

 

[DMRippy]

I will be selling. mine are very sexable at hatch. I might have some new pullets come spring too.

 

[RedRidge]

So... a similar and different topic... culling.

This past season I put all my extra cockerels in the freezer.
Purposely. I didn't want to sell the lesser quality cockerels... gives me a bad name, not to mention I have always thought that contributing the lesser quality genetics to a gene pool was doing a disservice.
I had 4 I thought were decent, would have sold 2, but didn't have buyers at the time so just butchered them.
I would NEVER sell cockerels from yellow chicks however.

So... here is my question... with such limited genetics, I am questioning butchering pullets.
I would normally butcher all but the best pullets, or at least wouldn't breed them and would put them with my production layers. This is what I do with my HRIR.
That said... I question the wisdom of this with the Rhodebars do to limited genetics.
Once I pull out all of my breeders next summer/fall, do I sell the remaining pullets?
Part of me thinks it's a bad thing to sell them... I didn't pick them, so there was a reason, so would someone else want them? or should they even be bred?
On the other hand, for someone starting out, is that a decision for me to make?

With the more popular breeds the 2nd best are still of high quality, and they may have positive attributes that someone else needs for improvement. But with a breed such as the Rhodebars, what is the ethics behind just selling everything you can vs only selling a certain % of the top ones produced?

Would love to have everyone's opinion on this. There is no right or wrong answer, just curious what everyone else's thoughts are?
My ultimate goal in a couple of years is to only sell Rhodebars that are vastly improved over what we have today. A goal... at least that's what I'm working toward. But with the interest in Rhodebars growing right now are we better off selling what we have to get as many people interested in the breed?