Trying to improve Blue Crele

[farmerChef]

I got a pair of unknown breed blue crele-esce chickens at the local auction about 2 months ago. The hen has been laying for a few weeks now, and I would like to improve on the color.



The rooster has 5 toes, both have a small amount of feathering on legs, and they both have a little white in the earlobes. The hen lays a light brown/tan colored egg.

I currently have:
1 Dominique
1 Barred Cochin (broody with chicks)
1 Partridge Cochin
1 Splash Jesry Giant
2 Black Jersey Giants(not yet laying)
1 Lemon Blue mix (has 5 toes)

I would like for them to have 5 toes, yellow feet, light leg feathering (like marans), and to have medium-large single combs, or possibly large rose combs. Not to peticular on egg color right now, but I dont have a any speckled egg layers.

I was thinking barred and BBR would be the best colors to add?? I was thinking of getting some welsummers or light brown leghorns? Those are the only 2 LF breeds I could think of that are BBR.

 

[sourland]

Initially I would hatch as many chicks as possible from that pair to give myself more stock to pick from.

Very attractive brds.

 

[draye]

Are they LF or Bantam?
I can't always tell in pictures. Lol.

 

[farmerChef]

Initially I would hatch as many chicks as possible from that pair to give myself more stock to pick from.

Very attractive brds.

That's what I'm doing now. I have 2/5 hatched this AM when I left for work. I was looking at welsummer eggs because I want some speckled eggs.

Are they LF or Bantam?
I can't always tell in pictures.  Lol.

LF. I would guess they are probly around 5 or 6 lbs. They are thick, but not hefty.

 

[Celtic Hill]

Oooooh I wanna see how this turns out! Keep us updated!

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

I'd say cross him to some welsummers or light brown leghorns. That would give you basically all crele birds that will have the single comb/yellow skin and they should have 5 toes. If you breed these together since they're both blue crele, you should get splash crele which would be best to mate to a brown leghorn/welsummer to get all blue crele.
Personally if it were me, I'd mate these two together and hatch every egg I could get from them and keep the best chicks. Then once you have a good enough amount of chicks, mate them to welsummers, even hatchery stock. The leghorns would throw large combs/wattles unless you get a rose combed brown. If you took the crele hens and mate them to a brown leghorn/welsummer cock, you'd get sexlinks which would be crele cockerels and light brown hens which you'd mate back to a crele rooster.

Sorry about rambling, I like the type of these birds

 

[draye]

farmerChef



Are you still at this project?
Which route did you go in breeding them?

 

[farmerChef]

I still have the pair, and the 2 chicks where roos so i sold them. She just started back last week laying eggs, so im going to be collectng and setting eggs hopefullly for the next 2-3 weeks. I have 1 1month old welsummer chick im pretty sure is a pullet. I've only done hatching by broodies the past few months its sohot and muggy, eggs dont hatch as good in the bator(even in the house), so thats limited my hatching. Im hoping i have a broody hen soon to put some of these eggs under, if not, they will still go in the bator.