This is a small vent and mini discussion of my current chicken breeding project.
Recently I had sold a couple of great looking Roos that had some nice traits, but was maybe slightly too light for my liking. But after the sale, instant regret.....
Here are some pictures of the main one that's killing me:
(boy on the left)
(I had two nearly identical roosters here, one had leg feathers but was a tad smaller, and the other was larger and had no leg feathers.)
I sold him to a family that often buys my roos for meat. I know I can't keep all the roos.. So I let this one go, (but still kept a couple others that I'll share soon).
..... I should probably explain a bit of the project to shed a little more light on this.
My project goal is to produce a dual purpose bird with the following traits: beard, feathered feet, blue and red coloring (with a similar pattern to the roo above or similar to a blue laced red pattern) straight comb, and I'm looking for a nice mean/fierce face and a taller/sporty stance similar to a maran maybe? I should also note that this project is very loose. I don't plan to create an official breed or anything. Just want the flock to focus on these traits over time.
So ultimately, the rooster above had some awesome patterns, was going to be a larger boy and have a lovely face. However, I was worried about his orange color, since it isn't a dark red, I was originally worried he would create lighter gold-ish / brownish offspring.
To be clear, I'm a sucker for roosters. A real sap. I get attached very easily... Especially when they're so good looking... Here were a couple other nice looking boys that I sadly got rid of:
(This boy was very handsome, but way too orange and not red enough(?). But had a nice size, a lovely meanish face, straight comb, and had a nice body.)
(A splash rooster that had almost everything I wanted, other than his size! He was a shorty!!! But he had literally almost everything I could have used. I didn't mind the splash color too much, but blue is always preferred.)
Here are some boys I DID KEEP!!
(Roo on the Left, had an awesome chest pattern, beard, straight comb, however I'm curious on how much larger he will get. He's lacking leg feathers too.)
(This boy is nice!!! He is large, has darker blues and reds, has an awesome face and a decent posture. Can't wait to see him fully grown.)
I currently have some great near perfect hens when it comes so a few of the desired traits. Here are some of my good hens:
(This above hen has a wonderful pattern and body type. However, I would prefer a darker, more red coloring. She is also lacking foot feathers and a straight comb. She is most likely from my blue laced red wyandotte due to the rose/cushion comb she has)
(This hen is my main base hen. She is half maran, half EE, and is actually a chocolate egger. She has nearly all the traits I want minus having any red, and I would like to increase the overall size.)
(This one is the daughter of above hen. Great results! I wish her gold was more copper-y/red. Unfortunately she didn't keep any leg feathers from mom.)
(A freedom ranger production blue cross I created. Hoping to use her to help improve size and egg laying along with keeping similar colors.)
(An EE i hatched that has some perfect dark blues and reds. An idea of what I'd like to reach for coloring)
(Another great colored hen. The result of a production blue with I believe my RIR hybrid boy.)
Recently I had sold a couple of great looking Roos that had some nice traits, but was maybe slightly too light for my liking. But after the sale, instant regret.....
Here are some pictures of the main one that's killing me:
(I had two nearly identical roosters here, one had leg feathers but was a tad smaller, and the other was larger and had no leg feathers.)
I sold him to a family that often buys my roos for meat. I know I can't keep all the roos.. So I let this one go, (but still kept a couple others that I'll share soon).
..... I should probably explain a bit of the project to shed a little more light on this.
My project goal is to produce a dual purpose bird with the following traits: beard, feathered feet, blue and red coloring (with a similar pattern to the roo above or similar to a blue laced red pattern) straight comb, and I'm looking for a nice mean/fierce face and a taller/sporty stance similar to a maran maybe? I should also note that this project is very loose. I don't plan to create an official breed or anything. Just want the flock to focus on these traits over time.
So ultimately, the rooster above had some awesome patterns, was going to be a larger boy and have a lovely face. However, I was worried about his orange color, since it isn't a dark red, I was originally worried he would create lighter gold-ish / brownish offspring.
To be clear, I'm a sucker for roosters. A real sap. I get attached very easily... Especially when they're so good looking... Here were a couple other nice looking boys that I sadly got rid of:
(This boy was very handsome, but way too orange and not red enough(?). But had a nice size, a lovely meanish face, straight comb, and had a nice body.)
(A splash rooster that had almost everything I wanted, other than his size! He was a shorty!!! But he had literally almost everything I could have used. I didn't mind the splash color too much, but blue is always preferred.)
Here are some boys I DID KEEP!!
(Roo on the Left, had an awesome chest pattern, beard, straight comb, however I'm curious on how much larger he will get. He's lacking leg feathers too.)
(This boy is nice!!! He is large, has darker blues and reds, has an awesome face and a decent posture. Can't wait to see him fully grown.)
I currently have some great near perfect hens when it comes so a few of the desired traits. Here are some of my good hens:
(This above hen has a wonderful pattern and body type. However, I would prefer a darker, more red coloring. She is also lacking foot feathers and a straight comb. She is most likely from my blue laced red wyandotte due to the rose/cushion comb she has)
(This hen is my main base hen. She is half maran, half EE, and is actually a chocolate egger. She has nearly all the traits I want minus having any red, and I would like to increase the overall size.)
(This one is the daughter of above hen. Great results! I wish her gold was more copper-y/red. Unfortunately she didn't keep any leg feathers from mom.)
(A freedom ranger production blue cross I created. Hoping to use her to help improve size and egg laying along with keeping similar colors.)
(An EE i hatched that has some perfect dark blues and reds. An idea of what I'd like to reach for coloring)
(Another great colored hen. The result of a production blue with I believe my RIR hybrid boy.)
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