What's in your flock?

[baymule]

Chickens are so amazing. So many different breeds which come in their own array of colors and patterns! Very pretty birds @canesisters

 

[canesisters]

Thank you

Candy and Kass's Baby Girl could be sisters!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm having problems attaching and them commenting on these photos so I'm not sure how this is going to work out. I think my problems are more to my new Windows 8 than this site. There is nothing intuitive about moving around in Windows 8 but I'll eventually get it figured out.

I'm working on a project. My goal is to get green egg laying hens that look like these two, a black mottled and a red mottled. These have Speckled Sussex, Delaware, Black Austalorp, and some "project" Ameraucanas mixed in. The black one lays green eggs but the red one lays brown eggs. I have a ways to go but I should be real close by the end of this breeding season.

This is what I want the rooster to eventually look like except he will also be mottled, have those spots like the Speckled Sussex. I'm hoping to get one of these from the eggs in my incubator.

Red you were commenting on my fencing and such. I closed off the end of a shed to make my 8' x 12' main coop and put a 12' x 32' run on that. Eventually I added a 4' x 8' elevated coop as a grow-out coop and cut off an 8' section of that run that can be isolated just for that grow-out coop. After some dog attacks, I put up electric netting, roughly 30' x 65'. That 4' x 8' green thing in there is a repurposed thing I had where I sometimes put a broody hen and chicks if the coop is getting too crowded. They roam with the flock during the day but are out there at night. It keeps evolving but I have a lot of flexibility in how I manage them.

 

[seedcorn]

If you want green or blue eggs, select for pea comb. Single combs will more than likely be brown

 

[Ridgerunner]

Seedo, your mixed rooster got a birchen gene from his BCM daddy and an extended black gene from his BR mother. Both of those are real powerful with the extended black being more dominant. He got a Mahogany from his Daddy and a barred gene from his mommy. He also got a gold from the BCM and a silver from the barred rock. Silver is dominant over gold.


I’m not sure what your golden mixed hen has. I’m just guessing her daddy was a salmon favorelle because that would explain her feathered legs and would work out pretty well for her coloring when crossed with a RIR hen. I could be way wrong on that.


I’m pretty sure she has wheaten, which is pretty weak. Either the extended black or birchen will be dominant over that. That’s why I think you’ll see a lot of black on the chicks from that cross. I’m pretty sure she has mahogany as well, but also a dark brown gene. That’s probably what gives her that color, the mahogany and dark brown together. This one will surprise you, I don’t think she has gold. I think she probably has silver. I think if she had gold she would have more dark red feathers, not just those few on her head.


I could be totally wrong about any of this. Instead of silver, mahogany, and dark brown, she could have gold, Columbia, and some gene that dilutes the red color, but then she would not have a RIR for a mother. Or there could be another totally different explanation. Chicken genetics are like that. There can be a lot of different ways to get to a certain appearance.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You are exactly right Seed. If you have a hen that has one blue egg gene and one pea comb gene and you cross her to a rooster that does not have any pea comb genes and also no blue egg genes, there is a 97% chance the blue egg gene will follow the pea comb gene. It's not an absolute guarantee but I'll take those odds any time.

 

[Smart Red]

You are exactly right Seed. If you have a hen that has one blue egg gene and one pea comb gene and you cross her to a rooster that does not have any pea comb genes and also no blue egg genes, there is a 97% chance the blue egg gene will follow the pea comb gene. It's not an absolute guarantee but I'll take those odds any time.

Always more to learn! That's why I love this place.

 

[canesisters]

OH @Ridgerunner !! If you get that speckled-green-egg layer I would LOVE to have some eggs to hatch. Would you consider selling some eggs to hatch?
I adore my SS girls and would be THRILLED to have more of the speckles AND colored eggs.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Cane, for you, I’ll just send you some. I’ll have some requirements from you, but I won’t charge you any money. That offer holds for anybody in this country so don’t go getting the bighead. You’re special Cane, but not that special.


I don’t want to try to ship eggs internationally. Technically I may be breaking the law by shipping eggs across state lines without being NPIP certified, but I’ll risk it. Virginia probably has the strictest laws of any state about that though I heard your state legislature was thinking about relaxing those a bit. The post office is not an enforcement agency and they are really not looking for someone little like me. Since I’m not selling them, I’m not sure that applies to me anyway.


I think the risk to me is practically non-existent, but I do want you to know I’m not NPIP certified if that makes a difference. I’m highly confident my flock does not have pullorum. “Presently under the National Poultry Improvement Plan, Arkansas is proud to be designated as a "U.S. Pullorum-Typhoid Clean State" in both chickens and turkeys.” Just thought I’d throw that in from the state NPIP site.


One requirement - you don’t send me anything. No money, seeds, or even a thank you note. Save your postage.


The other requirement - for every egg, you or yours do a random act of kindness. It doesn’t have to be you, it could be kids or grandkids. Nothing fancy required. Maybe hold the door for someone juggling kids and groceries. Instead of parking at the very closest parking spot, maybe go a bit further and leave that for someone else. That’s really random since you have no idea who will grab that space and no one knows you did it. If someone notices they’ll just think you are nuts. You’d hope it is someone who can really use it, but the hard part is when you see a healthy 20 year old pull in there and you still have to smile about it. It helps me smile if I figure they are mentally handicapped. Wouldn’t it be easier to just send me some money but nope, not allowed. I’m not always nice.


I have three hens laying green eggs right now that should hatch either red or black mottled chicks with the rooster I have now. I have some in the incubator right now but it will take a while to know how fertile they are and what they will look like when they hatch. It’s possible I could get some that are mostly white though I don’t have a white chicken in my flock right now. That’s the fun of chicken genetics. There are always surprises hiding under the genetics but I think any white ones will be males.


About half the pullets from those eggs should lay green eggs. If someone is interested, let me know. We can at least discuss it. With the weather right now it’s probably pretty risky to ship eggs anyway.

 

[canesisters]

Oh Thank You!!! ... and that is the easiest 'price' I've ever 'paid' since I try to be aware of that sort of thing anyway.
If possible, I'd like to wait a while. Like you said, the weather is tricky right now at best. One or both of my Sussex hens will very likely go broody by mid May.