I've been working on a project here at home. The goal would be to create a "type" (rather than a true breed with APA standards) Much like Easter Eggers are a "type". Super colorful mottled big chickens that are good layers - basically an American version of "Swedish Flower Hens".
Goal is large dual-purpose chickens, good layers, clean legged and single combed, but what would make them special (like EE'ers lay blue eggs) is these would come in a variety of mottled colors, preferably mottled colors not seen right now in "regular" standard size breeds, like gold mottled, blue mottled, etc.
My base stock has been Exchequer Leghorns and Speckled Sussex, but I was really helped along by this oddball mottled hen that I stumbled accross last year.
Here is her young pullet, she's going to be small standard type, and does NOT have the body or size I'm looking for. But, she definately has the neat coloring!!!
I only got two hens and one roo that were suitable for the program out of her, but all are interesting. Now I'll be trying to cross those with the Exchequer and Sussex cross stock. Also have some Blue Ameraucana lines in there.
Just ordered some eggs from "big" breeds to try and hatch out, and will introduce those to increase size and egg production. Five chicks hatched out of the Ameraucana/S.Sussex/Exchequer cross last week. Several look to be mottled and should have some improvement in size and egg production.
Got a bunch of eggs in the 'bator now . . . adding a dozen more today. So far, no blue/white mottled in this first group of babies, but I have several more of the blue hen's eggs hatching out on the 30th. (Crosses fingers!)
You can see lots of photos of them here:
http://alohachickens.webs.com/
Still waiting for the original oddball mini hen to start laying again, the summer was brutal, she stopped back in June and hasn't laid again since.
If you live in Phoenix and want to get involved, please email me. I will have extra roosters to give away for free from these crosses to anyone interested in trying to breed them. (Eggs could be returned to me for hatching.)
They'd need to be crossed with bigger, solid colored hens with good egg production, like Austrolorps, Buff Orps, RIR's, etc. and then those offspring crossed back with another mottled roo from my future stock, to bring the color back out. Could take a few years to get where I'm trying to go . . . . .
Goal is large dual-purpose chickens, good layers, clean legged and single combed, but what would make them special (like EE'ers lay blue eggs) is these would come in a variety of mottled colors, preferably mottled colors not seen right now in "regular" standard size breeds, like gold mottled, blue mottled, etc.
My base stock has been Exchequer Leghorns and Speckled Sussex, but I was really helped along by this oddball mottled hen that I stumbled accross last year.
Here is her young pullet, she's going to be small standard type, and does NOT have the body or size I'm looking for. But, she definately has the neat coloring!!!
I only got two hens and one roo that were suitable for the program out of her, but all are interesting. Now I'll be trying to cross those with the Exchequer and Sussex cross stock. Also have some Blue Ameraucana lines in there.
Just ordered some eggs from "big" breeds to try and hatch out, and will introduce those to increase size and egg production. Five chicks hatched out of the Ameraucana/S.Sussex/Exchequer cross last week. Several look to be mottled and should have some improvement in size and egg production.
Got a bunch of eggs in the 'bator now . . . adding a dozen more today. So far, no blue/white mottled in this first group of babies, but I have several more of the blue hen's eggs hatching out on the 30th. (Crosses fingers!)
You can see lots of photos of them here:
http://alohachickens.webs.com/
Still waiting for the original oddball mini hen to start laying again, the summer was brutal, she stopped back in June and hasn't laid again since.
If you live in Phoenix and want to get involved, please email me. I will have extra roosters to give away for free from these crosses to anyone interested in trying to breed them. (Eggs could be returned to me for hatching.)
They'd need to be crossed with bigger, solid colored hens with good egg production, like Austrolorps, Buff Orps, RIR's, etc. and then those offspring crossed back with another mottled roo from my future stock, to bring the color back out. Could take a few years to get where I'm trying to go . . . . .
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