The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[speckledhen]

I know, right? They crack me up, all gangly and scraggly like that. The slower he feathers, the better his barring, though, so guess it's worth waiting for. Now, I have to decide which pullet has the better barring and keep that one. The other barred pullet and the two blacks are up for sale soon, when Dottie isn't so protective of them and still counting her kids.

 

[1muttsfan]

I am curious about what your specific criticisms are with the barring? I have not raised BR's before and have not seen the chicks develop.

 

[speckledhen]

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here is one of the Stukel BR hens as a chick of five weeks old. You can see her barring is far superior to the BR pullet chicks with Atlas, much sharper and more even.



Later, the pullets looked like this:



And here is the original Stukel male, the first Rex, at about the same age as Atlas is now. You can tell the barring is more precise than Atlas's barring.




And that original group at about 7 weeks old:




Later, Rex #1 blossomed into this magnificent beast. Atlas will not match him, I realize, but it's a step in the right direction.


More photos in this post on the old thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...d-new-pics-post-223-01-15-12/210#post_7980895

 

[speckledhen]

This week, Atlas and his sisters are 6 weeks old so time for new pics.

First, this is the pullet I'm keeping with Atlas. DH named her Rowena. She seems to have the best barring of the two barred pullets.



And Atlas:

 

[mlm Mike]

He's starting to come out of the feather and fluff awkward stage.

 

[speckledhen]

Yes, he's looking less baby-like now. Still looking pretty good. They are very sweet chicks. The other barred pullet and the two black ones are almost ready to rehome, but Dottie is still being a great mama to them.

 

[1muttsfan]

Are you happy with the barring on these two? It looks very sharp, maybe not completely even?

 

[speckledhen]

Are you happy with the barring on these two? It looks very sharp, maybe not completely even?

As the first generation out of Rex #2, getting a male that is better than his sire, I'd say yes, I'm very pleased with Atlas. The pullets could be better and later generations out of Atlas over the hens that he came out of should be better than Rowena and her sister.

This was Rex, Atlas's sire, as a youngster. You can see that Atlas is a huge improvement.


Rex now-you can see that Atlas, being double barred, will exceed the quality of barring of his sire:

 

[1muttsfan]

Very interesting to be able to compare the two at different stages

 

[speckledhen]

Very interesting to be able to compare the two at different stages

Sure is.

Atlas and his sisters are getting an excellent education from his very conscientious broody mama, Dottie. She is still counting chicks at over 6 weeks old. I wonder how long she'll keep them with her. Can't recall how long she kept Deacon and Delia before pushing them away.