Since I ended up ordering all Orloff pullets and won’t have a roo to go with them next spring, I decided to acquire the buff Chantecler cockerel a fellow BYC member was looking to re-home. Cheeto is a nice roo, large, wide, good little cushion comb and plentiful, fluffy feathers. I believe once he finishes filling out that he will epitomize the ideal dual-purpose, cold-hardy roo, and I think he will match up with my Orloff pullets very well. Hopefully he will add size and some decent laying genes to the offspring, though I’m no more sure of how Chanteclers lay than this line of Orloffs! Both are supposed to be extremely cold-tolerant and lay through the winter. I LOVE the mottled coloring, beards and muffles, and the personality of my little Orloff girls. If I could get those traits onto the Chantecler, I would have my ideal base to work with, and then would simply start selecting for good meat and laying qualities.
So, that’s the Alaska Super Chicken project. I also have the Buff Brahma girls that are in the pen as well, but I don’t know if I will end up using them in the project. They would move me away from the aesthetic goals as far as coloring and accessories, and though they have good size and cold-hardiness, they are slow growers and not known to be great layers, so they wouldn’t really add much to the mix.
