Does anyone know anyone that would be interested in a nice pair of heritage Delawares? These are breeder birds, not hatchery lines. I wasn’t planning on giving up any of my girls since I only have 5, but one of the two cockerels I need to move out is just too nice to eat, so I would like to find someone that would be interested in working with the birds and able to swap offspring with me next spring.

The pair that I am offering includes a nice roo that will be 5 months old on the 27th. He has very nice tail barring and yellow legs, and he’s also bulking up nicely, just not quite as fast as my keeper roo. The hen is about 7 months old and has been laying nearly every day since early September. She has very dark hackle markings, too dark for the roos I’m keeping. Together, the pair will produce superior markings to the ones that I’m keeping, and should be a nice dual-purpose, heritage addition for someone that wants to work on preserving a rare, American breed.

If we swap chicks next spring/summer, we should be able to blend in the best of both worlds as far as the better coloring from this pair, and the faster growth and bulkier type from the ones I’m keeping. Alternatively, what may happen is the recipient of this pair develop a male line while I work on a female line, as I am told this is a breed that benefits from the “double mating system”.

Any takers?

I haven’t yet been able to find evidence that feeding whole or sprouted barley has the same effect, but I’ve maxed out on research papers today!

24_hashish_mps2009

Wanted to share my latest addition to the Thrianta herd, Penny. Penny is a lovely girl that I hope will add some bone and type to the breeding program. She is a total sweet heart, too!

From Leslie Seddon at Sunrise Creek:

(Champ. BHs Redman x Champ. BH’s Persimmon)  No snagging on the hips or feeling pin bones on this girl!  She is round and smooth from beginning to end with color that goes deep and true.  She  has earned three legs (lost one to paperwork errors) and has had three litters.

Penny is currently just about done blowing her coat and will be bred to Frank. I will have to get some new pictures, I love this girl!

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.

• Cottonwood Farms Pencil Test – Great pictorial evaluation of Mini Rex. (Compact Type)
• Type Controversy – The Standard of Imperfection?
• Icebox Rabbitry Balance Article – Mini Rex balance evaluation. (Compact Type)
• Judging the Havana – Many similarities to Thriantas, I feel.

Really happy with how these guys are turning out. I definitely have my favorites! Can’t wait to put them on the show table in December.

One must reach back through
time to discover what we
have lost to Progress.

Here’s a few pictures of the Orloff chicks, who weathered the storm in the green house.

7.5 weeks

Other news:

I sold my Standard Rex pair to a deserving 4-H’er to focus my funds and cage space on Thriantas and Silver Fox. The Thrianta litter will be 10 weeks tomorrow, and they are showing remarkable color for their age. I did end up with half boys and half girls, and may sell a couple of the boys to a few people interested in pets. Planning a photo session for tomorrow.

I obtained one new Thrianta doe from Sunrise Creek last weekend and she is now in with Frank, so we’re hoping for a litter in about 3 weeks or so. CU1, the dam of the current litter was line bred to her sire for a test breeding to isolate a few traits we were curious about. CT112, the buck in question, is a very nice compact little animal with a great head and ear on him, and, even better, good shoulders. This could possibly end up being a very nice match and I am very excited about both litters.

On the Silver Fox front, I had a pow wow with Krystal Mitchell, the only other serious Silver Fox breeder I’ve located in the state, and I have fantastic dates lined up for my girls when they are old enough to breed. Both of the bucks are blue, so I guess I will have blue in my lines. But really, I couldn’t ask for nicer animals to compliment these girls. It should be a good start to the herd.

Brian and Muppet down at Little Granite Creek

Little Granite Creek is our property line to the East.

Though the steady high winds finally died off, it was still pretty breezy!