My new project

Im just starting a new project and Im pretty excited. I got several dozen blue rock eggs earlier in the year and hatched out a few really nice chicks. Ended up with 2 gorgeous roos, 2 blue pullets, and 2 splash pullets. Ive been reading a lot about barred rock genetics. From what Im understanding, a barred rock roo over solid colored hens will give you all barred babies, but a solid (splash, or blue) roo over barred rock hens will give you solid (blue, black, splash) pullets and barred roos. So not only is that sex linked, where you can tell the girls from the boys immediately, but, since my fru fru splash and blue girls seem to think all they have to do is sit around and look pretty, they don't lay well at all. However, my barred girls are work horses. So Ive been collecting eggs from my blue roo and barred girls, and have them in the incubator. I am really excited to see the first hatch from this and see if what I think should happen will. This is my blue roo. He's only 6 months old, so I hope he grows a tail!

Ooooooo! A new sex-linked. I love it. He is gorgeous! I hope it works.

wow, i love it!

Fla_Chick,

Awesome project !

Kelly in Moxee

Holy Cannoli!!!!! He is outta sight!!! What did you say your address was again??? ROFLLLLLL

Can't wait to see those babies!!! Good Luck on your Hatch!!

Thanks, guys. Im pretty excited. This is the younger roo that I have. I was going to get rid of him, but the guy who I got the eggs from got out of chickens, and Im afraid if something happened to my roo, Id be SOL....I don't know where Id find another one.

and another pic.

BE-U-Tiful! Please keep the posts coming.

A-MAZING coloring!

i recently purchased BLUES, they are Jersey Giants. I hope they feather out like yours! right now, May 4 hatch, that makes them almost four months, so they should start looking good soon...

wonder what a ROCKxGIANT would be?

i have quite a few blue /splash pullets, hope they lay as well as the blacks...

tf

OMG they are stunning. I want some. I will search around here for them. That is my goal to have work horse girls. So a blue roo and a rock girl makes work horses.

Boy, that's right, the father of my current roos was black JG. Wonder if I found a blue I'd be able to stabilize my flock into sumpin' near so cool. That may be where some of those funny highlights (purples etc) are coming from.

TF -do you still have that great link for those in southern Indiana?

that is a possibility there grow.

huh? oh, THAT one... i have a few now for giving info.... hold on...

http://www.centralpets.com/classifieds/html/english/g_birds.6565.html
http://www.indigoegg.us/JerseyGiants.html
http://www.ohionational.org/breeders.html
http://www.hometown.aol.com/mhbluegiants4u/index.html

;-)

This message was edited Aug 30, 2008 8:53 AM

I have gotten my first chicks, and they are just gorgeous! All blacks and silvery blues. They aren't old enough to get any barring yet, so I dont know if my theory will hold that the males will be barred and the girls wont be. I have a few more in the incubator, and after sending some out that Ive sold, Ill put some more in the bator.

oh, that is the SWEETEST FACE!

now i am getting the baotr jones'

tf

Too cute! I just want to take that chicky home!! :)
Keep us posted as they mature.

Fla_Chick-

That is a beautful baby. I need some. Let us know about the barring. I am really interested in the sex-linked chickens.

Sheila

I thought Id update this thread. Ive hatched out a LOT of chickies from this cross. All are either blue or black. The boys do indeed have a white spot on their head, tho sometimes its faint and you really have to look especially on the blues. The blacks are easy to tell...head spot boy, no spot, girls. Ive only been keeping a few blue girls, since Im wanting to increase the flock for Mr. B. Im amazed at the lacing Im getting...must be coming from the barred girls, since Mr. B has little or no lacing. Im going to move Mr. B to a pen with some of my original blue/splash/black rock hens, and Ive added a really handsome splash roo to my flock. Im going to put the splash rock (he's nearly ready) with the barred hens, which will give me 100% blue sex linked chicks. The blue babies that I have now Ill put in with Mr. B to get more pure blue/black/splash chicks with no barring. This has been fun!

Mr. B with his girls.

Mr. B himself.

One of the oldest blue girls from a barred mom.

A darker blue girl.

And the young splash roo I kept. He came from the very last hatch of blue rocks back in June, so he's a bit young yet, but he's developing very nicely. Nice and broad, short back, and a nicer tail carriage than Mr. B, so it should be a good cross.

Wish I had a dime for every time I just said WOW.. LOL

Beautiful.... Wow.. what a cool breeding program!

Congratulations CMDM :)

I am SO glad you updated this -I've been dying to know. I've gotten some really good laced and spangled patterns from some of my back-crosses from a similarly mixed roo so I'm doubly curious about how the blue/splash does. VERY pretty birds. (if you're curious i think it's in my Tacky Brag Thread)

Great pictures on that thread....youve got lots to work with there. Have you been hatching any babies from those roos? I love pictures....

The laced hen and the young spangled were from the older roos and eather a black sexlink or a barred rock -I also came up with some black roos with beetle black and mahogany highlights, as well as some (beetle?) purple -fascinating what that barring gene does though, ain't it?!

FLAchick- are you HALO on BYC or did these happen to originally come from halo? Her blue/barred rocks are gorge, too :)
~music

Yep....that me!

I thought I recognized that beeeeautiful roo. Gosh he's gorgeous. Catches my eye every time I see him.
What generation are you on now, then?
~music

He is gorgeous, WOW

Thanks, guys. He's not the most friendly guy, but fortunately he's very mellow in the coop and even tolerates the very young ones that get put out there, too. Havent seen him do anything mean at all...except to me, which is okay, because he only ruffles his feathers at me when I do something with his girls.

Im just on the first generation. Im growing out about 10 young blue pullets from him and the barred hens. I think I have a couple of blues from the blue pullets, too. The colors seem to be a little bit different from the barred as from the blues. The babies from the barreds have some very distinct lacing. I have 2 very young ones growing out that I think might be from the blue pullet. Coloring is just like Mr. B's was at that age, with little or no lacing. As soon as these pullets are old enough they'll be crossed back to Mr. B. Those won't be sex linked. I will have to keep separate pens for the barred and the non barred pullets, as I have a lot of people wanting eggs that will be sex linked.

Fla chick: That roo of yours is outstanding (beauti-gorgeous, stunning) Haystack.

Indeed, a gorgeous roo and those young hens are beauties too. What a fun breeding plan - keep us updated! Can't wait to see the babies from that splash roo - he is so handsome!

That splash roo is even more handsome now...I need new pictures of him. I am growing out 2 splash roos, and this one is so much typier than the other one. The other one is more horizontal, this guys is more upright, with a great tail carriage, and a really pretty front end (sounds like Im talking about a horse). As soon as I see him doing his manly duties, Ill put him with some barred girls. Ill set the first eggs to make sure they are fertile, then Ill start selling some to see how well they ship. Theoretically, all babies should be blue, and they should be sex linked. How great will that be????