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Not the shade of blue
John:
--- Quote ---If I were to start over again
--- End quote ---
I would do some things differently also, but for the most part I think it was done right.
Looking at LF only...
Silvers and wheatens had the best egg color for years, but still lack type and size compared to the other varieties. They also still have white showing up in their earlobes. Silvers are the least docile. I would drop both varieties to free up breeding coops, but want to see them improved so I keep breeding them.
Brown reds lack size and their egg color isn\'t great, but they have the proper type and you are making progress with color/pattern.
Blacks are #1 in the showrooms and Paul and others have made huge improvements in their egg color (as good as any) and eye color. They have arrived, so to speak.
Buffs are getting better each year. Egg color and combs are the two biggest problems. They are the most docile and will always be my favorites.
Lavenders are lacking in size a bit and egg color will be improved over the years, but they have great type, eye color, combs, etc. Their black cousins are to thank. The lavender color may never be perfect, but I like it.
Boy, if only we knew then what we\'ve learned over the decades. I know some of the other old timers on this forum, like Wayne and Jerry would agree.
And look at all the new blood out there running the club, breeding and exhibiting. It can only get better!
Tailfeathers:
I just happened to be cleaning out the coop last Saturday when one of my #7 BW pullets was sitting in a nest. I have 3 pullets that are laying a white egg now. She is one of them.
My #7 parents are #12 Wheaten roo & #10 BW hens. These two #10 BW hens laid an almost white egg and a white egg. I was able to determine that the white egg was coming from the original #13 chicks that I bought. I bred them because of productivity problems I was experiencing and they give me about 4-5 eggs each per week. So I knew the #10 line would likely give me lighter eggs.
My #12 Wheaten roo was the result of #14 BW roo over #15 BW hen.
In 2009 I determined that my #15 BW Cockerel & #15 BW Hen both thru pullets that laid white eggs in 2010. I guess I missed that when I bred him last year.
Now I\'m really going to have to check things over because I think I\'ve got some pretty good looking #7\'s out there with lots of color in the tail and wings and at least some of them must be laying a blue egg. I can definitely cull my #10 BW hens this year and that will take care of part of the problem. Now I just have to decide if I want to not breed any birds that had #12 as their Daddy.
I think I\'m gonna have to sit down and make a family tree of the different lines. That may be the only way I can figure this out. Or maybe I\'ll just continue to work on the type, size, comb size, beard color and leg color and not worry so much about the egg color for now. I\'ve gotten rid of the red from the tails, the beards are almost fully colored on my young males now which is a significant improvement. I\'m getting nice red earlobes (culled everything that had pale lobes). And egg size and productivity seems to be doing real well.
So whattaya\'ll think? Any suggestons?
God Bless,
Mike Gilbert:
Royce, if it is possible you might want to consider penning each suspect separately for a while. That is the way to find out what color egg they are each laying. Even show cages work for me when the birds are laying.
Tailfeathers:
Oh, Mike I\'ll be separating out all the birds to see who is laying what. Most certainly. I have to do that as the last step in deciding who I want to finally breed. I\'ve got a few birds that are laying the best blue egg I\'ve ever had. Really, really good deep blue. Better than \"sky blue\". It\'ll be just my luck that the birds who lay those eggs will also have something wrong with them that I wouldn\'t otherwise want to breed.
The question I had about \"any suggestions\" was more along the lines of what to do with the lineage I laid out. In particular, what do I do with my #7\'s where, if things turn out like I expect, I will have some of them laying nice blue eggs and have good color in the tails and wings? Do I breed them knowing they may still be throwing some recessive white egg genes? And what about the #7\'s that are laying white eggs? If they are really good elsewise, should I breed them and worry about getting the blue back later?
I tend to lean toward \"Yes\" to both questions but would like to hear from others. Of course I\'ll keep my other lines going too and see how they turn out. Maybe one of these days I\'ll be down to just two W lines and two BW lines.
Btw, here\'s a monkey to throw in the mix... I have a #7 BW Cockerel that has almost completely clean hackles! My first. He\'s also got good type, good color, and a really good, small, tight comb. Eye and Leg color could be a bit better but overall I think he may turn out to be my best BW male. But he\'s a #7!!!
God Bless,
Mike Gilbert:
By all means breed the #7 BW rooster. If he is that good, I would even save a white egg layer to test mate him with.
If all his pullet offspring from that cross lay blue eggs, then you will know he is a winner for sure. By the way, you are much better off with white eggs than brown eggs; count your blessings!
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