wheaten percentages

[faith valley]

So guys, here is a question for you...  If you want to carry over a nice trio of wheatens, and you are using blue wheaten x blue wheaten as parents, how many chicks would you have to hatch out to meet that goal?

Our desire is to use wheaten x blue wheaten matings for next year and we are missing the wheatens right now.

Yes, we could go out and buy wheatens if we could find them, but Caleb is only 7, so we have plenty of time to hatch out chicks and learn along the way.

We have hatched Japs and of those - 1/4 are culled right out of the hatcher.  for every 100 eggs, you might have 10 chicks you want to watch and grow out.  What are ameraucana chicks like?  Do you have a higher percentage of keepers, or because the wheaten and blue wheaten color patterns are such late developer, you find that you grow out alot until about 10 months and then cull?

~Patty~

[bantamhill]

A blue Wheaten x blue Wheaten will in theory produce 25% wheaten, 25% splash wheaten, and 50% blue wheaten. I would try to produce at least 25 chicks to have a variety to select from.

Michael

[faith valley]

25 chicks, that is good to know.  I\'m glad they are not like Japs, where you have to set 100+ to get some worth looking at twice.  Caleb has collected about 20+ eggs so far- they are in various stages of incubation.  Guess I just needed to know when to stop setting them.

Call ducks can get to size and feather out fairly quickly- in a couple months actually. With the ameraucanas, is there a recommended age for them to be before winter hits?  There is some debate about having chickens mature before winter or it stunts growth and they never really get caught up.....  Others hatch in the fall to have them ready for Spring shows.  With call ducks you dont have to worry about that because the hens only lay 20+ eggs each spring and then they are done (whether you are done setting or not.)

Just curious on your opinions on the topic.
~Patty~

[Guest]

 And Wheaten with Blue Wheaten was is the percentage of each colour ?

[John]

And Wheaten with Blue Wheaten was is the percentage of each colour ?

50% wheaten & 50% blue wheaten.

These are the same percentages whether you are breeding wheaten, blue wheaten and splash wheaten or black, blue and splash.  
A wheaten male has black feathers on his breast, a blue wheaten has a blue breast and a splash wheaten has a splash breast.

[bantamhill]

Patty,

I have brought a small November hatch through the winter . . . not much fun here in Missouri, but it has worked. I usually like to have the birds around four or five months in October to bring through the winter. I have this crazy notion at times that if I don\'t have enough breeders then I hatch in June or July and feed the birds through the winter to lay in the spring and some cockerels looking good for spring shows. This is what has seemed to work in Missouri . . . I suspect different things work in other parts of the country.

Michael

[bantamhill]

bump!

[Guest]

Patty I would consider your persentage of keepers from the broodstock males with splothcy breast color females with weak tail color ect. to consider how many chicks to hatch.  Chris