Rooster Review

I still don't have one "perfect" Aloha rooster.  The good news, is I finally feel like I have the right ingredients to make one, down the road.

Aloha rooster.

The closest to perfect that I've reached is this guy:

Note the extreme white on head and chest.

He has a nice upright comb, yellow legs, and great flashy color.  He is very tall.  Long, gorgeous flowing tail.  His main fault is he is a bit gangly or weedy, and lacks the depth and roundness I'd like to see.  If he had a deeper, robust body, he would be the perfect Aloha rooster.

This season, I have hatched out two more along the same type, though the colors vary somewhat.  (Which is good, I want color variety within the breed, so they do not all look like "clones".)  Here are boys who also have great color, but are lacking in build.  Keep in mind, both these boys are still young, and will continue to fill out for many months.  Neither are at their prime yet:

Brilliant orange and white Aloha.

Almost 6 months old, still filling out.

Only four months.  Still growing! 

I have kept all of these colorful guys as potential mates for the large and heavy-bodied Sussex hens.  While the first rooster pictured will probably be nicer than both of these youngsters, I don't want the gene pool to get too concentrated, so it's important I give a few other boys a chance.  These were the best I could find in terms of color and size combined.

However, I am really excited about the body types on the next two roosters.  These roosters are basically Sussex, not Aloha.  Sussex is a breed of chicken that comes in many colors.  The size of Sussex varies on the color.  Often, Speckled Sussex from a hatchery are the smallest.  Privately bred "show" type Speckled Sussex are larger.  Buff Sussex tend to be even larger than Speckled.  Largest of all are Light Sussex.  Light Sussex are HUGE chickens.

Mostly Sussex Rooster for size improvement.

Tail and neck feathers are "Dun" color.

The first rooster is from Light Sussex lines.  He is from the bloodlines of Paul's Rare Poultry "Cinnamon Sussex".  He shows the rare Dun color on his neck and tail.  Dun turns areas that are normally black on a chicken into a grayish brown color similar to "Blue".  However, he has been mixed with other stock, including Buff Sussex and Aloha.  His legs were very yellow as a chick, though they have since faded.  He may or may not carry Mottling.

As a chick, he grew much faster than his siblings, towering over them from the very start.

Shown next to an Aloha rooster - same age!

His yellow legs were visible as a chick.

He only became more massive as he grew.

Still showing yellow legs.

Currently, he is penned with some of my very BEST large Aloha hens to find out if he does carry Mottling.  I am wondering what his offspring may look like as adults?  If they are promising, this boy will be kept.  If they are not the right color, a few of the best hens from these chicks will be kept, and I will try to bring the color out in the next generation.  (While hoping his size and type carries through.)

Here is the breeding pen showing him with some of my best LARGE girls:

Six of my largest and best spotted hens are with him now.

These hens are all of good size. 

While he is a nice rooster, I would like to see a slightly larger comb, and longer tail.  His body color is totally wrong of course!   The fact he carries yellow legs is a nice bonus, as he is primarily Sussex breeding, and Sussex have the dominant pink/white legs.  The yellow legs were a pleasant surprise!

So, what is up with the "Dun" gene and why does that matter?  Well, if you look at the hens with black on them, imagine them with the black replaced with grayish brown.  You would have a tri color effect, with either red or gold, plus this brownish gray.  In fact, one chick was already born in this color!  She lives down the street with a batch of chicks that I gave a neighbor:

Neck feathers show Dun coloration.

Why is that interesting?  Right now, there is no large chicken that shows Dun and Mottling.  It would be a color unique to Alohas, and help make them different from Swedish.  The Aloha chicks with Dun may show a softer, more "pastel" coloration.

Another boy I'm really excited about is this guy:

Buff x Speckled Sussex Cross.

Probably 100% Sussex?  (No Aloha.) 

I am pretty sure he is 100% Sussex, and not Aloha at all.  However, that is good for keeping the bloodline "fresh".  He is a mix of Buff Sussex and Speckled Sussex.  He does show some mottling, so he is technically a "Mille Fleur" Sussex, though not a very flashy one.  That does mean his chicks will show spots.  We just don't know how much spotting?

I love his depth of body, weight, and overall quality.  He needs more spots, a bigger comb, and a longer tail.  I plan on penning him with some of my smaller super-spotty Aloha hens.

Aloha hen in front, Speckled Sussex in back.

This is one of the hens I'd like to breed him to.

It is my hope that if I pen the flashy (but small) Aloha roosters with the larger, more plain hens, and the flashy hens with the larger roosters, that when the two lines combine in the future, the right blend of traits will start to appear in one chicken.

I've already had a small number of hens that finally are what I've been breeding for.  Now it's time to make more, and start working on fine-tuning and "locking in" the right traits.

Eggs from the first pen - the big beefy white rooster of some of the best Aloha hens - are going in the incubator right now.  I can't wait to see how they develop.  Going to be a real mystery on what his "kids" look like?

The second pen that will include the large "Mille Sussex" rooster over smaller Aloha hens will come next, with chicks from that hopefully by late November or possibly December.

Stay tuned for updates!