New Chicks Growing Up!

Because I had two years of "incubator mishaps" at the end of the season, in both 2017 and again in 2018, this year I've tried a different approach and have been hatching and raising several groups of chicks throughout the year.  I would say that I've probably hatched 600 Aloha chicks this season, easily, and have tried to raise close to 200 of those myself.  The rest were sold, or given away to my neighbors.

I started with a small hatch in December, of about 30 chicks.  Only 3 hens and zero roosters made it to the final breeding coop.  Hens were colorful, but overall too small in size.

Next hatch, in January, was larger with great results.  After that, I followed with raising a huge group of 75 chicks in February, and 82 chicks in March.  April also had some good hatches, that were shuffled to a couple of new breeders in-state.

I've culled down now to the best 16 out of the 75 from February, and the 82 chicks in March are now down to 40, and will cull at least half of those later, as they mature.  And note - when I say "cull" I just mean those are the ones that don't make the cut to the breeding coop, and are sold to local chicken keepers to be used as back yard pets.

Here are some pics of the January chicks, the "final cut" that are nearing point-of-lay and were recently integrated successfully into the barn with the adult flock:

Aloha Naked Neck pair - two sisters from same hatch - very similar.  One's slightly darker.

Three "Confetti" hens with yellow legs!  Very cute girls.  Also probably sisters.

Next, a pair of Aloha sisters carrying a rare gene called "DUN" that turns the black feathers smoky gray but has no effect on red or gold colors:

Here's a pic of one of the Dun sisters, next to a "normal" hen with Black feathering so you can see the difference in color.  This is an EXTREMELY rare color gene in large fowl chickens:

And last but not least, this Buff Mottled hen, who is very lovely for her unique gold and white spotted plumage:

The scary thing, however, is that all of these youngsters are untested against the Phoenix summer temps of 110-118 and those months are coming soon.  IF they survive, they will be included in the Fall breeding pens.  Fingers crossed!  Because this is one lovely group of youngsters . . .

I am also keeping two of their brothers to see how they grow out.  So far, so good, but they still have a full month (at least) of filling out before they are mature.

This guy is the #1 pick, slightly larger.

Still have MONTHS to go before the "safe" temps in October so there's no telling who will be with us for the Fall 2019 pens.  All I can do is cross my fingers and hope they'll make it through.  In the meantime, I'm going to be sending as many chicks and hatching eggs to (cooler) new homes in Northern AZ as well as to friends out of state whenever possible.  Wish me luck! 

ALOHA CHICKEN BREED STANDARD:  Link to a Google doc, with lots of pics and info for potential breeders.  Cut and paste into a new tab and enjoy!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GL2VAlE74alDj7oSueLzQTgKeWDFcd9_4o4lrVcnFJg/edit?usp=sharing