Cuckoo Cuckoo!!

I debated trying to keep it secret, but then I figured the sooner I "went public" with it the sooner I could start complaining about whatever problems come up. :-) Sooo...the new color I am working on is Cuckoo Rosecombs. This was a late-in-the-season experiment, so I won't end up with many of them to work with. There are two more batches due to hatch. This wasn't a color I had really considered working with, and contrary to what some people will think this was NOT inspired by the exorbitantly priced trio that sold on line. It maybe did sort of get the train of thought onto the tracks though. A friend of mine has a flock of Bantam Dominiques, so I borrowed a couple of them and bred them to Black Rosecombs. It's not every day that Cuckoo birds that already have rose combs are available, so I figured I'd better take the opportunity. I don't know how many years this project will take.


(above) These are the chicks from the first batch. They are 3.5 weeks old. The one on the right is from a RC hen x Dom male. The other two are most likely purebred Dom, though I am not sure yet.


(above) These are the chicks from batch 2, which is a very strange little group. They are all from the Dom females X RC male. The one in the back is cuckoo. The second from the left is a "normal" black like what I see in purebred RCs. The two dark blacks are darker than what I ever get out of the RCs. And the other one is a Brassy Back, which I just can't figure out at all. People say the Brassy Back color originated as a sport from Black, so maybe it's just a sport?? Who knows. Batch 3 is due this weekend.