Spurs on the hens are a defect, not a disqualification, so in an APA show, they'd get marked down a little but that is not the end of the world. It's getting increasingly difficult to get Javas, especially now that the main person who kept them alive for the last half a century or so, downsized...
There are two APA groups on FB, one is for dues-paying APA members and the other is for anyone interested in the APA. Both groups are having a ton of problems with newbies, and even non-members throwing hissy fits when someone tells them their precious Fluffy Butt isn't the bees knees, and when...
:thIf it's not one thing it's another. I'm glad you at least have some backups. You're right about the flightiness though and perhaps you'll be happier in the long run even though it may take you longer to get the birds up to SOP size. I've got the two different bloodlines and one is...
AMEN! Having a discussion on another website and having someone ask why bother saving the old breeds when they all have somewhat similar traits because the oldest ones were used to make the newer ones, and they don't all have absolutely unique traits. Had to point out that not everyone places...
:barnieI can't even get on most of the other threads any more, and haven't for several years. I just can't. I'm sick and tired of being told how evil I am that I eat my birds. People just have no idea where their food comes from anymore. There was a poll taken recently by a dairy related...
Sadly so far I haven't found anybody that is serious enough to have the patience to breed these birds. In fact, some of the worst offenders have been people who swore up and down to me that they had been searching for years to find Javas, that they desperately wanted to save them from another...
Ugh, I feel your pain. People are obsessed with chicks. Part of it is the *baby animal* appeal and started birds aren't *cute*. Then too they want chicks because chicks are usually sold cheaper than started poultry. People also want pretty feathers that sound exciting and unusual ( I hear...
And here you go - the craziness of chicken genetics where you're supposed to be selecting for the traits you want, yet it doesn't work. I swear, some days chicken breeding is just miserable. At least we can eat them and their eggs.
Actually what is on the website is not the first class. They have a class coming up down at A&M that was full almost as soon as they posted it. And that was way before the letters went out. Some of the folks in breeder groups discovered it a month or two ago and started spreading the word...
Yep, I hear ya on that one - lousy hatching here too. Had some stuff come up and waited to long to pick breeders and start hatching - so fertility has been bad because I had too many hens per cock and then by the time I got the pens separated, it was too hot and nobody wanted to mate. I just...