Gingers

[Chicken_man 1,651]

Hi fellas,

I'm keen to see some pictures of good Gingers.

Would anyone oblige?

Thanks

[mule1943 291]

whats gingers chicken man ?

[Chicken_man 1,651]

Hi mule,

Gingers are a type of Gamefowl, really refers to the colour. Oxford, Irish type of fowl, the one's I would like to see anyway.

Hope that helps.

Atb

[Greyface 50]

I'll have a look and see if I can find some pics of the gingers I had a while back . I lost loads of pics on an old computer. Now I put everything on photobucket.

 

Meanwhile, here is one of some ginger duns I bred.

[Greyface 50]

Sorry about the quality and size of the pic.

 

The gingers which were used to breed these birds had very dark eyes, but the dun birds used on the other side had red eyes. Good gingers should have almost black eyes.

[Greyface 50]

 

[Greyface 50]

This bird is a half brother to the above, by the same ginger cock but out of a pile hen.

[Greyface 50]

And just for balance...A pair of young gypsy-faced brown reds, Brother and sister. I bred these by using ginger over partridge light reds, then a black hen into that, and in and in for a few generations.

[Chicken_man 1,651]

Greyface,

They are absolutely quality birds.

It must of taken a good few yrs to get the results you were after.

I know they are not Gingers, but I especially like the gypsy faced brown reds.

They all look in top notch condition too.

I would like to know a bit more about producing the Brown reds if possible.

Hat's off to you :-)

All the very best with them.

:-)

[Greyface 50]

All the very best with them.

:-)

Thanks. Unfortunately I lost all my birds through a combination of four and two legged vermin. It broke my heart.

 

I now live in a more secure place, so I'm hoping to start again. I should have some birds by around June month if all goes to plan.

 

It does take a long time to create a new strain of birds. The brown reds took about five years and hundreds of hatchings to get to the stage where they were all coming alike.

 

The standard brown breasted red can be produced fairly easily by using a ginger cock over light red partridge hens. That should produce a pullet very similar to the above, but with red face and willow legs.

 

From there it is a case of deciding whether to breed for type similar to the ginger, a heavier boned and more cobby bird, or more toward the light red type which is a flashier more reachy type. I used light red Whitehackles which came out of Ireland, as I preferred that type. By breeding back to the original parent stock, on whatever side you prefer, you gradually set the type you want. Once you have that right, you can start to work on colour.

 

Once I got the type I wanted, I used a black Irish hen (gypsy-faced and black-legged) into the red-faced brown red stock, and then selected for gypsy faces and black legs and gradually bred the red-faced stock out.

 

The secret is to select only the best base stock and, as I've said before, you must cull anything which is undesirable in the breeding pens. Keep as many good birds as you get, and run at least two families so that you can outcross into the other family which is closely related. Any new blood brought in, such as the black Irish hen I used, must be top quality and from a strain which is known to be consistent in quality.

 

There are problems to be aware of, such as the size of each generation ( birds will get smaller as each generation is bred closely), and you must always put gameness before all else when selecting brood stock.

[Greyface 50]

Now these are a totally different thing altogether. Believe it or not, these birds are all full brothers out of one hatch. They were about six months old then.

 

The cock was an American game grey, described as a Red Fox Grey when I got him, and their mother was a whitehackle light red partridge hen.

 

These were a first cross and so they were all quite different. Had I managed to keep them I would have worked away with them untill I got them all looking one way or another. Notice their different leg colouring as well as their feathering. They had plenty of substance though.

Edited March 23, 2015 by Greyface

[Greyface 50]

This was a full sister to them. Not the best pic, as her crop was full and she was a bit flighty that day. I had six of them and they all looked more alike.

Edited March 23, 2015 by Greyface

[Chicken_man 1,651]

Sorry you lost your birds, I imagine it was quite a wrench. Hopefully you will be up and running again soon.

Again, quality fowl, hard to believe they are out of the same batch. The yellow legged bird is particularly striking, and stands out.

Creating a strain takes a lot of patients, and time, not for the faint hearted.

Again hats off to you, and thanks for the reply, and also the detailed explanation for the gypsy faced brown reds.

Atb

[Chicken_man 1,651]

This was a full sister to them. Not the best pic, as her crop was full and she was a bit flighty that day. I had six of them and they all looked more alike.

First class :-)

[Chicken_man 1,651]

Would love to see the Gingers, if you can rake them out.

Thanks