norn iron birdman 3 Report post Posted January 29, 2010 COULD ANYONE TELL ME HOW TO BREED OUT THE ODD BLACK/GREY FEATHERS OUT OF THE C.F.W. HENS HEAD , DO YOU NEED TO BREED FROM A "CLEAN HEADED " HEN OR WOULD BREEDING WITH A LIGHTBACK COCK CLEAN IT UP ANY ? THANKS LAURENCE Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zebraman 267 Report post Posted February 19, 2010 Hi Lawrence, Did you get any further with the answer to your question? Gary. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Linford 4 Report post Posted January 31, 2012 No replies, does that mean no one really knows how to eradicate it, or is it pot luck. I have some cfw chicks a few days off fledging but their heads seem very dark compared to the rest of their feathers. Will this fade with age and the moult leaving just a few or are dirty heads identified this early on. I see recently Paulm has put up a photo of a cfw chick 2 days out of the nest and it's head although not spotless l;ooks clean. I have hens with varying degrees of dirty heads and a couple completely clean, do the pass the trait on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mark1e 67 Report post Posted January 31, 2012 My good friend merv shields and he's member on here he breeds loads of CFWs and i think he breeds CFW to CFW all the time to get good clean heads and he has some good quality birds as seen in last years 2011 shows with very good results,So why not give him a PM i am shore he will help in your answer,mark Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paulm 119 Report post Posted January 31, 2012 Hi LawrenceThe two bird below were bred out of Normal/CFW x Normal pairings and i think they sometime clear up quite alot once in their adult feather.Im no expert on CFW and most of mine have bred by Accident rather than design.Paul. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Broughy 12 Report post Posted January 31, 2012 Hi allI would say the dirty head comes from the parent birds as i used normals in my cfw to get there size up then once happy with the size then pair cfw to cfw to hopefully get clean heads after a few breeding season of cfw to cfw the dirty heads can become a rare occurance cheersRyan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dave huntington 94 Report post Posted January 31, 2012 Don't forget all chestnut hens have dirty heads when chicks that's how you sex them in nestMany of them improve as they moult outI wouldn't worry too much about good birds with dirty heads as these can still breed clear headed birdsI would stay away from lightbacks as being diluite they lighten the markongs of cfw and you want good colourIf I use a dirty headed bird which is invariably a buff bird I pair them to a yellow featherd bird as double buffing will not improve the flecking this is wju we should always keep a few of these smaller yellow featherd birds hard as that might seem when selecting birds to keep Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Linford 4 Report post Posted February 1, 2012 Dave, when you say yellow feathered birds do you mean the tighter feathered less buff or do you mean the bird has a slight tinge of fawn/yellow. I have such a cock bird that has this slight tinge and wondered what it was about, there again i have another cock bird exactly the same type which is superbly marked and the white is white.So how do you sex cfw chicks in the nest, the darker the heads means it's a hen? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mark1e 67 Report post Posted February 1, 2012 Hi MarkFrom what i have found young CFW Hen chicks in the nest do have darker heads they are the only one's i think you can sex before them leaving nest,mark Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
