Our Crop of Latebreds

 

Our Crop Of Latebreds

We have some beauties from our Barcelona hens of 2016 paired to sons of Barcelona hens. Every one is down from my foundation 7 birds of up to 40 years ago. We know they carry top genes, and are placed in stock with great confidence and belief, as is our custom and practice. Some are gifts to our contacts in the network of enthusiasts. A small no of the descendents may be in the clock at 710 miles. This is the nature of the marathon beast in race reality-the proof of the pudding philosophy. We tend to keep the most attractive ones to augment the phenotype. Next year our out-breeders will go in one aviary, with the Emerton/Harvey strain all together for concentrated, Barcelona breeding at its best. The total management is blueprint/formula based and driven by 2 fanatics.

   

In our loft today;

Our 43 birds are out each day, relishing the September sunshine. Baths assist the moult which is in full swing, aided by a very rich diet of our own making. We have six special latebreds being treated to offset possible bacteria. The 24 surviving ybs. have been harvesting field barley for 2 days and are loving semi-feral life. If they get to Barcelona, the foraging instincts will kick in then, it is a question of maintaining health and maximum growth at all times, and keeping, rugged outdoor condition until breeding and racing time. We got 4 from the hardest Barcelona International for 25 years in the UK. All birds are being fed plenty of our special creation mixture, and lack nothing. We hope to supply the network with a few birds from our Barcelona family - every bird goes to it.

 

Jim Emerton