Measure up, and nisai and older fish selection
A few weekends ago, (17/18th March '18) we went through the tank holding our nisai and older koi to catalogue them.
I'm falling behind in my blogging.. so just a quick one to show you some of the fish, and provide a heads up on what's going on.
Different to previous years, where I kept my best few to exhibit at shows or to grow on with a view to exhibiting a the future. But, we've stopped exhibiting ourselves (check out the 'weekend koi farmer' article from last autumn), and without a nisai & older fish growing on tank - we're making a change this spring... and have listed them all for sale. I'm looking forward to seeing what other hobbyists can do with these kohaku, which are among the best from their respective spawnings.
In a year or so's time, I hope to have a dedicated nisai and older koi growing on tank, and we may revert back to the previous approach of holding a few back to grow on to sansai.
A few have been picked up already and I forgot to take pics of some that left early! If I get sent pics by the new owners, I'll share in a future blog post. that includes the brilliant 'maruten' kohaku, which is now in the early 50's cm. And, i hope to obtain some footage of that one to share with you here.
There are many great kohaku's remaining and they can be seen here, with their sizes:
https://www.byerkoifarm.co.uk/collections/koi-for-sale
And, here are some that stand out from the recent cataloguing, in the order that we catalogued them on the day:
nick-named 'Marmite', and measured in at 58cm. One of the best kohaku's we've ever bred. now gone to a new home....
this 3 step came up second longest at 57cm... very good growth, and with a strong body too. I thought this may have been female, but found some roughness on the cheeks... so, he's a male! Despite that, I expect him to grow very large.
Love the pattern on this one... which will get even better as the body fills out and lifts the pattern up. from Sharkey's june 16 spawning. And, refined sashi and kiwa too - makes the pattern stand out that little bit more than others.
the window on this 3 step has been there since it was a fry! and i kept it mainly as a development project. the skin on this kohaku is really good.. at the top end of what we achieved in the sharkey '16 spawning. the window has not increased in size. as the body has grown, and the pattern expanded along with it - the window seems to have stayed a modest size and is becoming less of an issue.
a female from our may 15 spawning - she won 2nd in size 2 overall at the 2016 south of england koi show (beaten by another of our kohaku's - that won baby champ that day), and she's coming along nicely. the sashi and kiwa is good. the skin is good, but i'd like the red to thicken up a bit. I'm fairly sure it will - the sashi seems to be the best indicator of colour depth and development pathway, from this parent set.
'Map of England', measured in at 53cm and is female. Also, going to a new home. One of the best kohaku's we've ever bred.
"Ray of Sunshine'.. was in my top 4 (along with 'Marmite', 'Map of England', the maruten .. gone to a new home and picture not to hand). But, sexed it as male during selection and I still think this is a great kohaku with a unique pattern. But, not as large as the other males - like the window kohaku 2 up the page.
we've been tracking this since it was a very small koi, and it's not disappointed. I'm pretty sure it's male, but couldn't sex it conclusively. the sashi is tightening up, but still a little deep on the shoulder. one of the prettiest kohaku's we've bred.
Today (bank holiday weekend, end of March)... I've been selecting through our tosai tank and I have some footage of that which I'll share in another post. The good news is that the tosai from our early summer 17 spawning have reached a decent size. With the largest ones in the mid 30's cm. And many are around the 30cm mark. the spawning seems to have delivered more decent benigoi than kohaku's, although the 40 or so that I'm growing on for another couple of months include some special ones :-) pictures to follow soon.
Have a great Easter break.
I'm falling behind in my blogging.. so just a quick one to show you some of the fish, and provide a heads up on what's going on.
Different to previous years, where I kept my best few to exhibit at shows or to grow on with a view to exhibiting a the future. But, we've stopped exhibiting ourselves (check out the 'weekend koi farmer' article from last autumn), and without a nisai & older fish growing on tank - we're making a change this spring... and have listed them all for sale. I'm looking forward to seeing what other hobbyists can do with these kohaku, which are among the best from their respective spawnings.
In a year or so's time, I hope to have a dedicated nisai and older koi growing on tank, and we may revert back to the previous approach of holding a few back to grow on to sansai.
A few have been picked up already and I forgot to take pics of some that left early! If I get sent pics by the new owners, I'll share in a future blog post. that includes the brilliant 'maruten' kohaku, which is now in the early 50's cm. And, i hope to obtain some footage of that one to share with you here.
There are many great kohaku's remaining and they can be seen here, with their sizes:
https://www.byerkoifarm.co.uk/collections/koi-for-sale
And, here are some that stand out from the recent cataloguing, in the order that we catalogued them on the day:
from may 15, a male seems to have kept growing despite not always having a growing on tank available to it over the last couple of years. you may remember this one from my blog over the last few years, and the development interest was over the 2nd red marking, the small red marking on the shoulder area. previously, the colour on it was inconsistent with the red in the other markings. but this has now firmed up and is basically consistent with the other red markings - which is what I expected to happen, but it's always good to see it actually happen! Still a relatively young fish , and this has recently been picked up by a hobbyist. One to watch over the next few years.
the largest koi from our late summer 16 spawning. but for some secondary hi on the nose area - this one is a great prospect. strong body line, and volume throughout the length of the fish. very happy with the body and skin development. Also, the pattern will suite the fish well as it grows.
nick-named 'Marmite', and measured in at 58cm. One of the best kohaku's we've ever bred. now gone to a new home....
Love the pattern on this one... which will get even better as the body fills out and lifts the pattern up. from Sharkey's june 16 spawning. And, refined sashi and kiwa too - makes the pattern stand out that little bit more than others.
a female from our may 15 spawning - she won 2nd in size 2 overall at the 2016 south of england koi show (beaten by another of our kohaku's - that won baby champ that day), and she's coming along nicely. the sashi and kiwa is good. the skin is good, but i'd like the red to thicken up a bit. I'm fairly sure it will - the sashi seems to be the best indicator of colour depth and development pathway, from this parent set.
turned out male! honestly, I couldn't believe it... with that shape. i love it. amanda feels the opposite! it's the window which does the damage. but, in terms of growth, shape, red and white - I'm very happy with this one!
'Map of England', measured in at 53cm and is female. Also, going to a new home. One of the best kohaku's we've ever bred.
"Ray of Sunshine'.. was in my top 4 (along with 'Marmite', 'Map of England', the maruten .. gone to a new home and picture not to hand). But, sexed it as male during selection and I still think this is a great kohaku with a unique pattern. But, not as large as the other males - like the window kohaku 2 up the page.
we've been tracking this since it was a very small koi, and it's not disappointed. I'm pretty sure it's male, but couldn't sex it conclusively. the sashi is tightening up, but still a little deep on the shoulder. one of the prettiest kohaku's we've bred.
'headlights' from the july 14 spawning. now 68cm, and looking fantastic. not happy about listing this one for a move....
Today (bank holiday weekend, end of March)... I've been selecting through our tosai tank and I have some footage of that which I'll share in another post. The good news is that the tosai from our early summer 17 spawning have reached a decent size. With the largest ones in the mid 30's cm. And many are around the 30cm mark. the spawning seems to have delivered more decent benigoi than kohaku's, although the 40 or so that I'm growing on for another couple of months include some special ones :-) pictures to follow soon.
Have a great Easter break.
