Thinking of trying an experiment.

[bobbi-j]

So, out of the 30 or so chicks I got this spring, it looks like I only have 9 or so cockerels. This leaves me with approximately 20 pullets. (The majority of the chicks I ordered were the McMurray's Heavy Breed Assortment, hoping for a goodly number of males for butchering) I did specifically order a Buff Rock cockerel, as I read in McMurray's breed description that they are an excellent meat producing bird. I figured this would add some bulk to my future hatches. Now, looking at the cockerels I have, and the variety of hens, I may play a little with mix and match breeding. I'm thinking of keeping two roosters - the buff rock and one other. My other options appear to be a White Giant, SLW, 2 Aussies, and a generic red one. (The other two are a Naked Neck, and a meat-type bird. The meat-type is the prettiest of the boys, but already having trouble walking - I suspect he wouldn't have a long life.) Anyway, I'm thinking of keeping two cockerels and dividing the pullets to have two separate flocks. I would keep them in my two coops, alternating free range days. I would hatch out at least one clutch from each flock, and monitor to see which flock has the meatiest birds. Honestly, this may be too much for me to manage with my ADD, but it may be fun if I can actually make this work.

Right now, they're young and everyone is still all together. The two largest cockerels appear to be the Buff and the White Giant. I may sneak into the coop some night to lift each one to feel for weight on the birds. The Aussies are beautiful, but not as bulky looking. (I realize that could be a lot of fluff without much underneath) The SLW is also a pretty bird, but again - not much for size. I don't want to rush into butchering until I can also assess for personality. If I find one that I want to keep shows signs of being human aggressive, it will be invited to join us for supper some evening. The birds are all approximately 3 1/2 months old, and today I watched the Rock and an Aussie kind of sparring. Just raised hackles and a lot of jumping at each other, but nothing else.

Any input on this? I love discussion and getting ideas.

 

[Mrs. K]

I have never thought I had ADD until I started playing with chickens. How any one keeps a closed flock is beyond me, hence I have Butter sitting on some Ohio Buckeye eggs. My original plan was the Bielfelder rooster - added weight and good prairie camouflage. However, he is just a bit too laid back for me, and when let out to free range, they stick pretty close to the coop.

Advice for you - I had all those roosters last year, and a bachelor pad gave me some time to see who was who, in size and attitude.

I was pleasantly surprised with how adding a heavy weight rooster over the top of my birds improved the eating roosters, However, I sent one to another friend, and she was not that impressed. So I think that mine were a great deal better than what I HAD in the past, but maybe not that great over all.

As for breeding, legs and feet are very important so I agree, the one with weak legs is out.

This is such a fun hobby!

Mrs K

 

[bobbi-j]

Yep, the bachelor pad will be put into use when they start harassing the girls. For now, everything's going OK, but I know it won't be long.

As stated, the one with the weak legs is one of their meat birds. Pioneer, Freedom Ranger, Red Ranger, whatever you want to call it. There are also two pullets of this type. Not keeping them around, either. These three birds were the size of my laying hens by the time they were 8-10 weeks old. I kept a Freedom Ranger over winter a couple of years ago, but she died that spring of unknown causes.

I have at least two pullets of most of the breeds I have, so I would put one of each breed in with each rooster. All of my old girls, except the one who was broody this year, will be processed this fall.

Could be that instead of yours not being great overall, your friend had higher expectations than were met by your birds. Maybe she was looking for the type of chicken you find in the store? I am looking forward to seeing what I end up with next year.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

1/2 of every chickens' DNA comes from the Hen and the other 1/2 comes from the Rooster. I recommend that you build a few 4'x5' pens with common walls separating them and use a different hen in each of your pens. You can then move your rooster from pen to pen just so each rooster stays in a brood pen for one day out of every 3 or maybe 4 days. Then you can rotate your roosters between more hens and get a better idea of the Brood Cock potential of each rooster. Only the hens are different.

I would recommend buying replacement chicks for my future food chickens because as you may have seen already with your MEAT birds, full on large size fowl (especially the roosters) may have problems doing the shall we say the nasty because of their size, weight, and lack of coronation. But if that is the case do not fret, AI is very easy to do on hens, maybe easier than artificial Insemination with any other domestic animal once you get the hang of collecting the needed semen. All you need is a clean shot glass and a sterile eye dropper.

 

[bobbi-j]

1/2 of every chickens' DNA comes from the Hen and the other 1/2 comes from the Rooster. I recommend that you build a few 4'x5' pens with common walls separating them and use a different hen in each of your pens. You can then move your rooster from pen to pen just so each rooster stays in a brood pen for one day out of every 3 or maybe 4 days. Then you can rotate your roosters between more hens and get a better idea of the Brood Cock potential of each rooster. Only the hens are different.

I would recommend buying replacement chicks for my future food chickens because as you may have seen already with your MEAT birds, full on large size fowl (especially the roosters) may have problems doing the shall we say the nasty because of their size, weight, and lack of coronation. But if that is the case do not fret, AI is very easy to do on hens, maybe easier than artificial Insemination with any other domestic animal once you get the hang of collecting the needed semen. All you need is a clean shot glass and a sterile eye dropper.

Very interesting, thank you. I didn't give much thought to the roosters not being able to breed well because of their size. Not sure I'm ready to go as far as AI, though. I'll just order replacement chicks if necessary.

My main thought is to have a flock that can reproduce and provide eggs and some meat. It's just DH and I, so we don't need small turkeys, but a little meat on a carcass would be good.

 

[aart]

I'll follow along, just for the pure relief at finding an intelligent discussion.

You have older birds too, right, but no cock there?......in yet another coop?
How will you house and keep separate the 2 cocks and their girls....range on alternate days maybe??

 

[lazy gardener]

I'll follow along, just for the pure relief at finding an intelligent discussion.

You have older birds too, right, but no cock there?......in yet another coop?
How will you house and keep separate the 2 cocks and their girls....range on alternate days maybe??

Aart, I'm gonna join you for the same reason. Just putting a post here, so I can find it when things settle down at the end of the day. BJ, you're gonna get some flack from the folks who just like to stir the pot re: this is not a true experiment b/c there are too many variables. The variables are what keeps it fun, and it's YOUR experiment. So have fun, and I'll join you. I kept one Pioneer girl 2 seasons ago. Opted not to keep a boy b/c they were SO huge, I didn't want them to smother my hens!!! Also hoping to beef up my flock. I haven't hefted the dtrs to compare, but they are nice layers. Have a second generation of dtrs on the ground this year.

 

[bobbi-j]

I'll follow along, just for the pure relief at finding an intelligent discussion.

You have older birds too, right, but no cock there?...... Yes - six of them, no rooster. He was found dead under the roost one day last fall. Five of the older hens will be processed this fall. I will keep the one who went broody this year. Two years ago, she was broody twice, last year not at all.

in yet another coop? They are actually all together at this time. Juveniles, old hens, mama with chick. Coop is plenty big since they just sleep in it and free range during the day. They will be divided in the fall so they're not over crowded in the winter.

How will you house and keep separate the 2 cocks and their girls....range on alternate days maybe?? I have two coops with attached 12x16 runs so I can range on alternate days. (The fun part will be keeping DH on track as to who gets to go out when since he'll be in charge of chickens once I go back to school.

) I will keep them all together as long as I can, then divide once the cockerels start getting feisty. I may have to make a decision soon as to who to keep, since DH has already started sharpening his knives.... I'm leaning toward the Buff Rock and the White Giant. I really need to go into the coop some night (checking carefully for skunks...) and just heft them to see how they feel for weight.

Aart, I'm gonna join you for the same reason. Just putting a post here, so I can find it when things settle down at the end of the day.
BJ, you're gonna get some flack from the folks who just like to stir the pot re: this is not a true experiment b/c there are too many variables. The variables are what keeps it fun, and it's YOUR experiment. Eh, bring it on. I'm at a point in my life where I don't really care what a bunch of faceless people I will never meet thinks. Oh, wait - I think I've always been at that point.

Anyway, for the sake of discussion and to remove that one distraction, let's call it a "project" instead of an "experiment". I think it will be interesting to see if my hatchery birds can grow into some sort of meaty chickens. I know, they'll never be like a Cornish X or the Ranger hybrids and I'm fine with that. If I wanted those, I'd order them.

So have fun, and I'll join you. Happy to have you along for the ride!

I kept one Pioneer girl 2 seasons ago. Opted not to keep a boy b/c they were SO huge, I didn't want them to smother my hens!!! Also hoping to beef up my flock. I haven't hefted the dtrs to compare, but they are nice layers. Have a second generation of dtrs on the ground this year. How are they in size compared to the rest of your flock? I don't think the Freedom Ranger I kept over even laid an egg. She didn't seem particularly large, either.

ETA - this project may not even get off the ground. If I end up with an aggressive rooster out of the ones I keep, all bets are off.

 

[lazy gardener]

BJ, the dtrs and grand dtrs of my Pioneer hen are not very large. But her sons remain huge. She was the smallest pioneer gal of the batch. So, I can't really say that she's adding size to the mix... but... perhaps an other generation or two will see an increased size. Jack the roo is huge now.

 

[Mrs. K]

Maybe she was looking for the type of chicken you find in the store? I am looking forward to seeing what I end up with next year.

She has not eaten a store bought chicken in years. She has chickens for food, meat and eggs, and a garden. Providing for her family is a number one priority.

I think you will be pleasantly surprised when you put a meatier rooster over the hens. I was. Last summer I put a Bielfelder rooster over riff raft hens, EE mostly, a white rock, and BO. Got some very nice medium size hens, and meatier roosters. The hens are still good layers, and two of the EE daughters still give green eggs.

Good luck, it is so darn slow when you are breeding for a change.

Mrs K