Meat Bird Project - Delaware, White Rock, Dark Cornish

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Well, so far everything is going pretty well with the Gen. 2 project, all things considering. I lost 4 chicks so far, 3 to predators (raccoons more than likely) and 1 to drowning. Not the end of the world, though I have made serious corrections to make sure neither happens again.

But then today, I found our Dark Cornish rooster ("Chicken Nuggets") dead on the run floor. Not sure what happened, no signs of a struggle, and it didn't look biological. He was on his back, so it could have been turtling, but I'm not sure. Not the end of the world either, since he was a bit of a jerk to my kid and wife. The good news is that I have several DC chicks already and 2 fertile hens, including "Patty", my DC hen from the above pic. Hopefully I can get a replacement or 2 and some hens out of the deal.

The Delaware chicks are growing as expected, and the DC crosses are also about the same age. My WRs are a bit smaller, but are also a bit younger. All seem very happy and healthy. And once again, I'm amazed at the varieties of colors that came out of the 4 batches. With 2 combinations of breeds (DC over WR, DC over Del), we have buff, white with black spots, black/white barring, b/w barring w/ green tones, brown, red, and full DC markings. In fact, I'm having trouble telling the pure DC chicks from some of the mixes, I may have to wait for them all to mature before culling to be sure.
 
Hey @Fat Daddy, a few questions for you. I've been contemplating your stats RE the Spring hatch being the healthiest and heaviest of the year. It completely makes sense, especially since certain breeds only lay part of the year, depending on weather, and their Spring genes are the most 'potent'.

As I live in FL, most of my hens lay all year round, except during their molt. SO... If I were to hatch in the fall so they were raised during the coldest months (we MIGHT get down to the 30s for a few days), do you think it could help with weight gain? And if I kept the males out of the pen for a month or 2 beforehand, would that help with potency? And how would it help if I did it every year, would their genes eventually help them gain?
 

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