Sagitta Breed - Looking for Info - Page 3

Quote:

Originally Posted by jessicayarno 

Those look exactly like my babies that I have right now that I got from Pinepride hatchery and he calls his the Red Star Freedom Ranger...Hmmmm wonder if they are the same bird.. Some of mine are naked necks though..

Sagitta is a Centurian Poultry patented hybrid; it is not the same as red star freedom ranger, etc.

I have just one Sagitta hen, who is now one year-old and weighs 5 pounds, she is far more productive than my other standard breeds (wyandottes, australorp, orpington). She lays the largest eggs of the group and is the most consistent. She started laying at 17 weeks, 4 weeks earlier than her sisters, but also grew at least 50% faster than everyone else. When I bought the chick from Wilco (who bought her from Dunlap) , I was told that it was a RIR x NH hybrid, which is only partially correct. It's a feather sexable hybrid produced by Centurian Poultry by crossing a (New Hampshire X Rhode Island Red) rooster with a White Cornish hen. While they were created for commercial dual-purpose production, she does quite well free range foraging and eating scraps, which consist of most of her diet. She's a real sweety, and is my 5yo daughter's favorite to hold. It's a pretty good variety, although from Centurian's literature, I think I may need to try their gold sex link Bovan Brown next time.

So sad! 

We got a couple Sagittas last year.  Our local feed store told us they were a mix of RI Red, NH Red, and Slow Cornish.  One died after a couple months, but was enormous and hung out by the feeder all day (Slow Cornish?).  The other one is wonderful.  She's the first hen to come running to me.  And loves being petted.  We named her Big Bertha because of her size.  We don't think she layed the first year or at least was never caught in the nesting boxes.  She's been laying since January and the eggs are Jumbo.  Enjoy your Sagittas!  We certainly enjoy our big girl.

I'm so sorry.  Just read your last post.

Hi!  I just bought a Sagitta chick today!  She is lovely, a real beauty.  Her marking are really unusual and striking.  She has kind of a racer stripe down her back.  The mgr at the ranch supply said they are typically very friendly, docile birds and are on the larger side.  She fit right in with the other 7 chicks I already got this week.  She'll be my only Sagitta so it'll be interesting to see how she compares with other breeds.  Yeah, I couldn't find much of anything online about them, either.

Oh, wanted to say that the mgr. said they carried these last year and had farmers coming in requesting that they order them again as they came from a different breeder than their regular supplier.  It was like a special order or something.  The buyers here were raving about them.

Nwbella and BoiseBurb, I'm sorry about your pretty girls and your losses all around, too.  :(

I have a few of these birds and at first I thought they were just dark colored New Hampshire Reds but nope they are not.  Here is some info on them and where I purchased them up here in Idaho.

“The Sagitta is a dual purpose bird that is a cross between a Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire Red and Cornish Cross. They are a heavy, docile breed that will provide large eggs as well as a nice size bird on the table.”

Here is the webpage and a couple of pictures.

http://www.dunlaphatchery.net/standards.aspx

Anybody  tried  to  breed   them?   I wonder   if they  will   breed true.   I   am on  my  way   of exploring   possibilities  of  raising  real  good  meat  birds.  I have Light  Sussex,  just  got some Dorkings,   planning  to get  Dark Cornish  soon  and lets  the games begin!

So  far  trying  most  dual  purpose breeds for meat over the years  I found  their meat  is  tough  and bland in taste.  Exception  White Sussex  their meat  is good.

Lately   some  idea  hit me:

If  somebody (like most  of us)  keeps  a few  breeds anyway,  why   bother  with  "dual  purpose  breeds"  which  are  "dual"   but  really  not  very  good  for  either egg  production (efficiency)  or meat  (weight  and quality).

So  I decided  to  get  rid  of  my  "duals"  keeping  only  Light  Sussex   for  future crosses.  For eggs  I  am  raising   Brown  Leghorns  and their  cross  with  Easter Eggers.  Very  prolific  and thrifty  egg  producers.

After  years of  believing  that  brown  eggs  are  somehow "better"   than  white shelled eggs  I   found out   that  egg   taste is  what  you  feed  your chicks  and has  nothing  to  do   with  shell  color.  I did several  tests,  my  wife   peeled  the boiled eggs   or broke  them  for  scrambled or omlet,  so  I did not  know  if they  are  white eggs or brown eggs,  after  boiling   of frying  them  I could  not  tell   which  are "better tasting"   or any  difference in  taste.

I know  many  will   disagree,   but  I  recommend   that  simple test   and find out  if you  can tell  the difference.

I guess  I ranted  off  the subject.

Sorry

So  lets go back  to  Sagittas.   Do  they  breed true?

I really   do  not  expect   definite  answer,  I posted  some questions  about   Dark  Cornish,  never get  any answers,  so  I am  probably  going  to  get  some Sagittas and find out  myself.

I just picked up a few of these birds this last week. I got them from Valley Co-op in Gooding, Id. The manager there is a friend, we got pigs from him last year to raise and he was raving about them then. I picked up 15 of the Creep Meat cornish, and then 6 other birds. The manager grabbed them for me. I had no idea what they were. Two are a yellow that looks like they rolled in ashes. Two are white with black blotches here and there, and two were the red sagittas. One with racing stripes and one with red and barred wings. I lost one little red one last night, and picked up three more little red ones with yellow-ish heads. The reds are a little smaller than the smugey yellows and the creepy meats, but their feathers are coming in faster. 

I am keeping track of how much it costs to raise up the creepy meats, and my bottle calf on my blog. I'm curious to see what they all end up costing per pound. The cornish were for meat, and the others are for egg laying to replace jersey giants that are getting up there in age. 

I also have a year old silver laced wyandotte roo the neighbors gave me. I keep hoping one of the jerseys will go broody soon. Two did last year. I's love to get a few chicks from a jersey/silver laced cross.