Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[Apdeb]

I have currently one buckeye and one bantam buff brahma laying!!! If im in connecticut could i hatch some of both in january???? My Barnevelders were born at end of may not sure if im going to get any eggs from them this fall

 

[Yellow House Farm]

The difficulty with broodies is timing. I reserved 35 Dorking pullets for broodies. IN Marck, I had one. In Jmid-June they were all purring, but what am I going to do with chicks hatching the 1st week of July?!

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

The difficulty with broodies is timing. I reserved 35 Dorking pullets for broodies. IN Marck, I had one. In Jmid-June they were all purring, but what am I going to do with chicks hatching the 1st week of July?!

I completely agree....being in the deep south, I like to hatch all my chicks in Dec/Jan. My LF birds seem to finish much larger if I can hatch before Spring and they seem to tolerate the summer heat/humidity much better if they are 4+ months old by the time it hits. Last yr all my pens were hatched BY Jan 31....I had pullets laying in Aug/Sept and I can definitely tell the keepers for next yr. All the chicks my broodies raised (except 2 BLRW pullets) have been sold or given away to friends

 

[juststruttin]

how often have you seen a judge sniff a chicken.?

 

[juststruttin]

Im curious as to how many people here vaccinate for Mareks and if so do you vaccinate chicks raised by broodies.

 

[NanaKat]

Most of my broody hens this year have been Wyandotte and Wyandotte/Cochin crosses bred for broodies. In fact there are four Wyandotte hens sitting on Bantam Delaware eggs right now. The two Cochin hens that were broody were given 15 incubator chicks between them to raise. One is still acting as mother while the other started laying and went broody again. She is currently raising two chicks hatched under a broody Wyandotte.

Breed pens are set in December with hatching beginning in January thru May. That allows me to use some broody hens for brooding hatching chicks that have been toe punched.

I like the broody raised chicks better than those raised in a brooder or floor pen. They are more alert to their surroundings, forage better and are not bashful about roaming in their free ranging. They also accept new items in a more varied diet.

 

[Canieldonrad]

The difficulty with broodies is timing. I reserved 35 Dorking pullets for broodies. IN Marck, I had one. In Jmid-June they were all purring, but what am I going to do with chicks hatching the 1st week of July?!

Eat them. lol

Im curious as to how many people here vaccinate for Mareks and if so do you vaccinate chicks raised by broodies.

I've never vaccinated anything. I grew up raising my birds in an area where Mareks was pretty brutal. You just grow used to the death after a while. Birds adapt pretty well to the virus to be honest. The more that carry the virus, that spread the virus, the better your birds will be in the long run in my opinion. Expect losses, expect survivors. You will know which to breed with, its pretty fool proof.

 

[Wisher1000]

Alright all you experienced breeders, I would like to hear you critique my plan. I am getting a rooster and four hens from Urch the second weekend of November. I will have a separate coop for them by then where they will have no contact with my existing flock. I will have two pens (4x12), but can divide them into four pens (4x6) if needed. I was thinking I would put the best two hens in one pen and the other two in the other. Then I will rotate the cock between the pens with a rest in between. I will go ahead and get them into this arrangement as soon as I get them home. Would there be any advantage to giving each hen her own pen and rotating the cock? Or maybe giving the two best hens their own pens, the rooster a crash pad, and letting the lowest two share a pen?

I intend to keep them in these small covered pens for one month. During this time, I will worm, dust, provide 16 hours of light, and have them tested by my NPIP inspector. I will be feeding and supplementing for breeding condition. Once the month (quarantine) is over, there will be a long shallow run (8x24) on the backside that they will share, probably on alternating days. I will not allow them to free range until breeding season is over, but then they can join the layer flock until next breeding season.

My goal is to hatch 100 chicks between three hatches. I will need a 66% hatch rate to accomplish this.

How's that sound?

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Alright all you experienced breeders, I would like to hear you critique my plan. I am getting a rooster and four hens from Urch the second weekend of November. I will have a separate coop for them by then where they will have no contact with my existing flock. I will have two pens (4x12), but can divide them into four pens (4x6) if needed. I was thinking I would put the best two hens in one pen and the other two in the other. Then I will rotate the cock between the pens with a rest in between. I will go ahead and get them into this arrangement as soon as I get them home. Would there be any advantage to giving each hen her own pen and rotating the cock? Or maybe giving the two best hens their own pens, the rooster a crash pad, and letting the lowest two share a pen?

I intend to keep them in these small covered pens for one month. During this time, I will worm, dust, provide 16 hours of light, and have them tested by my NPIP inspector. I will be feeding and supplementing for breeding condition. Once the month (quarantine) is over, there will be a long shallow run (8x24) on the backside that they will share, probably on alternating days. I will not allow them to free range until breeding season is over, but then they can join the layer flock until next breeding season.

My goal is to hatch 100 chicks between three hatches. I will need a 66% hatch rate to accomplish this.

How's that sound?

Or.....

Put two pullets in a larger pen and then one pullet each in two smaller pens. Breed the cock to the two pullets in the smaller pens. Don't hatch from the two in the larger pen. From the two hens in the smaller pens, hatch as many as you can raise well.

Nest generation (get rid of everything but this breed) put the original male on his best daughter from each of the two bred hens. Breed new cockerels to the two previously bred females and to the two cockerels you reserved. If you can raise enough to reserve four quality cockerels to use in this stage, all the better. A plan like this will diversify your genetics a bit more.

 

[Canieldonrad]

I've been out of breeding for a while, and I'm trying to determine the best way for myself as well. But I would do this:

Individual pair over the hens, collect eggs from them each week once they have been bred. Pick a day of the week you can set eggs. Start small, hatch on week by week basis. You likely won't be able to get eggs from each hen each week unless the male is (pardon me) fit for the position. You don't have to hatch 100 to get good birds for next year. Be more realistic, shoot for 50 your first year with them. The best of the males from each hen, you keep. Retire the first male. Swap each cockerel to a hen that is NOT his mother, add the hens OWN daughters to mate with the new male.

Then proceed from there.

I would not willingly start a venture by hatching 100 the first year. Especially when you only have 4 hens. Its best to work your way into the flow a bit easier and more subtle.