Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[Yellow House Farm]

Okay, just so I am sure I understand. I choose the two (of the four) best hens and give them their own breeder pens. The other two hens get set aside until the next generation is breeding age. I hatch all I can from the two best hens and the cock. From the resulting chicks, I choose the best pullet and the best cockeral from each hen.
The pullets are bred back to their father (and to the original hens that hatched them?), while the cockerals are bred to the hens that were not bred from last season.

Is that right?

To keep them straight, I could call them the A line (all raised from the first trio) and B line (all raised from the second set of hens and an A cockeral. I assume this would be easier to track than giving each hen a line (A,B,C, and D) of her own. Is there some standard way of tracking parentage? I have been thinking each bird would have a designating number like Af24, indicating it is the 24th female in the A line. I would keep her records using that number. I have been trying to figure it out on my own, but I'm open to suggestion...

BTW - The other birds are my layer flock, they lay a variety of colored eggs which I sell to offset my feed bill. The Silver Campines lay white eggs which are not as popular with my customers. I plan to eventually replace the layers with better quality breeders who lay shades of brown eggs, and some blue egg layers, but for now, I have healthy, productive, homely hens.

Yup. In the second generation, you can breed the originally bred hens to cockerels as well.

To track parentage, toe-punch each chick. This marks their parentage. Every chick from a specific breeding gets the same toe-punch. This is the bare minimum for identification. Then wing band them. This allows you to track individual birds effectively.

If Campines are your breed of choice, perhaps it's a better idea not to up-grade your hatchery layers for the sake of a non-breeding laying flock. This will allows you to focus on your Campines without being distracted by other possibilities. In other words, let the schwag be schwag.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

This pullet just took Champion Mediterranean at the New Hampshire Poultry Fanciers Association annual show. We had another Ancona take Reserve Mediterranean.:

 

[gjensen]

This pullet just took Champion Mediterranean at the New Hampshire Poultry Fanciers Association annual show. We had another Ancona take Reserve Mediterranean.:

Congrats. Good to see.

 

[thedragonlady]

This pullet just took Champion Mediterranean at the New Hampshire Poultry Fanciers Association annual show. We had another Ancona take Reserve Mediterranean.:

Nice pullet. Even nicer enlarged !

 

[gjensen]

In the spirit of the Mediterranean breeds, I am posting a couple Catalanas. I know, they need a lot of work, but that is part of the appeal. They are a genuine project. They need work, but they perform. They are all business. They are starting to molt, by the way. A cock, hen, and very late hatch cockerel.

 

[Wisher1000]

Yup. In the second generation, you can breed the originally bred hens to cockerels as well.

To track parentage, toe-punch each chick. This marks their parentage. Every chick from a specific breeding gets the same toe-punch. This is the bare minimum for identification. Then wing band them. This allows you to track individual birds effectively.

If Campines are your breed of choice, perhaps it's a better idea not to up-grade your hatchery layers for the sake of a non-breeding laying flock. This will allows you to focus on your Campines without being distracted by other possibilities. In other words, let the schwag be schwag.

THAT'S how you do it! I have been trying to figure out how to track them.

On wing bands, do you band all of them while very young or wait till they show promise? It seems a waste to band all the birds, only to have them show some DQ and be culled at 12 weeks. Can the bands be applied after the first or second round of culling or is it more difficult to do at that time?

As for my "schwag," I think you are right. I enjoy my mutts, very much, and they have served their purpose well for many years. They are friendly and are reliable layers. I never have to regret eating their eggs instead of hatching them. I don't feel pressured to protect the babies they raise by penning them. They grow up in the flock, learn from the hen and others, they are predator-wise and good foragers. The strong survive, the weak do not and I don't get (too) upset about it. They are chickens. They will also never have to endure baths or cage training, nor have to spend months in a small pen with a rooster they didn't choose! Think I will keep them, but I reserve the right to add any pretty thing that catches my eye at the show....

Thank you, again, Yellow House Farm, for your help in getting a handle on the day to day practices. It is most helpful and GREATLY appreciated!

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Most people wing band right away.

And you're welcome for the advise. Like the others who do this (and most much better than I) the whole goal is setting people who want to be successful up to be successful. The reality is that we need more breeders of better birds, which means we need more people willing to specialize. In order to specialize one must have a mentor, or rather mentors, because one is in truth learning an old-fashioned profession that, although no longer as remunerative as in by-gone days, still requires the exigencies of a profession if top-notch results are to be had, i.e. if high-quality stock is to move forward into the future.

 

[NanaKat]

This pullet just took Champion Mediterranean at the New Hampshire Poultry Fanciers Association annual show. We had another Ancona take Reserve Mediterranean.:

Nice pullet. Even nicer enlarged !

X 2. Congratulations!

 

[RedRidge]

 

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.

Okay, just so I am sure I understand.  I choose the two (of the four) best hens and give them their own breeder pens.  The other two hens get set aside until the next generation is breeding age.  I hatch all I can from the two best hens and the cock.  From the resulting chicks, I choose the best pullet and the best cockeral from each hen.
The pullets are bred back to their father (and to the original hens that hatched them?), while the cockerals are bred to the hens that were not bred from last season.

Is that right?

To keep them straight, I could call them the A line (all raised from the first trio) and B line (all raised from the second set of hens and an A cockeral.  I assume this would be easier to track than giving each hen a line (A,B,C, and D) of her own.  Is there some standard way of tracking parentage?  I have been thinking each bird would have a designating number like Af24, indicating it is the 24th female in the A line.  I would keep her records using that number.  I have been trying to figure it out on my own, but I'm open to suggestion...

BTW - The other birds are my layer flock, they lay a variety of colored eggs which I sell to offset my feed bill.  The Silver Campines lay white eggs which are not as popular with my customers.  I plan to eventually replace the layers with better quality breeders who lay shades of brown eggs, and some blue egg layers, but for now, I have healthy, productive, homely hens.

There are many ways to do this. .. I find it easier to label the pens.
Toe punch according to pen number and simply document who was in each pen each breeding season.
Then rotate pens.
Bob has a great explanation of this with a chart somewhere.
Ideally, to maintain closed flock genetics you need four pens. However, if you have a mentor or qualified friend who is a breeder who shares the same goals you can reach maintain only 2 pens and move roos and cockerels every few years. This sabra money for both breeders.
Ideal situation imo.
I toe punch at hatch... velcro leg strips to track as they grow, leg or wing band the teenagers as I begin to cull and determine potential keepers.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Gjensen! Yes, they need work...have you seen my Dorkings?! I'm very glad you're working with these. They appear t have good height. They show a lot of thigh. The heads look right. The earlobes look right. They look rather light in colr, but I'm assuming that's sun bleaching from before the molt. You'll have to repost post molt.

My first thought in discussing a need, considering all of these strong qualities, is width of feather. That's where that certain je ne sais quoi look of finish comes from. If you could start selecting for strong width of feather, it would give them that presence.

Do you weigh them? I've found that rare breeds consistently need selection for fleshing.