Breda Fowl thread

[bruceha2000]

Quote:
Popping in because Sylvester mentioned Breda in a coop thread (yeah, we get off topic and I think it is MY fault!) and knowing nothing about them I am researching. Always wanting to know more for planning purposes

Anyway, watch that turkey. A friend of mine ended up with a LOT of 50 pound turkeys after Thanksgiving last year because they grew faster than expected. No one wants to buy a 50# Thanksgiving turkey. Better to send it to freezer camp at a good weight even though fresh would be nicer on the table.

Bruce

 

[Sylvester017]

Thank you all for the support, I love this page

Every chicken related lesson I have learned the hard way. BUT, live and learn I haven't made the same mistake twice.
Still pretty bummed no more Breda. Guess I just have to give Brie some extra love.

Hatching eggs and raising chicks is such a heartache which is why I don't do it anymore - plus trying to rehome unwanted cockerels which you know are usually someone's dinner so better to keep them for your own freezer - sad but the facts which my DH still can't grasp. He refuses to freezer camp any of our birds so it stops me from hatching. Went against my better judgement last year and purchased a Dominique 8-day-old pullet which we fell in love with but on day 21 she suffered a sudden grand mal type seizure and died in our hands. I and DH just can't handle it anymore - we're too old. Definitely just juveniles and no more babies for us.

Having a same breed friend for Brie may not have worked out for you anyway. We got a 2nd Silkie so the 1st one would have a same-breed companion but the newest Silkie was a loner by nature. She was in quarantine for 3 months in-house until she was old enough to slowly integrate with the flock but 2 years later she is still pretty much independent. Occasionally she and the other Silkie hang out or share roosting in a nestbox but it's not like they are inseparable friends. So my theory of getting alike breeds to be companions didn't work out. Chickens like people choose their own flock buddy.

 

[Flaming Chicken]

Best outcome possible. I just sold my 2 pair of Breda to someone who has a flock but for some reason her rooster is not getting the job done. She is pairing my boys up with her girls and visa versa. I now have a nice coop space to separate off breeding pairs of my other breeds.

I feel sad to have parted with my flock but great to have helped out a fellow owner.

 

[GaryDean26]

Nice...you are lucky to have someone in your area that is interested in working with the breed. I have sold 4 cock birds in the past 4 weeks. Which has freed up a lot of coop space too. I would have been more hesitant to part with them last year, but am really for new projects this year (one of them being finally getting a sizable Breda flock).

 

[Penny Hen]

It's hard to send the rarer breed roos to freezer camp but better your freezer than someone else's because you know that's what people do when they get free roos - just the way it is - sigh.

The headless chicken was indeed weird but IMO should've been put down - there was no brain to make it what we love about our chickens - personality. It was just a piece of meat being kept alive by forced nourishment. The guy tried to make money off the novelty of it but never did - greed made an animal body suffer. Can you tell I'm a softie about animals.

I hope you get a good hatch out of 16 eggs - you seem to be good at 'bator hatching! Maybe keep a pretty roo to breed with your prettiest hen to get eggs of your own next time and after the hatch THEN dispatch the roo? Someone on BYC couldn't have roos because of a complaining neighbor but went to the neighbor to negotiate that they would keep the crowing roo only long enough to get a successful hatch and then he'd be gone - the neighbor agreed to it! Some people have garaged their roos to keep the 4 a.m. crowing down because they needed the roos for breeding before heading for the freezer. It's unnatural but a way to get around the noise ordinances. People have yowling cats in heat and barking dogs all night - don't know why one crowing roo in the morning is any different?

A BYC Silkie breeder got all girls in one of her hatches. I guess using a broody would probably balance out the sexes that hatch out compared to 'bators. Wow - 8 and 10 year old Orps - that's good for a heavy breed because the lighter weight usually live longer. That's really good - are they still laying?

There is also an anit-crowing collar that can be put on a roo. It reduces the volume of the crow making it an inside voice. The lady who makes them has a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RoosterCollars

 

[dutchbunny83]

There is also an anit-crowing collar that can be put on a roo. It reduces the volume of the crow making it an inside voice. The lady who makes them has a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RoosterCollars

You think that actually works?

 

[Penny Hen]

You think that actually works?

She has a video on the sight that gives you an idea of the sound reduction. Now it is just whether you trust the video. I think at least 2 BYC members have tried it but I don't remember which thread we were discussing it on this last winter.

 

[dutchbunny83]

I can't keep roosters, but I have a silkie that's about 3 months old now and clearly a roo, but he's my FAVORITE of all the birds!!!!
Someone else suggested caponizing to keep him from ever crowing, but I don't know about all that...

 

[Sylvester017]

I can't keep roosters, but I have a silkie that's about 3 months old now and clearly a roo, but he's my FAVORITE of all the birds!!!!
Someone else suggested caponizing to keep him from ever crowing, but I don't know about all that...

Hi dutchbunny83 - I just read about the brutal procedure caponizing a roo. I don't think I'd have the stomach for such a graphic procedure. Poor chickens suffer enough at our feeble human care attempts without brutalizing them too. I'm with you - I don't know about all that...

A crowing collar might be tough to keep on a bearded Silkie - it would probably pull out some fluffy neck feathers the way a diaper can make the fluffy rump go bald.

Smiles - Syl

 

[SilkiesForEver]

My splash Breda pullet laid her first egg yesterday.