BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[hellbender]

Great pictures!!they are beutiful

Thank you...but I know I can NOT take pics of chickens. They all look better in fact than my miserable efforts show.

Perhaps the dogs will be more photogenic.

 

[JRNash]

Too modest.

 

[hellbender]

Too modest.

Thanks again...but I'm not totally blind yet! lol

 

[Mini Meat]

I feel you'll on the difficulty of photographing chickens. I tried an experiment of shooting with my game cam set on time laps. I was hoping that if I didn't try too hard...This was the best photo I got of the short wide hen.

 

[JRNash]

Nice

 

[NanaKat]

My Bantam breeds have been laying in earnest and hiding eggs, hatching clutches and have carried the egg count while the lf molt.

I have found that hatch vigor is affected by molt. They are just now beginning to loose feathers.

 What kind of bantams do you have? Do any lay reasonably well through the winter without lights?

I have OEGB, Rosecomb and Delaware and d'Anvers.
The Delaware finished their molt in late August thru early September...seemed to explode and quickly filled in their feathers. Egg production slowed a little. They have been laying consistently since mid September. These hens are two years old...9 hens, five eggs a day. The pullets started laying in late September. Four pullets are laying two eggs a day.

I don't use lights for any of my hens anymore. I used to, but found that the sparrows frequented the feeders in the pens when the lights came on in the morning.

The OEGB and the Rosecomb are less reliable layers in the winter. They do go broody frequently during the spring, summer, and fall; hide their nests in the barn and surprise me with chicks. Winter is the season when the hens like to stay inside close to the feed and fresh water in the early mornings. They then run in groups to free range, returning to the coops in the late afternoon. Egg production drops by half for late October to mid January...about 2.5 months.

The two d'Anver hens are sporadic layers, they go fiendishly broody when three eggs accumulate in their nest. They make dedicated mothers. Each hen lays about 50 eggs a year....because I let them brood eggs from the breed pens. Each hen will raise three clutches of eggs a year.

 

[NanaKat]

@hellbender definitely those are Husky DC and beautiful Chanteclers.

 

[Dave C]

Hi All, i have been lurking around this thread for a month or so, well its taken me that long to read it all,

any way, what a great read it is and you have some really interesting discussion.

i have 2 projects going on at the minute, my dark egg project where i cross my Welsummer over Cukhoo marans hens.
The chicks are sex linked, hens are black and cocks are barred.
They lay really dark eggs and more importantly lay more offtern.

Then i have my Meat birds, i breed La Bresse, Dark Cornish and i reared some Poulet Galouise which are a french meat hybrid they use in Label Rouge style rearing, like Cornish cross these birds dont bread true but i kept some hens back to put my DC over next year, i plan to mix them with the LB as well to try to get a fast maturing table bird which also lays well.

Thats what i'm upto,
Dave.

 

[gjensen]

I have OEGB, Rosecomb and Delaware and d'Anvers.
The Delaware finished their molt in late August thru early September...seemed to explode and quickly filled in their feathers. Egg production slowed a little. They have been laying consistently since mid September. These hens are two years old...9 hens, five eggs a day. The pullets started laying in late September. Four pullets are laying two eggs a day.

I don't use lights for any of my hens anymore. I used to, but found that the sparrows frequented the feeders in the pens when the lights came on in the morning.

The OEGB and the Rosecomb are less reliable layers in the winter. They do go broody frequently during the spring, summer, and fall; hide their nests in the barn and surprise me with chicks. Winter is the season when the hens like to stay inside close to the feed and fresh water in the early mornings. They then run in groups to free range, returning to the coops in the late afternoon. Egg production drops by half for late October to mid January...about 2.5 months.

The two d'Anver hens are sporadic layers, they go fiendishly broody when three eggs accumulate in their nest. They make dedicated mothers. Each hen lays about 50 eggs a year....because I let them brood eggs from the breed pens. Each hen will raise three clutches of eggs a year.

Do you Delaware bantams lay any though the winter? You seam to say that they do.

 

[gjensen]

Ok...this really is it for me..'til I get back from short trip and then I will take pics of the guard dogs. Might do that tomorrow if I feel well enough. It is threatening rain here and I should have used the flash but I did not so will only post the best or more clear ones.








This should be a good fill of MY birds for a while...If you want more...there are always the NN babies and the flocks that belong to my 'kids'.

The Canteclers look better in this set. Do you expect to keep any of these pure? Where did you get these from?