Farming and Homesteading Heritage Poultry

[NanaKat]

Oklahoma is not much different. I am getting fewer eggs compared to past years but the Bantam and pheasant along with the quail have kept us in eggs for our use. I send the lf eggs to family. Roger's mom is 92 and eats two eggs with toast every morning.
Made angel food cake and egg custard from quail eggs...separating those little buggers took some doing!
This week, egg production was much better in all but the Cochin pen. The two new White Wyandotte hens are laying every other day. I bought them at the Show in Shawnee Oklahoma second weekend this month.
Sure was lower numbers of exhibitors for large fowl this year ...but Bantam breeds were good and the Serama show was good.
We had blackberries on the vines in November and my carrots and turnips are beautiful.

 

[RIR-YELLOWLEGS]

You are right George has such funny weather it just has as of this week turn cold high in the 50s and low in the 20s to 30s to us that's cold.

Thats about what we have been getting here. I presume that was Georgia ?

yep Georgia

 

[finnfur]

Oklahoma is not much different. I am getting fewer eggs compared to past years but the Bantam and pheasant along with the quail have kept us in eggs for our use. I send the lf eggs to family. Roger's mom is 92 and eats two eggs with toast every morning.

Made angel food cake and egg custard from quail eggs...separating those little buggers took some doing!
This week, egg production was much better in all but the Cochin pen. The two new White Wyandotte hens are laying every other day. I bought them at the Show in Shawnee Oklahoma second weekend this month.
Sure was lower numbers of exhibitors for large fowl this year ...but Bantam breeds were good and the Serama show was good.
We had blackberries on the vines in November and my carrots and turnips are beautiful.

Are your quail for the table ? What type and are the also acceptable to turn wild ? Had thought about it here.
We get out PT turnips out of the deer plots we plant . I add it in the seed mix.

 

[NanaKat]

Yes, they are for the table...Coturnix. No, too many generations from the original wild...do not carry the skills for survival if released.

 

[finnfur]

Yes, they are for the table...Coturnix. No, too many generations from the original wild...do not carry the skills for survival if released.

K Thanks
and
Merry Christmas All

 

[gjensen]

Cortunix can survive in the wild. They are migratory, however. You could seed a property and lose them. They do not have home ranges in the way that Bobwhite quail do.

 

[NanaKat]

  Cortunix can survive in the wild. They are migratory, however. You could seed a property and lose them. They do not have home ranges in the way that Bobwhite quail do.

The line I have is many generations from their wild origins. I was advised that they would not do well if released. There will be a large outside fly pen during the warmer weather...planning how to work out the predator kinks.
My Ringneck pheasant are just two generations from their wild origins and can be released this spring. We are going to set up a pen for them too. I want to make sure they can forage before letting them loose. I have a new crop of juveniles growing out now.

 

[gjensen]

The line I have is many generations from their wild origins. I was advised that they would not do well if released. There will be a large outside fly pen during the warmer weather...planning how to work out the predator kinks.
My Ringneck pheasant are just two generations from their wild origins and can be released this spring. We are going to set up a pen for them too. I want to make sure they can forage before letting them loose. I have a new crop of juveniles growing out now.

All that we have is far removed from their wild counterparts.

We have inadvertently let them loose where we are. We will hear them for a season or two, and then they are gone. They move on. Believe me, their instincts are still left intact. Providing they still fly well, they will do well enough, until they are gone. Other than the oversized meat strains (maybe that is what you have), they fair well enough.

 

[Pasturedpeeps]

Mutts do have a purpose for heterosis, or hybrid vigor, and this can get you somewhere for meat concerns, if for no other reason that if you can kill it you can eat it. However, laying, like dairy, is distinctly linked to the genetics of the breed and is maintained carefully through controlled in-breeding within the breed. Certain crosses are productive in the first generation, especially, and specifically, if you use a cock from a high egg production strain, but this is only good for one generation. You will have to maintain the two parent lines to a high degree of productive perfection in order to continue creating the F1 hybrids which will produce for you.

In the rise of science and mass food production, it was very quickly accepted that purebred fowl are far better producers. Now we know precisely why. Before the rise of the APA, APA-sponsored egg tests, and standardized breeding for productive qualities, egg yields were much lower than what came to be the expected norm of purebred fowl.

Some people think it might be nice to start their own breed, but this is MUCH easier said than done and requires a profound understanding of genetic potential and breeding trends. Without serious study and record keeping failure is practically guaranteed.

I don't write this to be harsh, by all means. The great thing about one's homestead is that one can do what ever one pleases and, as a homestead, it doesn't really matter. As a working small-scale farm, which has a different set of demands, you would lose your shirt with a plan like that, hands down. Remember, milk and eggs in stable, predictable sums, are directly linked to the carefully managed in-breeding of pure-bred farm animals.

Best of luck!

Out of curiosity if one used a supposed landrace breed like say the Swedish flower hen. They could technically be thought of as mutts but do have some commonalties in shape and size.
Selected only for utility traits would it possible to maintain high egg and meat production at the cost of all other traits?

 

[bnjrob]

Out of curiosity if one used a supposed landrace breed like say the Swedish flower hen. They could technically be thought of as mutts but do have some commonalties in shape and size.
Selected only for utility traits would it possible to maintain high egg and meat production at the cost of all other traits?

You can do one or the other (eggs or meat) very well but not both at the same time in the same bird. Best egg layers are generally smaller birds - small framed and lightweight. That lets them concentrate their nutrient intake and body processes on spitting out eggs. Meat birds need large sturdy skeletons, plus the muscle mass, and these have to be grown and maintained until slaughter - leaving less available for putting into egg production.

Of course your expectations also play a part in what you consider high vs medium and low production. Those are terms open to personal interpretation and what may be high production for you is not high production for someone else.