Meat Bird Project - Delaware, White Rock, Dark Cornish

[Ulladh]

Man, I found and watched your video when looking these up. I'd no idea it was you however! Small world eh?

I'll see if I can get them in the UK and do the same!

 

[Dlmillion]

Man, I found and watched your video when looking these up. I'd no idea it was you however! Small world eh?

I'll see if I can get them in the UK and do the same!

Haha, that's awesome! definitely a small world!

These may be of use!

 

[KoopOnTruckin]

This is becoming more and more work as they get older.... I may need to drop down to every other week, or get 2-3 more helpers! The EXTREME heat was causing sweat to run into our eyes, and the chicks fighting being placed on the scale made for a lot more work than it has been in the past.

Okay, here are week 8 results (drum roll please):

3 days 1 week 2 weeks 3 weeks 4 weeks 5 weeks 6 weeks 7 weeks 8 weeks
DC 61.8 (g) 84.4 168.4 269.2 373.2 504.4 678 747 901.2
growth - 137% 200% 160% 139% 135% 134% 110% 121%
DEL 60.1 80.6 150.4 221.4 295.5 398.1 563.5 675.1 837.6
growth - 135% 197% 147% 133% 135% 142% 120% 119%
WR 68.8 100.6 209.6 328.25 452 598.3 853 983 1218
growth - 146% 208% 157% 138% 132% 143% 115% 124%
WR (younger) 65.7 97.7 205.6 330.2 459.3 608.2 723.8 917.2 -
growth - 149% 210% 161% 139% 132% 119% 127% -

Biggest Smallest
WR Cockerels 1390 988
DC Cockerels 1060 620
DEL Cockerels 1060 695
DEL Pullets 930 583
WR (younger) C 1250 970
WR (younger) P 966 688

Some interesting points:

-This is all 1 week after the last weigh-in, which I can't say for the last 2 due to a business trip that threw everything off. So the growth rates are accurate.
-The WR cockerels are still the biggest. The largest (older) WRC is over 3 lbs at 8 weeks. With that growth rate, he should make it to 6 lbs by 12 weeks or so - that would make him my all-time favorite.
-The youngest & largest WRC is 44 oz at 7 weeks old. If he continues the same growth rate, HE will be my new all-time favorite!
-The DC are a bit slower-growing, but still like little bowling balls. The largest is 2.33 lbs, so not too shabby at 8 weeks. The smallest are definitely small, as are the smallest Del pullets.
-The Dels are slowly catching up, especially the females.
-Found the smallest of the older WR cockerels is actually a pullet - her comb is pink compared to the others' red combs, and it's much smaller. Compared to the younger WR pullets, she is definitely a girl. That's good news, since she's pretty big.

If I take out the outliers (runts), it brings up the averages a ton. So I've separated the keepers from the rest, placing them in a larger stationary coop. That will allow me the ability to go out there and spend more time with them and handle them more so they're more used to me. I will also be able to free-range them for a few hours in the morning. All of their temperaments have evened out a bit, they are all somewhat easy to handle, but they do fight a bit when they get picked up. The Dels are now the easiest to handle in general.

I'm getting really excited and encouraged by the numbers I'm seeing. They're getting quite big and growing much quicker than I expected. Once they're of age, I think I'm going to cross-breed for a while to just raise them for meat. Then when I'm ready to breed for the next generation, I will get a new batch from a different hatchery. (I know I keep repeating myself a lot, but it helps me keep the ultimate goal in mind.)

 

[Ulladh]

Haha I wish I had the heat to talk about, the days are getting noticeably shorter and feel colder than they were, more rain too of course.

Your numbers are definitely encouraging, seems obvious the white rocks make great stock hens, I see now why theyre used for our commercial growers here in the UK. Now just to find the perfect rooster match, but even still you might have the right one with just another WR. Even put your f1 to a new or different breed afterwards? Its mad how much they eat, mine never seem to be filled and now more than ever if the trough is empty when I see them they go mad for the grub.

 

[Dlmillion]

Update: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8In3P9Jq5XKUEtWbnJvVnpXXzQ
It looks as though i may have two or three cockerels, we'll just have to wait and see i suppose. I tried to get some good pictures but didn't manage to get many good ones.
I think that i will go ahead and order some cockerels in the next week or two. Thinking i'll probably get the male heavies assortment from McMurray Hatchery https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/all_heavies.html I'm hoping this'll give me some good diversity to see the weights of whichever breeds i get.











The Three chosen ones ready to make their trip to SD


Here are the smallest of each breed (0-0-0, 0-0-9, 0-2-6) in their new San Diego home!

 

[Kiki]

Update: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8In3P9Jq5XKUEtWbnJvVnpXXzQ
It looks as though i may have two or three cockerels, we'll just have to wait and see i suppose. I tried to get some good pictures but didn't manage to get many good ones.
I think that i will go ahead and order some cockerels in the next week or two. Thinking i'll probably get the male heavies assortment from McMurray Hatchery https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/all_heavies.html I'm hoping this'll give me some good diversity to see the weights of whichever breeds i get.







The Three chosen ones ready to make their trip to SD


Here are the smallest of each breed (0-0-0, 0-0-9, 0-2-6) in their new San Diego home!

I hope they have a safe trip and their new momma loves them!
They are cute.

 

[KoopOnTruckin]

Weeks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
DC C 84 168 269 373 504 678 747 901 1060
growth 137% 131% 160% 139% 135% 134% 110% 121% 118%
DC C - Bg 98 193 315 452 590 790 889 1060 1250
DC C - Sm 70 132 210 276 395 514 555 620 710

WR C 104 223 358 505 678 860 1072 1302 1497
growth 147% 134% 161% 141% 134% 127% 125% 122% 115%
WR C - Bg 112 248 414 595 810 959 1250 1392 1580
WR C - Sm 96 204 337 445 540 738 950 1146 1370

DEL C 85 178 261 349 485 653 821 922 1064
growth 138% 135% 146% 134% 139% 135% 126% 112% 115%
Del C - Bg 91 188 281 383 533 735 863 1060 1256
Del C - Sm 73 165 243 314 436 530 761 695 782

WR P 93 191 305 416 542 669 815 976 1140
growth 149% 141% 159% 136% 130% 123% 122% 120% 117%
WR P - Bg 101 208 338 476 634 770 966 1107 1140
WR P - Sm 78 175 268 364 465 536 688 855 0

DEL P 79 148 218 291 390 556 652 777 880
growth 121% 124% 147% 133% 134% 142% 117% 119% 113%
DEL P - Bg 94 171 258 335 425 650 761 910 1026
DEL P - Sm 70 133 186 226 295 405 478 583 666

 

[KoopOnTruckin]

The largest WR cockerel is 3.5 lbs, on point to becoming 7 lbs by 16-18 weeks or so. The DC cockerels and Del cockerels are about the same weight, but it's still amazing to feel the compact weight of the little lead bowling balls! The Dels are still significantly smaller than the WRs in every arena. I really have high hopes for the DC x WR crosses, I think they will be wonderfully delicious and plump little beasts!!!

I've officially separated the keepers from the eaters. I'm keeping the 2 largest DEL roos, 3 DEL pullets, 2 WR Cs, 4 WR Ps, and 2 DC Cs. So that leaves 19 in the mobile pen, which is the most I plan to ever have in that mobile pen at any given time.

I'm also going to stop weighing the smallest of each set, they aren't going to be keepers and simply take too much time to wrangle and weigh. I will only keep track of the keepers and possible keepers/gainers going forward. I think I've proven so far that the smallest remain the smallest, and the biggest remain the biggest throughout - or at least within reason. Here are the exact numbers for each breed:





It looks a lot more impressive when you can see the colors associated with it, so these are photos instead of just a c/p of the spreadsheet. Like I said, within reason, they pretty much stay in the same general category throughout their growth period. I'm not concerned with which one gets the biggest when fully mature, just who gets the biggest by around 16-18 weeks.

 

[KoopOnTruckin]

Some pics of the keepers:

Here are the Dels that will likely be a breeding pair.


The large WR roo is on the left, and the largest DC roo is there in the middle looking left.


Here are the WR and DC roos again, they're pretty big and definitely thick when picked up.

 

[Ulladh]

Looking excellent, those figures are actually great, amazing the difference some had, though I can see why you are only bothering with a few of them now than too many! A lot of work catching them, mine are still ballistic and scatter at any movement, their nature I suppose but definitely my biggest turn off from the La Bresse breed, I guess useful for foraging but not when confined.

Just out of interest this is what "broilers" look like here, picture taken from an ad in my country. Definitely see the cornish in their feet and head, though look very like your WR which I believe are parent stock of some sort here, once y friends work gets them in I will ask what they are. The birds in the photo are 7 weeks supposedly.

Your DC definitely looks the more fuller in the breast and has the width. When I can I must get a photo of my breeding birds to let you see them