Mixed heritage and birds with dubious parentage thread. (mutts)

[duluthralphie]

I am going to try and start a thread for just us mutt breeders. So many of us do not have show birds and have no desire to show birds, but get our joy out of raising mutts, Your favorite hen with your favorite rooster.

Not limited to chickens, but any fowl you might have.

It is a place to post pictures of your mutts.

Discuss you future crossed you plan to make.

Talk about the traits, good or bad of your mutts.

Pictures are more than welcome.

Discuss the eggs and babies of the mutts, anything mutt related is welcome and wherever the conversation leads us.

Let us try to not flame or run down those afflicted with SOP'itis. They are welcome too as long as they treat us mutt owners nicely.

 

[duluthralphie]

I am going to start the conversation with my turkeys.

I bought them last April off craigslist. They were advertised as slate blues.

When I got them they were all beat up, had few if any tail feathers and their wings had been closely clipt.

They looked blue and I thought they were until they had chicks.

This is the chicks:











Having never raised a heritage or farm turkey. I knew little about them, but having grown up on a farm, a long time ago, I knew two slate blue birds should not give me pinto red chicks.

When the feathers grew out on the parents I found they were some kind of cross that actually made a slate red type turkey:





I lost all 5 babies last year to eagles, I will have a better place for them to get some size on them this year. I will not let them free range as early as I did last year either.

The hens feather came in red like the tom here after her molt also.


I am building more coops and covered runs so I can more closely control the babies and the breeding.

I plan to cross my black Australorp rooster with EE, Barred rocks and BSL and maybe CX's if I get eggs from my pullets.


I have a production red I plan to breed with some EE and RSL also. I am not sure I will breed it to the CX's

I am contemplating a Chantecler to breed with EE, Production reds, , BSL and CX's.

 

[Rhetts]

duluthralphie-Do you incubate your eggs or let the hens do the work?

My first year with poultry so I am trying to learn as much as possible.

I have 3 tom turkeys and 1 hen. One tom is a bourbon red. All the others are standard bronze. Would like for the hen to raise the poults on her own. Will she pick her mate or should I or just let them all be together as they are?

Geese are another topic. I don't even know where to start with those guys!!

I have 5 ducks I was going to keep 2 pair. One Khaki pair and one Rouen.

I lost my rooster end of December to what I think was a weasel. That is ok though because he wasn't very good at protecting the flock (except this time with his life). He would run and hide and the hens had to protect them selves. He was a partridge rock. I have been wanting to get another rooster but not sure which breed to go with. Obviously cold hardy, protect the flock, doesn't go after the kids. I like the heavy breeds. I can possibly get a New Hampshire. He looks good when I read up on them. What have other peoples experience been?

 

[duluthralphie]

I have an "purchased" incubator with a turner. I tried 2 batches of turkey eggs last year, they would get halfway and die. Or more truthfully I killed them. I tried too hard to keep the humidity just so. I ended up with high moisture, low moisture, temps too high, too low. In all I lost 82 turkey eggs this way. I then let the hen hatch her own. She hid her nest in a swamp. Of course they did not hatch until Sept 10th, very late in the year.

The 10th of Sept was a miserable day, rain, cold miserable weather. She had her nest in a small depression right on the edge of the swamp . She had a dozen eggs in the nest. 5 hatched. I opened the rest later they were all pipped and starting to hatch. I think the rain was so heavy it drowned her chicks as they were hatching.

Also at this time I had purchased some pheasant eggs really cheap, late season may or may not be any good eggs. I hatched a dozen chicks out of them. I did a dry hatch method. I never added water, I just let the chicks have moisture from the basement where the incubator was. I had a few eggs explode on me. I need to work on my candling skills.

I am going to try and incubate again this year, all dry method. I should mention the first two batches I had the incubator upstairs too close to an window air conditioner too. This summer they will all be in the basement.
I am setting up a brooder/ hatcher down there too, so I can remove the chicks from the incubator sooner and start the next batch.

I also plan to let broody hens do some of the hatching too. Time will tell if I get it right or not. By the time I get it figured out, I might be in a nursing home or worse.

 

[duluthralphie]

Oh and a PS>>.

I saw in the St Cloud Craigslist some guy is selling roosters at 5 bucks a piece, they are RIR I think. Not a breed I need.

 

[Rhetts]

Oh and a PS>>.

I saw in the St Cloud Craigslist some guy is selling roosters at 5 bucks a piece, they are RIR I think. Not a breed I need.

I actually like the New Hampshire better than the RIRs. I would pass on those. I do have 11 EE roosters I do not intend to keep. I am not impressed with them. I am guessing it is more gene related than the breed in general.

 

[duluthralphie]

I actually like the New Hampshire better than the RIRs. I would pass on those. I do have 11 EE roosters I do not intend to keep. I am not impressed with them. I am guessing it is more gene related than the breed in general.

I like EE hens, I had an EE rooster but he was such a little jerk I had to arrange a hunting accident for him. The EEs are not great fryers, in my opinion. BUT I will raise more and am getting a rooster from EJB. I like the colored eggs. I never thought I would get excited about colored eggs, but I am.

I am hoping I can get weird mixes with color eggs even if they are only olive.

I am making EE jerky tomorrow out of one of my EE roosters. Kind of appropriate considering what jerks they were.

 

[Rhetts]

I tried to talk my Brother in Law to take the EE roos out 'grouse hunting'. I don't think he realizes I serious. They are small so I really don't want to take the time to butcher them up for a couple strips from each. I did have someone mention last fall about making flies with roosters so maybe I can call him up to see if he would be interested in taking the whole lot and do what he will with the meat. I don't know. Someone else said just skin and toss them in the freezer. How would you cook a skinned bird may I ask? I was planning on trying out Hubby's new smoker he got for Father's day on the geese but I am too scared to take the plunge. Never used a smoker before.

I am waiting very patiently for the EE pullets to lay their eggs. I HOPE HOPE HOPE to get some colored eggs from them. That would just be it if all I get are small brown eggs after all the messing around with these EEs. They are 19 weeks now so I know I still have a long time to wait for eggs!

 

[lazy gardener]

Not necessarily on the wait for eggs. With the days getting longer, they should start popping them out some time soon. Any signs of imminent laying? Combs, squatting, visiting the nest box? I love my EE gals, and my one EE roo.

 

[duluthralphie]

I got my first egg ate around 24-25 weeks.

You bake, fry, roast or over fry a skinned bird that same as one with skin. I have a lot of my birds skinned.