The Trap Nesting Thread

[omegorchards]

My thought is to use a "trail cam" like the one used by hunters. They are motion triggered, take a series of snapshots and even video. Here is an example: http://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-Trop...=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1327978688&sr=1-1

 

[MANOZ]

please let us know how that works out!!!!

 

[MANOZ]

sorry for the delay folks,i have to re-educate myself with this new format.

today i thought i'd share my three month log thus far,keeping a seasonal eye on my flock's production could never be easier! I lost A few due to predators,discarded a few due to egg eating issues,seperated a few who never layed at all [winking at the wyandottes] now i'm down to six finalist to attempt to breed from.THIS COUNT IS FROM NOV -JAN. [three months]

BIRD EGGS
red 58
ms.pearl 51
barred rock#1 42
australorp cross 33
barred rock#2 26
sexlink[meatbird] 6

ms pearl is an australorp. as we see by these numbers my "WINTER QUARTER"
is led by the rir laying more eggs with the australorp 2nd
this clearly shows me who is laying more eggs during this time of the year


LONG LIVE TRAPNESTING

 

[MANOZ]

GALANIE
KI4GOT

and any others secretly trapnesting now....lol how is everyone's winter log looking??

 

[ki4got]

Quote:

GALANIE
KI4GOT

and any others secretly trapnesting now....lol how is everyone's winter log looking??

Well i haven't got the trap nesting set up yet. i only have 6 hens laying so far, and 2 of them are broody. the rest are laying almost daily. I'm not concentrating on laying stats yet, as you can't lay all your hopes for a heritage breed on 2 hens and a roo... i've got 8 pullets that should start laying in the next 2-3 months, and more due to hatch as i get the eggs set for incubating. and the bantams are eye candy, so i'm not relying on their eggs either. once my breeding pens are up and running, with actual laying birds in them, THEN i'll have the trap nesting set up. if only to record which hens the eggs are from to keep good breeding records.

 

[galanie]

All but two are laying now, and it's an eye opener. I cam eaisily see who the layers are for sure. The two that aren't currently laying, I don't expect to be good layers anyway but could be surprised. My Polish lays a white egg so it's not really necessary to trap nest her. My other, a breeder quality black orp is raising a chick. But I don't think she'll be a record breaker either. She sure wasn't before the got broody. But at least now I can see how well each lays and create a breeding plan.

 

[MANOZ]

indeed, the laying season changes at least 4 times a year.I am noticing a swing from breed to breed as i go through the seasons.It was my barred rocks that started laying first after the july heat last year.Then as fall came around they began to lay less and less until they stopped during my mild winter. My area got down to freezing temps. maybe 3 or 4 times this year.

I had 2 reds one came up missing,the other became my best layer during the winter.

Had 2 australorps also, 1 never layed an egg in a year and a half [freezer camp], the other became my second best layer during the winter.that australorp had 3 pullets and 2 roos. The pullets have started laying. Not to mention they're beautiful and larger than their mother.So that experiment went better than i thought. This was my second breed from a roo that was half australorp half red.He had red down his neck but the classic australorp shape. I first bred him with a mutt hen and it was a disaster,all the pullets turned out to be egg eaters.their mother was an egg eater and she taught them well!!!!! All of those that are still living are in isolation cages away from the main flock.

The second breed was with ms. pearl [a full blooded australorp] and the half red half australorp roo, My attempt was to breed out the red altogether,trying to get something closer to standard.I came out with all solid black birds, planning on using one of the roos to breed back with ms pearl. May need you gals help with my selection.

I did manage to clip butt feathers off of my barred rock roo and one of the hens. Got them in their own section.

Istill got to breed my australorps, and i have some aseel blues,and crosses I'm playing with as well.

ki4got------ lol you know i'm gonna disagree!!!
A flock can be started with 1 rooster and 1 hen, in my opinion, depending on how many eggs you can hatch from that hen. how ever many make it to laying can be trapnested. you should still be keeping a log on total flock per day,per week, etc. its good practice for when you do get technical.lol

 

[ki4got]

ki4got------ lol you know i'm gonna disagree!!!
A flock can be started with 1 rooster and 1 hen, in my opinion, depending on how many eggs you can hatch from that hen. how ever many make it to laying can be trapnested. you should still be keeping a log on total flock per day,per week, etc. its good practice for when you do get technical.lol

actually, i would disagree. especially when you're dealing with a heritage breed that is suffering from extreme inbreeding in the first place. with only 2 birds, you're either going to breed father to daughter, mother to son, or brother to sister. no matter how you cut that, it's concentrating the inbreeding even more. I've got 3 birds from the same hatchery stock, and one pullet from another line, and now 7 pullets and 3 cockerels from the first trio. and I do keep records of what's being laid, since i'm attempting to incubate ALL of my dorking eggs. the roo's finally started doing his job again so there's hope yet!

if you're working on more common breeds, or crossing breeds, then yeah you can probably get away with just 1 hen 1 roo. but the silver grey dorkings are showing hatchability issues, so out crossing to other lines is going to be critical for my breeding program, to try and lessen those issues. and trap nesting is definitely in the plans, since my cockerels won't be old enough for a few more months but my oldest pullet will probably join my sr roo in another month or so, and i want to track her eggs/chicks vs the other 2 girls' eggs/chicks, and see where we stand.

 

[galanie]

I have read that egg laying ability is inherited from the rooster rather than the hen. Of course how you know how many eggs a rooster can lay is a mystery to me

Seriously though, I read in one of the old, old books about breeding and layers that the rooster's line is the one the egg laying ability comes from.

 

[ki4got]

I have read that egg laying ability is inherited from the rooster rather than the hen. Of course how you know how many eggs a rooster can lay is a mystery to me

Seriously though, I read in one of the old, old books about breeding and layers that the rooster's line is the one the egg laying ability comes from.

so you hatch eggs from the best layers, and keep the cockerels to breed from. i'd say keep the pullets too, and if you can deal with inbreeding some in the line, put that cockerel over his mother and sisters. and any other hens that are quality layers too i'd say.

rooster lines may influence laying, but the hen's line influences size and type much more. (typically, not always tho)