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Nope. I only want to breed from naturally healthy stock. No sense in letting sickly birds reproduce. For that matter I only rarely use antibiotics. If I'm trying to save a bird I really care about I'll go that route, but then they're pulled out of the breeding flock and put into the pet flock...

I don't think I'm going to like the answer to this. I've been feeding non gmo feed with fish meal. I did not notice this flavor in the young birds (6 week Cornish cross) but the old ones (16 week cornish cross- huge, I know) tasted pretty disgusting, very fishy. I feel really bad because I gave...

Is anyone in the US raising Large Fowl Silkies?

So you haven't logged in for ages and I doubt you'll read this... But do you still have giant silkies?

I've been gathering things for a whizbang style plucker and am trying to kind of make do with what is available without buying anything brand new. I have a 1hp 1725 rpm motor, a 2 inch drive pulley and an 11 inch driven pulley. If my math is right, that should gear it down to 313 rpm. Is that...

Any updates?

I have searched high and low for anyone who did this and it's like they just disappear out of thin air. I found some old posts on BYC but the guy seems to be unreachable now. People on Facebook claim to have done it but never answer when I contact them. I'd like to see some photos or just talk...

As if the title hadn't already won me over the pictures cinched the deal! I need some of these! I want to create a flock of black fleshed meat birds that are sustainable and good foragers with a build similar to the cornish. I'm going to split my flock and introduce pure cornish to one breeding...

Do any of you sell eggs? I've given up on finding quality adult birds- there are none near me and cost too much to ship. I have a slight preference towards anything with blue but ultimately want birds with good type so I'll take whatever variety I can find.

I'm glad you mentioned hybrid vigor- I completely forgot about that. Hmm, I wonder if I can still make a bird that consistently reaches butcher weight at 14 weeks. Maybe that's far too ambitious and I should try for closer to 16 weeks.

About how many months does it take a standard cornish to start to lay? I've heard they are rather slow to mature.

I've read that too much protein can cause pullets to start laying too young and possibly damage themselves, but if the goal is to breed for a fast growing bird I would think you have to use a high protein feed. Those of you actively breeding and working towards a goal, how do feed? Do you treat...

Yes, I've read the same thing about backcrossing and that's what I'll have to do to get them to eventually carry two copies. Keep me updated on this project, I'm excited to see the results!

That's the tricky part, I'm crossing a handful of breeds and my goal is big meaty birds. I'm sure growth patterns can vary between breeds though so maybe it isn't something that could be easily predicted.

I'm curious because I'm rather limited for space, so if I could weed out the birds I don't need at an early age that would be nice. Has anybody noticed if there is a trend with the larger chicks actually ending up being the larger birds as adults?

No, unfortunately I don't.

Being that I currently rent I do not want to put up any permanent structures, but I definitely need to expand my run with spring coming. I have rolls of chain link and poles that were hack sawed from the concrete. Being that that is the case the poles are a bit shorter than I'd like. Any ideas...

For what it's worth, I'll throw this in. I picked up 6 silkie cross hens at an auction, and once I got them home I noticed their poop was FULL of worms. They didn't seem listless or sickly, so I figured instead of a wormer I'd try a recipe I heard about. I added some acv, chopped fresh garlic...

I just picked up two red ranger hens a few days ago. Holy cow, they are not shy about eating anything. Compared to Cornish cross that I have raised in the past, these girls have a similar appetite but are more willing to consume things besides feed. They didn't hesitate to scarf down a pumpkin...

I had 2 hawks (or the same hawk twice) somehow squeeze in before I figured out where they were getting in at. To get them out I just went in with a towel and welding gloves, gently draped the towel over the bird once it was cornered, gently folded it's wings to a normal position on the body so...