I'm looking to move to Costa Rica and bring my poultry breeding flocks. Does anyone know who to contact to learn the procedure? I've written a couple letters to their SENESA but have not heard back.
Wayne
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I'm not sure I can support the rationale of starting so small. Generally speaking, one should raise 10 birds for every breeding bird selected. Most chicks that hatch should not end up in a breeding pen and when they do, they produce inferior results. Furthermore, you eat chicken, right? So why...
Completely agree, never too old to eat. Just be extra careful when processing to be sure the bird isn't carrying a disease you don't want to eat. Look for tumors, unhealthy livers, off smells, etc.
As for resting, I'm a firm believer in resting the meat. If water chilling, don't go longer than...
Maybe compare was the wrong word to use, but I'm not sure what would be a better word. For me it boils down to producing premium chicken meat and figuring out how to produce it in a way that satisfies both my organic and animal welfare ideals. It's my experience that this entails pasturing...
I think you should be very pleased, both the second generations and heritage crosses produced very useable high quality meat in 15 weeks. Not too many backyarders could hatch their own and get those kinds of results a few years ago.
Far too often, people look at these types of birds and...
Dave, thanks for the photos, definately different parent lines than I'm starting with.
Here's a bonus for you. I just ate my first Sasso retired layer who had been laying for close to a year. We cooked her like I cook my heritage birds, covered roaster, 325C for 2 hours (usually go 3 hours). I...
Again, I'm in western Canada, that hatchery is not a viable place to get stock.
I realize it's fashionable in this hobby to import this line or import that, but I have found the approach a complete waste of time. I don't covet labels, brands, or even lines. I covet genetic potential. My core...
To be perfectly honest, we really don't know what we have up here because each source comes with a "story". The hatcheries really don't want to share exactly what they are selling and instead put their own name on the products, thus creating the illusion of selling something exclusive to them...
French type meatbirds (free rangers) 12-14 weeks. I harvest larger males at 12 weeks, smaller males and larger hens at 13 weeks, and then clean up the balance on week 14. It's a good way to do the rangers given the diversity of growth rates.
Heritage 15-16 weeks. Won't happen this year...
It's a thought, but like I said earlier, I have concerns for the carcass shape of the Kings. They seem more clunky in their stride than I was hoping for and seem to be growing faster than hoped. So far, I like what I'm seeing from the Sasso/Ameraucana hybrids, but we are still a few weeks from...
Here is a video of some of my Sasso parents. The rooster is my best rooster out of 150 chicks. He is holding together better than i expected, he is 15 months old. I selected 3, but he is last guy standing. Mountain Lion ate the other two.
Let's see if I can share a video. In the video, I have 11 week old black Ameraucanas, of which most are mutt quality ;) The black single combed barred birds are 7 week old Kosher Kings. The rest are the offspring of my Sasso and some Sasso/Ameraucana crosses.
I selected my ranger breeders following the same principles I use to select my breeder turkeys. Balance. It's all about balance, pick the largest birds with a nice square stance, straight toes, and good clean movement. Some will be awkward when they walk and others smooth. Pick the smooth ones...
I think you have misunderstood my goals, I do not want a cobb looking bird in the end. I prefer the heritage look that one gets from the Sasso. It's about marketing, when trying to convince you customers that your product is different and better, it's easier if it looks different. Look to Label...
yes, that was the farm I was thinking of. From what I've read about them, it sounds like they took a similar approach with their Delawares. Most heritage type birds imported into this region aren't worth the price of feed, but I suspect that the Whitmore Delaware would be worth the effort. Not...