Sandhill Preservation is a small family-run preservation business that sells heirloom seeds and poultry. They are very diversified and probably spread a little too thin. Sand Hill is also known widely for having mediocre customer service. However, I'll have to say that my experience with them...
There is some evidence that excellent nutrition could play a limited role by triggering the production of progesterone in the female bird, thus skewing the offspring toward a higher number of females:
""Researchers think that birds such as the Seychelles warbler may bias the sex of their...
Well, yeah, you can always find an exceptional individual.
But generally, if memory serves, I think the breed can be expected to lay around 160-180 per year, on average. RIRs can be expected to lay around 300, on average. That's a big difference. But Orps are fine enough layers for a dual...
Now, there is some debate on whether fluctations in conditions during incubation can alter the typical 50/50 ration of ZZs to ZWs (roos to hens) in a clutch of eggs. The thought is that 'girl' eggs may prefer a particular hatch condition resulting in a higher % of hatch for girl eggs and a...
To my knowledge, the blue egg gene is not sex-linked. It is dominant over white, and it presents simultaneously with brown coloring to produce a green or olive shell.
I'm not sure on the terminology of mixing Ameraucana with other breeds. An EE may be a non-standard, mixed heritage chicken...
Hello Gina,
Yes, that's fairly typical, but it isn't set in stone.
I've seen males with the wheaten base pattern feather in with very little marking on the shoulders or back. Also, females with the wild-type base pattern feather in with a lot of smut all over, and can be a little hard to...
Egg color isn't sex-linked, so chicks get it from both parents.
"Blue and brown egghell genes present simultaneously give a shade of green on the exterior of the egg."
--from Chicken Genes of Common Interest.
So, green and brown will probably give a sort of olive color.
We've been sort of half-***ing it by holding the birds while standing on the bathroom scales, lol. It'll give you a decent ballpark, but we would like to get a good set of proper small scales and a method to weigh our birds with more precision. Does anyone have any suggestions? Info...
It is important to explain things or engage with concepts nicely and respectfully, especially when they are asked or offered by a young person.
Now, as to culling in the breeding world:
As some of the others have said, the truth is that people who seriously breed to a standard often breed...
then it's like my mind stops me; "Remember, you are older, and very out of shape...imagine how much that will hurt.." and I decide to catch them a different way
Oh, I know what you mean, BrahmaMama. I guess that (sensible) part of my brain was on a coffee break or something I just did it...
Quote:
I once had a 8-month-old Delaware cockerel that died trying to fight off a dog that was killing one of his hens. He didn't even have spurs, poor little guy. I'll never forget it. Many of them WILL try to fight for their girls if the threat is real.
I doubt that slightly higher temperatures will kill off all of your developing pullets--unless your stock is very weak indeed.
Some of y'all may need to do the coin toss thing. Toss a coin a dozen times and record the results. Heads are pullets; tails are roos. Pretend it's a hatch. Then do...
I'd say it won't speed up production, but it'll probably ensure the eggs are fertile when they are laid. The hens will lay eggs when they're fully mature, and most hens lay eggs at 20+ weeks. Going by what I'm seeing here, with temps in the mid-90s, hot weather affects birds differently. Some...
Quote:
They're destined to be one sex or the other as soon as they're fertile, or even before, since the hen determines the sex of the chick. The only variable that may play a role besides the luck of the draw is nutrition. Some studies have shown that well-fed female birds may have slightly...