Australorps breed Thread

[hellbender]

Hi everyone, been watching this thread for a while lately so I thought I would post some pics of this seasons blue and black pullets. They are 14 weeks old btw.

Blue Australorp Pullet 1


Blue Australorp Pullet 2


Black Australorp Pullet 1


Black Australorp Pullet 2

 

[Bens-Hens]

Good to see you guys over here CBnCG

 

[CB and CG]

Good to see you here as well hahaha
Been on the thread for about a year, just haven't had anything interesting to post for a while.

 

[ronott1]

Hi everyone, been watching this thread for a while lately so I thought I would post some pics of this seasons blue and black pullets. They are 14 weeks old btw.

Blue Australorp Pullet 1


Blue Australorp Pullet 2


Black Australorp Pullet 1


Black Australorp Pullet 2

Good to see you here as well hahaha
Been on the thread for about a year, just haven't had anything interesting to post for a while.

They look very nice!

Please keep posting.

 

[cracrzy4chicks]

Well...It's complicated. 'Show Bloom' is common term around dog shows, of which I'm quite familiar.

Some think I feed a bizarre diet to my layers and indeed to all my birds past their very young stage. I feed it warm in the winter and cold in the summer.

I live in rural West Virginia...(thought that was clear) and many farmers butcher their own beef. Many of them save 5 gallon buckets of blood for me and I prepare it for my birds...I fill large tubs about one third with water, some salt, Old Bay seasoning and lots of garlic...start them boiling and slowly pour the blood into the tubs 'til it KLOTZ, much like big chums of liver.....this is frozen in 5 gallon buckets until needed.

Several years ago, my dad bought two commercial pressure cookers...I cook road-kill deer in these until their bones turn to smunch. Freeze like above.

I also have a commercial grinder..I dispatch unwanted grown cockerels and spent hens... grind them too...ALL of them...beak to feet. Cook under pressure.

With the above components, I mix various grains, Calf Manna, alfalfa pellets, BOSS and DE and a portion of good commercial food (Layena)....This combined with all the pasture they can get (sometimes tough in winter) and it works for my birds....Keeps them in what I call show bloom...excellent condition, feathers and flesh.

Not to say they don't have their natural molts like all chickens but they don't seem too severe and many of the birds continue to lay.

Sorry you asked?

Actually..................... I'm glad I asked !! I currently feed my dogs a totally raw diet. Been doing it for 15 yrs, and there are just too many benefits to list. I have extremely healthy happy dogs. I've only had chickens for 3 years. This year I've learned a lot about nutrition on this thread & the BLRW thread. This summer I started adding more fresh protein to my chickens diets and they've thrived because of it ! Obviously you've been doing this for sometime as you have the " recipe " down pat !

I would love to learn more ! Has your system been " learn as you go " or did you have other resources to learn from ??

People around me throw kibble to the dogs and processed feed to the chickens. I'm not knocking it, everyone has to do what works for them and their animals and their pocket books.

BUT, I'd like to learn more !

 

[ozexpat]

Not necessarily. There are many grains that some chickens aren't crazy about but might be starved to eat...I don't do that. Whole oats, barley and the like aren't especially high in protein and if they are 'conditioned' and combined with other feed-stuffs, a pretty good diet can be provided, using the less appealing grains and the birds will gobble it up.

It all boils down to ratio, which changes with the season. When my birds can get out to range, I change the ratio of ingredients in their feed.

It works well for me and with as many as 85 to 100 birds being culled every year, I wonder what others would do with them. Give them away? Try to stew them? Both viable options but plowing it back into the birds makes far more sense to me.

I actually like the diet. Based on what they eat "in the wild" it is pretty much a natural diet. I also repurpose eggs as feed. What a horrible waste if you dont.

I incubate a lot of shipped eggs and most are non starters - they go to the pot, boiled mashed and fed to the quails, chuckar and chicks.

I make my own feed. I use Fish meal, soy meal, rice bran, copra meal and a vitamin and mineral add mix. It works out abour 3/4ths the cost of premade and I can tailor protein to different birds/pigs/goats requirements.

 

[hellbender]

Actually..................... I'm glad I asked !! I currently feed my dogs a totally raw diet. Been doing it for 15 yrs, and there are just too many benefits to list. I have extremely healthy happy dogs. I've only had chickens for 3 years. This year I've learned a lot about nutrition on this thread & the BLRW thread. This summer I started adding more fresh protein to my chickens diets and they've thrived because of it ! Obviously you've been doing this for sometime as you have the " recipe " down pat !

I would love to learn more ! Has your system been " learn as you go " or did you have other resources to learn from ??

People around me throw kibble to the dogs and processed feed to the chickens. I'm not knocking it, everyone has to do what works for them and their animals and their pocket books.

BUT, I'd like to learn more !

My grand dad and my dad started this process and when I took over the farm, I used knowledge I had gained in school and life in general, to tweak the 'recipe'...lol

 

[ozexpat]

Here is my recipe book for feeds I make using the most economical sources available locally. Here you would use corn

F B D G E H
TO MAKE 100KG chicks grower hens baby adult goat
grower chicken turkey game game
game birds birds
soy meal (kg) 12 2 0 10 0 0
Fish meal (kg) 8 8 0 20 5 0
rice bran (kg) 80 75 90 70 95 50
copra meal (kg) 0 12 10 0 0 50
Salt (g) 100 100 100 100 100 100
Vit & Elec (g) 60 60 60 60 60 60
Selenium (tab/100kg) 20 20 20 20 20 20
Biotin (tab/100kg) 20 20 20 20 20 20
Oyster Shell (kg) 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 2.0 0.5

Protein % 22.8 19.0 14.8 26.8 16.8 18.0
Lysene g/kg 12.6 9.4 6.1 16.0 8.5 5.9

Price per 100lb in US$ $19.75 $16.28 $13.48 $24.28 $15.29 $13.69
Price per 100kg Php ₱1,912 ₱1,576 ₱1,305 ₱2,350 ₱1,480 ₱1,325

 

[RattlesnakeRidgeWV]

CB and CG,
Great pics of the blues. The dark lacing is excellent. I have been away for a couple months hunting, but will start breeding my blues and splashes in a month or two. I don't use lights so my production is quite low right now. Thanks for the info you have given me in the past and keep the pics coming,
Kurt

 

[CB and CG]

CB and CG,
Great pics of the blues. The dark lacing is excellent. I have been away for a couple months hunting, but will start breeding my blues and splashes in a month or two. I don't use lights so my production is quite low right now. Thanks for the info you have given me in the past and keep the pics coming,
Kurt

No Problem, I will update with pics when they mature.