Beating a dead horse *Changed to Breeding Project Talk Update Post 71*

[shaft0463]

I'm on my second batch of CX, and while I have nothing against white animals, the color has presented some issues. Mainly, they are very visible to hawks, so they tend to be picked off. I lost all of the first batch at about 5 weeks to hawks. So no free-ranging this time.

I am looking at building a pen with chicken wire and step-in posts under my big oak trees, so that they can still get out of the dirt chicken pen, but without being visible to hawks.

But white birds do exist in nature. We have white egrets down here, and there are white pelicans. It might not be natural for chickens, but it certainly does exist in other species.

 

[ShadyHoller]

Quote:
Well, c'mon now, Delawares are mostly white, and, while I admit they aren't an ancient breed, they aren't exactly a high-tech bio-engineered quadruple-cross like the CX used in commercial chicken production these days! If we limited ourselves to only raising animals that resembled their wild ancestors, we'd all be raising ring-necked pheasant and red jungle fowl.

This conversation might be a dead horse, but I never get tired of this subject! I think I've read all of the old threads in the BYC archives, trying to identify the perfect bird for small-scale meat production. There are so many elements to consider, beyond just the rate of growth. The search for the perfect combination of size, flavor, temperament, thriftiness, etc...

 

[NevadaRon]

Quote:
OK, so what is your conclusion? I'd love to hear it!

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

Quote:
Well, c'mon now, Delawares are mostly white, and, while I admit they aren't an ancient breed, they aren't exactly a high-tech bio-engineered quadruple-cross like the CX used in commercial chicken production these days! If we limited ourselves to only raising animals that resembled their wild ancestors, we'd all be raising ring-necked pheasant and red jungle fowl.

LOL, I would guess she wouldn't throw Delawares into the "white animals" blanket statement, since she also has Californian rabbits. I would say Californian rabbits are a pretty good lapin equivalent of the Delaware.

Maybe only ALL WHITE critters count.

 

[jerseygirl1]

I have black broilers from Ideal, and they are slower to grow, this is my first time, They are over 8 weeks old and still n to ready, but I am taking them Saturday to be processed anyway
They seem to be hardier, I only lost one to some type of heart failure, I think

 

[lacasitarojafarm]

Quote:
Off the main topic- I often sell to Hispanics who also do not like Cornish X (Ascites being one thing and their similarity to store-bought chicken being another) and my best friend is a Chinese minority (Min) that is very similar to HMong and they prefer Silkies (Black skin and meat) for sacrifice and eating. If you want to cater to Hmong you may want to try RIR, BR or Silkie. There is a Hmong erson on the site that had a thread the other day. You may want to ask them.

My husband and I did Cornish X this year and we were happy with them. We only care for clean food with no hormones or additives, not sustaniability per se....but for next year we may try FR if they have more dark meat. Depends on the price per chick really.

 

[NevadaRon]

How many do you have, jerseygirl1? And how big are they at 8 weeks?

 

[jerseygirl1]

Quote:
I only got 6 of them, one died, they were not big at 8 week at all, maybe one or two pounds? I am a newbie, but I thought one pound was just too small to process, so I am waiting ntil this weekend. They do seem a little bigger than last week, but overall, I wanted nice chunky broilers.

 

[ShadyHoller]

Quote:
OK, so what is your conclusion? I'd love to hear it!

I'm way too new around here to start claiming I've discovered the holy grail of chicken breeds! My list of breeds and x-breeds that I want to try is getting longer, not shorter... the day is still a long ways off when I'll be able to declare I've got it all figured out.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

LoL, I am not against white animals (like egrets or polar bears), just that all white farm animals on the property make me think of processed stuff, and I prefer to look at color.

And yeah the rabbits are Calis so they have a little black, that's why I picked them over new Zealands!

I can't wait when one of us (or collectively) figures out the whole sustainable meat bird thing... make sure to let the rest of us know!