Beginner breeder advice

[Miriah132]

I've been fortunate enough to have a large barn on my property from the start "30x50". And I built my breeder pens inside. Then I build smaller buildings with large pens outside for grow out pens "8x8 coop and 50x50 pen". My breeder pens are 5x10 inside the barn with an average of 1R & 4H per pen.

If I were starting from scratch with breeder coops I would build a long, divided building with runs out the front of it.

Do you happen to have pictures? I would love to see them!

 

[Gray Farms]

Definitely agree. Also, don't start with too many breeds. Honestly, starting with ONE variety of ONE breed and working with it until you have figured out what you're doing is a good way to avoid disaster.

I'd also add if you going to start with different breeds, to pick breeds/varieties that hatch out different colors. That will make it easier to sort them when they hatch and grow.

 

[Gray Farms]

Do you happen to have pictures? I would love to see them!

I don't but I've been meaning to. I'll take some.

 

[BantyChooks]

Thank you, I will take that into consideration! I might have to just settle for breeding one and just enjoying the others as part of my regular flock!

Starting slow isn't to say you can never expand---it's just that you can make more progress by learning one breed at a time. Becoming a breeder is different from being a propagator.

 

[BantyChooks]

I'd also add if you going to start with different breeds, to pick breeds/varieties that hatch out different colors. That will make it easier to sort them when they hatch and grow.

Also agree. The two breeds I am doing the most with (see, I don't listen to my own advice) are Silver Ameraucanas and Partridge Chanteclers. No sorting issues with them. I have other birds running around but I'm not hatching from them---and most will be culled soon anyway.

 

[quackingdom]

I am not seriously breeding yet, but I've been planning to use mobile pens to separate the birds I want to breed. I thought about having a permanent building attached to the large livestock barn area, but I thought it would be too complicated with all the subsections and permanent runs.

I prefer breeding completely unrelated birds. I once bred siblings and the results were not good - they were weaker, smaller, and just plain stupider. They couldn't find the door of their pen.

So maybe those birds had some really bad hidden gene, but even if your birds aren't so bad, I still wouldn't inbreed (or linebreed, or whatever), at least for several consecutive generations. I think it's better to breed unrelated birds and get a little bit of hybrid vigor. I currently have Muscovies from three different sources, but I'm only really happy with the genetics of one of those groups, so I'd still like more genetic diversity.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens has a great section on breeding chickens!

 

[chonsey]

I am not seriously breeding yet, but I've been planning to use mobile pens to separate the birds I want to breed. I thought about having a permanent building attached to the large livestock barn area, but I thought it would be too complicated with all the subsections and permanent runs.

I prefer breeding completely unrelated birds. I once bred siblings and the results were not good - they were weaker, smaller, and just plain stupider. They couldn't find the door of their pen.

So maybe those birds had some really bad hidden gene, but even if your birds aren't so bad, I still wouldn't inbreed (or linebreed, or whatever), at least for several consecutive generations. I think it's better to breed unrelated birds and get a little bit of hybrid vigor. I currently have Muscovies from three different sources, but I'm only really happy with the genetics of one of those groups, so I'd still like more genetic diversity.

 

[Foster's Freehold]

Record keeping!! You are going to have to devise a system of keeping a list of who is who, what their attributes are, what you want to keep and what you want to breed out, who is a good layer, who is a good rooster etc etc. You will have to analyse all this info so you know which birds to carry further in your breeding plans.

 

[MrsMistyReal]

Welcome aboard to BYC family gr8 people tons of information loads of fun enjoy shake your tail feathers