Beginner breeder advice

[quackingdom]

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.

Ooh, yes, that's important.

I'm still not sure what method would be best to find out which birds lay best, though. There's cages that lock the bird in when she goes to lay, but some of my ducks lay really late or even at random times and I wouldn't want them locked up for very long. I thought about security cameras facing a row of nest boxes, but it would take a lot of time to go through the footage regularly and mark down who lays when, and plus they might decide to lay somewhere else. Any ideas???

 

[Gray Farms]

Its not so much of which hen lays the best. Its keeping track of what birds exhibit the best traits for the breed. And setting up breeding pens accordingly. What rooster will complement which hens the best to breed closer to standard. Such as rooster A with hens A, B, D, and G. And rooster C with hens H, T, N, and O. For example. I band mine with a ID band on the left leg and a band for the year they were born on the right. This way I know exactly the age and breeding behind every bird in the barn.

 

[quackingdom]

Its not so much of which hen lays the best. Its keeping track of what birds exhibit the best traits for the breed. And setting up breeding pens accordingly. What rooster will complement which hens the best to breed closer to standard. Such as rooster A with hens A, B, D, and G. And rooster C with hens H, T, N, and O. For example. I band mine with a ID band on the left leg and a band for the year they were born on the right. This way I know exactly the age and breeding behind every bird in the barn.

For me, better egg production is my main goal. I live in a small country where no one really cares what they look like and there is no such thing as poultry shows. If I was selling my ducks, buyers would only care if they are productive and healthy.

 

[Gray Farms]

For me, better egg production is my main goal. I live in a small country where no one really cares what they look like and there is no such thing as poultry shows. If I was selling my ducks, buyers would only care if they are productive and healthy.

That's great but the OP has a different situation and was looking for different advice than would apply to your situation.