Best chicken for the apocalypse?

[penella22]

What is dubbing? Not something I'm seeing links on in the Learning Center. Am I missing something?

 

[hildar]

What is dubbing? Not something I'm seeing links on in the Learning Center. Am I missing something?

I believe that is where they remove the comb at a young age. However removal of combs in many states is illegal, due to most roosters that it is done with are used for illegal purposes. In Maine you would of ended up in jail if you did that same here in NC. You don't want to get caught with a rooster that you cut the comb off.

 

[3chickchicks]

I would give a long hard look at dominiques.

Mine is an egg laying machine. She out lays my wyandottes and brahma by a long shot. She's a great forager as well and is the smartest bird I have. She's the one that started going to the coop first, foraged first, layed first, etc. She's good at taking care of herself. She isn't flighty though. They're known to be cold hardy as well and have that rose comb so it's less likely to get frost bit.
Despite being cold hardy, she's handled the extreme heat here in Texas quite well.
She squawks a bit but she's earned her right to be a little bit more arrogant than the others, lol!

 

[hildar]

What is dubbing? Not something I'm seeing links on in the Learning Center. Am I missing something?

In fact I did a quick check and here it is all explained: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubbing_(poultry)

Dubbing is the procedure of removing the comb, wattles and sometimes earlobes of poultry. Removing the wattles is sometimes called "dewattling".

It even shows a photo of a fighting rooster which is believed to have been dubbed.

 

[GD91]

American game fowl are a good breed to have and they are great for foraging. However the OP is in Maine which means 40 below temperatures and some storms up there get 4 feet of snow to a time. When we lived in Maine my dad would only have Legacy and RIR or barred rock. The reason being they were very cold hardy. RIR not as much as the barred and legacy breed. One of our Rhode island reds lost part of his comb to frost bite in the coop one year it was so bitter cold. After that year he only kept the Legacy and barred rocks. The legacy were so big that they would plow areas in the snow for the barred rocks to forage for food. The legacy also kept the predators away. They are a really big bird and not much will mess with a rooster. I still have our rooster. Here in NC where we don't have predators coming around the yard we keep his spurs trimmed. At his age the normal roosters spur would be close to 8 to 12 inches long. They are like knives when they get older. Many roosters live to be 12 to 15 years old. Mine is 8 years old and still can out run a young rooster and show them who is boss.

I want me one of them lol will have to try & mix a few breeds up. I might finally get one similiar when I'm 80

 

[hildar]

I want me one of them lol will have to try & mix a few breeds up. I might finally get one similiar when I'm 80

It might take you until when you are 80

I put some eggs on ebay 2 days ago and sold the fertile eggs last night, so shipped them this morning they should be there Friday or Saturday. I hope that more and more people start buying them and breeding them. It would make it well worth it. This is the latest in the week that I will ever ship eggs out. However our post office sends things to Raleigh fast. The funny part is that the eggs were so big the already barely fit in the cartons so when I had to bubble wrap them I had to find a special box to put them in they wouldn't fit back in the carton

Rita will be shocked when she sees the size of her extra jumbo eggs.

 

[teneyck farms]

i also have trouble fitting my eggs in my cartons i have to use jumbo and it still doesnt always fit

 

[Baybrio]

It might take you until when you are 80

I put some eggs on ebay 2 days ago and sold the fertile eggs last night, so shipped them this morning they should be there Friday or Saturday. I hope that more and more people start buying them and breeding them. It would make it well worth it. This is the latest in the week that I will ever ship eggs out. However our post office sends things to Raleigh fast. The funny part is that the eggs were so big the already barely fit in the cartons so when I had to bubble wrap them I had to find a special box to put them in they wouldn't fit back in the carton

Rita will be shocked when she sees the size of her extra jumbo eggs.

Wow, are you going to sell any more eggs on ebay? I would bid - I've been trying to figure out how to get a big protective breed that wouldn't try and kill me.

I had no idea dubbing was illegal in some states. That's been my plan if I ever get a breed with much of a comb. I've been trying to stick with small comb breeds.

The OP might look into Chantecler, I hear the white are especially good for meat AND eggs. I remember one breeder said the whites are really good at avoiding predators compared to the other color that should have been better.

 

[hildar]

Wow, are you going to sell any more eggs on ebay? I would bid - I've been trying to figure out how to get a big protective breed that wouldn't try and kill me.

I had no idea dubbing was illegal in some states. That's been my plan if I ever get a breed with much of a comb. I've been trying to stick with small comb breeds.

The OP might look into Chantecler, I hear the white are especially good for meat AND eggs. I remember one breeder said the whites are really good at avoiding predators compared to the other color that should have been better.

I have 1 dozen that is on ebay now. However I am thinking about taking it off, if people keep calling me like they have lately. My husband put an ad in the paper so tons of folks are calling, and some folks even from out of state have called wanting them I can't believe how long my list of names is getting. I just don't care for Ebay because Paypal doesn't allow people to access funds for up to 21 days to me that is wrong. I would rather sell locally then through ebay, or have folks from out of state send me a money order.

Delawares also are a white bird, and my snowball was attacked by a possum and actually won the battle. We found the possum dead in his cage a few mornings ago. However Snowball was always an aggressive bird that is why he lost his head today. I don't tolerate aggression. After his attack of little man through the fence that was it. If my rooster get aggressive towards humans, or other birds they go. He was a bit to aggressive, even his brother my favorite show bird got it through the fence. My Legacy rooster Stormy wont fight, he doesn't have to.

 

[bugflipper]

As already stated dubbing is trimming or completely removing the comb. In general it is just a requirement for different game type fowl for showing if they are over 1 year old. For practical purposes if in extreme cold frostbite leads to gang green which kills the animal. In warmer climates it's not needed unless it's the breed standard and you wish to show.