Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[fowlman01]

Deep litter method maybe? I remember one a good while back but so much gets mixed up in the hoopla on this site and gets left behind often.

Jeff

It's mentioned many times here...but you will have to find it.

Chickens 10-20 years Old timers thread.

Walt

 

[Judy]

There's an article on deep litter method if it would help:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...e-easiest-way-to-deal-with-chicken-litter-dlm

 

[Cedarknob]

My mind is twirling with questions.


If a cornish is slow growing but puts on much heavier muscling, would it dress out the same weight or more at 4 months than other heritage birds like RIR or BO. I picked 4 months, 16 weeks, as this seems to be the preferred age to send the roosters to freezer camp.

I'm kicking myself now for not buying a few cornish this year to try out. Kathy Imo, where is that happy face with it's bum being kicked??


Edited for clarity.

I'll see if I can weigh a few juveniles tomorrow. I will not know their ages in weeks, just that they were hatched in April. If you look at the white pullet facing forward in that picture of the pen full, you can see she has plenty of breast meat to make an attractive table bird if I needed to process early. As I stated earlier, their feathers fit tight against their bodies so their shapes when dressed will be nearly identical as when alive. Unlike a good line of heritage RIRs, BOs or many other breeds, they can't be considered a dual purpose breed though. I'm assuming you are aware that heritage breed lines are much better suited for meat production than hatchery types, and that hatchery Cornish are often fair layers but are not really Cornish. My true Cornish are seasonal layers and a couple have been very determined to stay broody when it struck their fancy.

 

[gjensen]

Maybe off topic for this thread. I will add that I use the deep litter method in my houses. It is what I prefer.

It does require management. I manage it like a compost pile. If it starts getting off I mix in fresh, and add a fresh layer. It makes excellent compost and heats up hot and fast.

 

[Arielle]

Quote:

There's an article on deep litter method if it would help:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...e-easiest-way-to-deal-with-chicken-litter-dlm

Jeff, Walt, Flock watcher--

Thank you, I'll read the link flockwatcher. ANd I'll read from the beginning of this thread to find discussions on deep litter methods.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: I figured the hatchery cornish would all head to the freezer but more importantly have given me some vital info on growth rates (Walt said they were slow), meatiness and some idea of the behavior of the bird; it would be a line that provided some of the information I'm looking for with out the guilt of wasting good true cornish. Perhaps I could have a small flock, even if I could not breed them to the sop very well and just keep them as utility birds. I'm mindful of Walt's advice tht cornish are not for the beginner.

 

[Robert Blosl]

I've been waitin' all day to see this picture!


OK you Heritage Large Fowl want a Best Get You Some of This.

My point I want to make in this message is something my Grand Father taught me when I was about ten years old. If you want to be good at something hang around ten super stars who are great at what you want to learn to be then take the good points from each person and apply it to your methods of trying to do what ever it is you want to be. In five to ten years you can be as good as they are.

Twelve years ago I went to the National Rhode Island Red Club convention in in Lincoln Nebraska and at the New Orleans Airport in the wing waiting to get on a jet to Lincoln I saw a guy who looked familial to me. He asked me a question and said is that a APA Stanard of Perfection you are looking at. I said yes. Its my 1962 edition I got as a boy at a APA Convention at Salem Oregon in the 1960s. Are you going to the big show in Lincoln Nebraska ? Yes Me to he said. I said what kind of chickens do you raise?

He said SERAMAS?? What in the H..L is a Serorma I asked. Then a fellow who looked like he was from Japan got up and sat down next to me and started to educate me on SERMAS he was the one who imported the little birds to Louisiana and after a half a hour I was a expert on SEREMOS. My wife said are you going to get some I said heck know I am a Red Man.

Latter at the hotel the next day Jerry Sexenider from Louisiana the owner of the Seromas as me if I would drive him to the post office to pick up a box of his chickens which he was going to display at the show. When we got there he opened a box and said her Bob you are the first person to touch a Seroma except me. My god I said to my self they must weigh 8 oz they are so small. All of them looked like they had six different colors not a pure white , black or buff bird in the batch. So we went to the show and they put their scales on the table the the man from Malissia started his sales pitch to get people interested in SERAMAS.

My point in all of this is if you have the Faith of a Mustard Seed and you ask a mountain to move it will move. These folks in the last ten years have now got hundreds of people interested in this breed but more than anything they got breeders who have solid white, black and now look at this guy a nice solid BUFF Serama. I know they have to try to get these birds into the ABA Standard but what a accomplishment they as a group have done to get what I saw 12 years ago to look like a pretty nice bird.

You out there who want Dorkings, Javas, Colombian Plymouth Rocks you can do the same if you set goals and have faith that it can be done.

I saw it with the Buckeye folks in ten years they have some really true to breed birds winning big at major shows. You can do the same if you learn how to be a BREEDER.

That's my point for the day. Do not give up keep looking for a better strain and if you find it you have not waisted any time as you are learning how to breed for type and color. It takes a live time to learn how to be a breeder but I hope a few of us help you reach your goals. bob

 

[ashandvine]

I had a few things in mind.

First I read something Chris wrote about Rooster's not being able to expel all the calcium that is in a layer feed. That got the ball rolling. I then read that roosters need more protein when they are breeding. I had a leg color issue with all my birds and wanted to get the yellow back in them. The feed I was using just was not getting it done. Of coarse I want my chicks to reach their full potential But mostly I want to feed my birds the best feed that I can give/afford to give them. After talking to a few show people and to Purina and to a few others I switched my Cockerels, Roosters and Chicks to the Purina Show Chow and Broiler Complete. So far I like the look of it, I like the smell of it and I have yellow legs once again. I'm going to give it 6 months or so and see if I see anything good or bad with any of my birds then go from there.

Chris

EDIT: In doing my research and uncovering things that I never really considered before like the protein in a worm, or grass hopper. Then taking into account that my boys and chicks are not allowed to free range ever, I decided to pull the trigger and see what happens. I considered cutting the protein to the roosters once they hit 1 year old down to like 20% but again since they don't free range I'm going to let it ride for a while and see how it goes.

Thank you Chris. Mine all free range most of the day. They will next year once the real fear of predators is over here and I don't catch sight of any. So far, just aerial predators here. This might sound silly but what do you smell for when smelling the food? I have instinctively noticed the look of our Blue Seal is better than anything commercially provided by Tractor Supply. Which are you feeding the chicks; the broiler or show feed?

 

[zach N houdan]

I have looked for information on breeding and there isn't much in the way of outlining how to breed. I read P1, F1, F2 etc, and looked in the forums here without finding much so I want to ask a similar question to what was asked about the Cornish... and maybe its another secret. I have a 'project' in mind, which is really just me trying to breed current stock back to the contributing breeds that created it so as to get back to some earlier standards of size. I'll just say it: I'm kind of hung up on this Houdan thing. I got some. They were not quite crap but really close. So, I have gotten rid of them and slowly maneuvered myself to find Dorkings and Anconas. I am going to bring the Dorkings here for other reasons, but while they are here the idea of trying to breed Houdans, Mottled if I can, back to what Mr. Walt L showed me and what I found here: http://www.nehbc.org/images/gallery_french.jpg is tempting (and probably too ambitious, I know). I can't stop thinking about it though. I have never done anything like this. Crosses happen for fun, purposeful breeding for good stock... but this feels like trying to learn chemistry without the books.
Question is: what can I do/go/read to learn which is the cock and which the hen for the first P1, P2, and then some. I am assuming that the Ancona will come in later in the game when type/size has been established because they are for 'color' but please tell me if I am wrong. I have a cock I could get for free, or he's soup, and a hen for 20$ who is under 2 years. If I should go to another thread, please, excuse me.

well my houdans r a straight line from Normandy they were smuggled on a boat from a guy in the military on the on the beaches of normandy and i use 2 own a crev and now all ive been wanting is to breed dorkings and crevs 2 get houdans 2!!!!!

 

[ashandvine]

You out there who want Dorkings, Javas, Colombian Plymouth Rocks you can do the same if you set goals and have faith that it can be done.

I saw it with the Buckeye folks in ten years they have some really true to breed birds winning big at major shows. You can do the same if you learn how to be a BREEDER.

That's my point for the day. Do not give up keep looking for a better strain and if you find it you have not waisted any time as you are learning how to breed for type and color. It takes a live time to learn how to be a breeder but I hope a few of us help you reach your goals. bob

This is why I come here. Dear Mr. Blosl, you are died in the wool a "red man" but you can value and encourage others in their non-red pursuits. I can't go to OK to pick up a bird and without seeing them wouldn't anyway. I met my first Seramas this past month at an event and they are quite pretty, you are right AND small. There is something alluring about them but bantams aren't for me. As for taking a life time to become a breeder, I figured it was a lot of time to go, but where I am supposed to start so I am not being cursed out by your or your apprentices in the years to come is my concern. I'd like to spend tend years and find out at the end that only a few were 'wasted.' I don't see the sense in not learning. I think my father showed me this. He was young but he was always hanging out with these old ham radio guys. They were all about twice his age and more. They kept their secrets and were grumpy but dad's persistence and willingness to learn and stick with them for years got him a long way... got him friends too. And I got to listen, too, as kids didn't talk much in our house all I had to do was stay unseen and learn. I still feel like I am 'lurking' when in here trying to learn. That you go out of your way to share a piece of sweet encouragement is like when those fellows would let me sit in a chair in the room with a hard candy.