Bob, I want you to know that I spent the holiday weekend working on a plan to transition from three hatchery laying hens to a small, mostly closed flock of standard-bred dual-purpose large fowl. Preferably black javas. Would appreciate any feedback on the plan, especially regarding facilities/skills I might need (or not need):
Phase 1 was basic chicken keeping. My three hatchery laying hens will be culled when I start my breeding program, but for now they're decent layers and good practice birds. I've kept them alive and they look a lot better than they did a year ago when I got them. So far so good.
Phase 2: I just ordered a small cabinet incubator (a Reptipro - holds 32 eggs). Plan on getting some hatching eggs to check out my hatching/brooding/culling techniques. I could house half a dozen grown out birds with the space I currently have available. If I hatch out more than that my culling techniques will get honed early.
Phase 3: Build the breeding facilities and find a good, matched trio to start with. I plan on hatching out about 30 birds a year and culling heavily, wintering over a couple of breeding trios and a layer flock of up to 15 birds. After the first year I plan on a form of line breeding, taking the best young cockerel and breeding it back to the two original hens, and taking the best two pullets and breeding them back to the original cock. But I'm only going to have room for two breeding pens, so I'll probably have to introduce new blood every few years.
My plan is to build a 20' x 20' enclosure with a solid roof, hardware cloth screening on 3 sides, and a dirt floor, sectioned off into two 5 x 12' breeding pens and a 10' x 20' growout area, with the remaining 8' x 10' space for access and storage and a brooder setup. The breeding pens and growout pen will have removable dividers between them so I can open up the spaces when breeding season is over. I will also be able to section off part of the growout pen if necessary.
Thanks for any feedback you all can give me.
Sarah
Phase 1 was basic chicken keeping. My three hatchery laying hens will be culled when I start my breeding program, but for now they're decent layers and good practice birds. I've kept them alive and they look a lot better than they did a year ago when I got them. So far so good.
Phase 2: I just ordered a small cabinet incubator (a Reptipro - holds 32 eggs). Plan on getting some hatching eggs to check out my hatching/brooding/culling techniques. I could house half a dozen grown out birds with the space I currently have available. If I hatch out more than that my culling techniques will get honed early.
Phase 3: Build the breeding facilities and find a good, matched trio to start with. I plan on hatching out about 30 birds a year and culling heavily, wintering over a couple of breeding trios and a layer flock of up to 15 birds. After the first year I plan on a form of line breeding, taking the best young cockerel and breeding it back to the two original hens, and taking the best two pullets and breeding them back to the original cock. But I'm only going to have room for two breeding pens, so I'll probably have to introduce new blood every few years.
My plan is to build a 20' x 20' enclosure with a solid roof, hardware cloth screening on 3 sides, and a dirt floor, sectioned off into two 5 x 12' breeding pens and a 10' x 20' growout area, with the remaining 8' x 10' space for access and storage and a brooder setup. The breeding pens and growout pen will have removable dividers between them so I can open up the spaces when breeding season is over. I will also be able to section off part of the growout pen if necessary.
Thanks for any feedback you all can give me.
Sarah
