Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[galanie]

Black is dominate over red, so no there is no way to tell by just looking at the bird.  You would need to test breed the bird and see if it carries two copies of black or not.  The green sheen on black feathers is representative of the quality of feather.  Green is the highest of quality, and shows good health.

Thank you!

 

[3riverschick]

Hi there, I currently have a flock of hens that I am looking to breed. I have to silkie roasters, 4 barred rocks, 3 rhode islands, 2 columbian rocks and 2 red sex links. I would like to try and sustain a reliable laying flock and was thinking my silkie roasters might not provide the genetics i need to get consistent eggs from my hatchlings. Any thoughts on this?

I was also thinking of providing a breeding house as my current coop is getting to small for our needs. I figure this would make a perfect spot to get a new roaster and a couple hens for breeding purposes? I have been looking into Austrolorps or Chanteclers as well, to diversify the flock.

I guess to summarize, would my silkie roasters work or should i buy a new roaster?

thanks

Hi,
Welcome to the list! Glad to see you came here. Who can help answer our new listers' questions?Do you want a flock of a single breed(s)? Or are you planning to breed all the birds together?
Welcome,
Karen
Karen

 

[unkadan]

I was always told that silkies were better fryers than roasters,,,we'll have to wait for Bob to weigh in on this.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

I was always told that silkies were better fryers than roasters,,,we'll have to wait for Bob to weigh in on this.

rotflmao!!!!!

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Hi there, I currently have a flock of hens that I am looking to breed. I have to silkie roasters, 4 barred rocks, 3 rhode islands, 2 columbian rocks and 2 red sex links. I would like to try and sustain a reliable laying flock and was thinking my silkie roasters might not provide the genetics i need to get consistent eggs from my hatchlings. Any thoughts on this?

I was also thinking of providing a breeding house as my current coop is getting to small for our needs. I figure this would make a perfect spot to get a new roaster and a couple hens for breeding purposes? I have been looking into Austrolorps or Chanteclers as well, to diversify the flock.

I guess to summarize, would my silkie roasters work or should i buy a new roaster?

thanks

I don't think you want to use Silkies to move forward with your flock. As much as I LOVE my Silkies, Silkies are typically considered ornamental and probably won't lead to much of any value with your current flock or sustainability. I would suggest you track down a Barred Rock roo. I'm betting you won't have any trouble finding one and that will work quite nicely with what you are already working with.

And welcome to BYC!!!

 

[Yellow House Farm]

What do I do about this rooster?
Well the 2 pullets have decided they want no part of an incubator and will be hatching their own eggs. The nest-box is extra large and both of them are a cozy fit. Junior is gallant and gentle with his girls. However, the rooster has decided to join them in the nest box and now it is downright too crowded. So any suggestions?
These three were brought up together and get along really well. Should I put a tub with shavings in the other end of the 4x8 coop? Move the boy to bachelor quarters? Leave them alone? Or? Obviously my schedule has gone out the window, smile. These girls are determined to do it themselves. I just wish I had studied broody hens. I never did because I was always set to do it the scientific way. LOL. I could use any suggestions you have to give.
Should I move one hen to the bachelor quarters and leave the roo with the other hen? I wonder how that will play when I try to put all of them back together again after the chicks hatch? Right now the three of them are acting like it's a big pajama party.
Science out the window, it's medieval times again,
Karen

Hi Karen!

Well, we'd handle this situation in one of two ways:

1. If you're hen is incubating the eggs, then move her out of the coop. At night, transfer her into a broody coop. In her new home, put her in a nest box that you can cover up with something solid so that it stays dark for the entire following day. Just before sunset, as the sky is greying into night, remove the barrier, she should stay put into the night, getting up the following day for the feed and water you've put out. From there it takes care of itself. Move one hen to one box. Trying to get two hens to incubate together can go excellently or tragically; it's a flip of the coin. Were I to care about the eggs in question, I wouldn't gamble on two hens.

2. Leave the hens where they are and replace the eggs with dummy eggs. Incubate 20 fertile eggs per hen in the incubater. When you move the eggs to the hatcher, put a few under the hens. The eggs will hatch, and the hens will have set for a long enough period of time. At night, on the eve before the hens are going to leave the nest with the chicks, go out and collect the chicks from your hens. Bring them in and mix them with the chicks from your hatcher. Toe-punch everyone first--of course. Make sure the eggs you put under the hens to hatch are all from the same toe-punch. Bring your bucket of toe-punched chicks out to the house and put them all under the hen(s). Staple a piece of chicken wire in fron of the hole so that everyone stays put and no one enters before you have a chance to get out there in the morning. The following morning go out and remove the wire. Move the hens to the broodying space. Put all the chicks into a vessel of sorts (I just use a 5gallon bucket or a small box) and bring them to the waiting hens. If you have two brooding spaces, you can divide the chicks between the two hens and this will keep everything calm and like clock-work.

 

[thedragonlady]

Hi there, I currently have a flock of hens that I am looking to breed. I have to silkie roasters, 4 barred rocks, 3 rhode islands, 2 columbian rocks and 2 red sex links. I would like to try and sustain a reliable laying flock and was thinking my silkie roasters might not provide the genetics i need to get consistent eggs from my hatchlings. Any thoughts on this?

I was also thinking of providing a breeding house as my current coop is getting to small for our needs. I figure this would make a perfect spot to get a new roaster and a couple hens for breeding purposes? I have been looking into Austrolorps or Chanteclers as well, to diversify the flock.

I guess to summarize, would my silkie roasters work or should i buy a new roaster?

thanks

The offspring from Silkie roosters will not have much laying ability.They will make good setters though. You need a rooster from a laying, or dual purpose breed Australorps, Rocks, Buckeyes, RIRs, would be good.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Hello- The following is something I posted in the Breeds forum, and it was suggested that I also post here to gather more info- Thanks, Chicknfun


Hello Chicken Lovers-

We are talking about starting a very small conservation project, maybe 3 or 4 breeds. Greetings Chickenfun! A conservation project is a great bit of fun. There's much to do and learn. I'd suggest there's a lot more to learn (a huge part of the fun) than one imagines when one begins. A first thing for you to consider is that a conservation project of 3 or 4 breeds, that actually is a conservation project, is actually a huge project. You probably want to consider one or two breeds (one is better) to begin, especially if your hope is to be successful. I know it might sound that I'm raining on the parade, but it's actualy a vote for your success.

I am posting to try to get some ideas and info from the BYC community.

ANY ideas, thoughts, opinions, concerns are welcome, but I do have a few specific questions.....

* What breeds are most in need of conserving? The breed(s) in need of conserving, to which you will be of benefit, is the breed that you are wanting to stick with for years and years.

* To help spread the breed, would it be best to hatch and sell chicks, or sell hatching eggs? You'll figure that out when the time's right, but you probably want to breed your birds for a good few years or more so that you are intimately acquainted with your stock and its tendencies

* How many hens per rooster? You want to study breeding patterns, line-breeding, clan-breeding, rolling breeding, and get a feel for them. Then you look at your facilities and decide which pattern is going to suit your infrastructure. Depending on what you decide, you're probably going to end up with 1 to 6 hens per cock. Chances are you're going to be best served by fewer rather than more.

* Who would you go to to get the best breeding stock of any particular species? (In other words, who has the best breeding stock of specific endangered breeds?) We'd talk about breeds rather than species. The one species-Gallus domesticus- is divided into breeds, each breed is divided into varieties. Once you decide on the breed you'd like to steward, come back here and ask, and we can do our best to set you up. To decide what breed you like to work with, start by visiting the website for the American Poultry Association and, from there, order a copy of the Standard of Perfection. It is the bible of sorts for poultry breeders. It is sine qua non; without it you cannot be successful. So, just spend the money from the get-go, and pick it up. Once it arrives, you'll learn about all of the breeds available for conservation. It will be hard, but pick one. There's time for more than one later.

* Is there anything , in particular, different about keeping endangered chickens as opposed to keeping other types of chickens? The quick answer is no; chickens are chickens. However, over time, when the nuances start to come clear, you'll see that there is a panoply of variety and with it many subtleties.

I want to say Thank You in advance for any responses.....After we gather info from this thread, we will decide if / how to proceed. You're going to love it. Dive in.

Step 1: Buy your Standard of Perfection

Step 2: Choose one breed

If you find that you have questions in narrowing down your choices, come back here.

Cheers!

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Hi there, I currently have a flock of hens that I am looking to breed. I have to silkie roasters, 4 barred rocks, 3 rhode islands, 2 columbian rocks and 2 red sex links. I would like to try and sustain a reliable laying flock and was thinking my silkie roasters might not provide the genetics i need to get consistent eggs from my hatchlings. Any thoughts on this?

I was also thinking of providing a breeding house as my current coop is getting to small for our needs. I figure this would make a perfect spot to get a new roaster and a couple hens for breeding purposes? I have been looking into Austrolorps or Chanteclers as well, to diversify the flock.

I guess to summarize, would my silkie roasters work or should i buy a new roaster?

thanks

Greetings jgiajnorio!

I guess the best approach here is kind directness: you can't have everything. Egg production, like milk production, is attached to line breeding. If you just put together a mix-match of hens with a cock, you're going to get a whole lot of not much.

If you actually want to breed for egg production, you need to choose a single breed. Breeding for egg-production involves breeding in number and culling at various stages. If you really want to learn how to do that, get a Standard of Perfection and choose one breed. Let us know the breed of your choice once you've decided. You seem to like breeds of the American class. They're great candidates.

You can probably get good seed stock this spring. Come the fall, you can put your current flock into the freezer, and your new stock will take their place. This is actually quite fitting, because there will be an annual harvest, actually a few, associated with breeding and selecting for egg-production.

Best to you!

 

[jgiajnorio]

I was always told that silkies were better fryers than roasters,,,we'll have to wait for Bob to weigh in on this.

HA. I iPhone problems. What can I say