Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[Extra Java]

If he can get by two electric fences he could. In over 40 years I only had it happen once, and that was recently when a coyote dug under the main fence. The coyote was still two fences away from this. I have cull runner ducks between the fences. Predators love Runner ducks. A predator can get anything they want if they are diligent. Most are lazy. During most of the year the ground here is as strong as concrete. The coyote dug under after a heavy rain. He almost died, so I dont expect him back. I have one of his toes now.

Walt

OK, I get it....Thanks! LOL

 

[Matt1616]

Bob, I was taught that a hen retains the seed of the cockerel for up to 40 days post cover... If that's true, how can you know who the 'father' of a chick is if you rotate cockerels so often? I'm still trying to understand that.

Also, a lady I'm working with says that with her Icelandics, if she rotated them in and out like that, her cockerels would get depressed and not eat. Will this only work with certain breeds that aren't so 'bonded' to their mates? Because, I had considered having a 'barracks' for breeding season, where I would remove my breeding cockerels to for a few weeks prior, then place C. A with hen set A, and C. B with hen set B, then collect eggs for a while, then remove the males for a few weeks, and swap C.A  to hen set B.... etc.

Then, I'm STILL trying to understand how you know which eggs belong to which hens when you've got 3 or 4 running about in the same pen? I suppose over time I'll 'know' whose eggs are whose... like with my banties right now it's obvious by egg shape and time of day. But, that first season, all new hens, no 'feel' for who's who...

Okay, that's enough to give someone a headache, I'm sure  Good thing I've got at least til late Winter before all this is gotta be set in stone.

I can't speak on what books say about this but I breed a lot of chickens and I do a lot of moving males around to try different combos and my experience has been that when I remove a male from a pen the eggs will go clear in about 10 days. I date them so I know exactly when they are not fertile anymore. I have had a few times where they went 12-14 days but never longer than 14 days. I breed 4 American breeds and 2 English so these results are not breed specific...they have been consistent in all my breeds. I'm not saying anyone else is wrong, I'm just telling you what my experience has been and it is pretty extensive.

Matt

 

[gjensen]

I can't speak on what books say about this but I breed a lot of chickens and I do a lot of moving males around to try different combos and my experience has been that when I remove a male from a pen the eggs will go clear in about 10 days. I date them so I know exactly when they are not fertile anymore. I have had a few times where they went 12-14 days but never longer than 14 days. I breed 4 American breeds and 2 English so these results are not breed specific...they have been consistent in all my breeds. I'm not saying anyone else is wrong, I'm just telling you what my experience has been and it is pretty extensive.

Matt

That is in line with what I have been doing and my experience. I move a male out and wait two weeks. I put a male in and wait a week. The reason for the time frame is that I do everything on the weekend.

 

[catdaddyfro]

delete

 

[Yellow House Farm]

This is fantastic advice. About the only thing I would add is when you first start going to shows, if you are a breed you like, pick up a pair or two, for the first couple years in poultry, try some different breeds if you think you want to (and can support it) because until you've had a breed for at least a short time you don't really know if its for you and you may find out the breed you thought you wanted doesn't work out so well and completely fall in love with one that you thought was just a passing interest.

Then once you find the breed or two you really want to work on,well, refer to quoted post.

Indeed, good point, I started out a year with several breeds. I thought for sure it was going to be Speckled Sussex for I had a crush on them when I was younger. I thought they were the most beautiful large fowl. Indeed, I still think they are absolutely lovely. Going into the first winter here, we had NH, Partridge and Buff Rocks, SC LB Leghorns, SC Anconas, White Dorkings, White Orpingtons, maybe some others. Well, by late winter, all the cockerels were mangled, excepting the Dorkings who were fine. So, in a way, our environment picked them for us. The other had to go, but I enjoyed the merits of a good white egg layer, too. Then I discovered a source for RC Anconas, my preferred of the two. A few things have come an gone since, but those two have just persisted on becoming more and more my focus. I imagine I'll see some LF OEG for a little, side project. I appreciate a diversity of form and function. A good dual-purpose, a good egger, and I like the romance of the fighting cocks.

 

[fowlman01]

All kinds of things can pop out of a US Marans..it doesn't mean a Brahma is the dad

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Also there is a difference between removing a cock and leaving the hens without a mate and adding another cock. A new cock flushes the old cock out relatively quickly.

 

[catdaddyfro]

Also there is a difference between removing a cock and leaving the hens without a mate and adding another cock. A new cock flushes the old cock out relatively quickly.

I'm glad you posted that up Joseph, the new more viable sperm out perform the older ones for sure. (faster swimmers) + I'm sure the female hormones are in play here a bunch too J/S

procreation at its best.


Jeff

 

[Matt1616]

Here is cross breed with his story beneath the picture, so who knows rarity or just a strong Lone Ranger that lingered around a while CENTER]

"Cull," who hatched in my flock but now belongs to my friend Ray Cull's history is odd. He hatched out of a pen of Marans that had been separated for breeding for nearly 2 months before the egg he hatched from was laid, yet with his pea comb and heavily feathered legs he looks to be a Brahma cross. This leads us to suspect that hens can sometimes retain fertile sperm for more than the normally accepted 3 weeks! Jeff PS edited it too add just as the insurance commercial says "if its on the internet it has to be true" right? but all in all its interesting to me http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/ChickMixG/BRKMixed.html http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/ChickMixG/BRKMixed2.html very interesting and pretty mixed breeds here if anybodys interested​

Jeff, I am quite confused by this story as I don't see where it proves anything. The person says that the egg was laid 2 months after the Marans had been separated from breeding which would lead you to believe that those breedings were intentional so this person would have known what the father would have been from these breedings. They then suggest that because of the type of comb and some other features that this could possibly be a Brahma cross. Well if they were breeding to a Brahma 2 months earlier there would be no question as to what the cross was. So this article explains itself. Obviously a bird other than what they were breeding 2 months earlier got in with the hen a week or two before the hen laid the egg and fertilized it. If it had been fertilized 2 months earlier they would have known what they were breeding to the Marans.​

 

[ronott1]

I'm glad you posted that up Joseph, the new more viable sperm out perform the older ones for sure. (faster swimmers) + I'm sure the female hormones are in play here a bunch too J/S

procreation at its best.


Jeff

Can you post a study or two on this?