Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[Canieldonrad]

I assume the Sunflower seeds offer a lot of fat for larger girth?

 

[7961]

How much Calf Manna do you blend in? What properties or ingredients do Calf Manna have that a regular poultry starter-grower feed lacks? From my understanding some who raise "game" breeds will use Calf Manna as a conditioning supplement. A friend of mine has a neighbor who raises game chickens and does feed Calf Manna, however only gives 3 or 4 pieces per bird a day. That seems to little to amount to anything.

 

[thedragonlady]

Quote:
The hulled sunflower seeds add a lot of protein and fat to the diet without adding roughage , which makes heat. My birds get BOSS in the winter.

 

[thedragonlady]

Quote:
I top dress their Flockraiser with about 2 tablespoons of CM a day,per bird, plus hulled sunflower seeds in hot weather.Lots of good vitamins and minerals in CM.

 

[fowlman01]

My friend captured a decent photo of my #1 pick male at 5 1/2 months that I hatched from Jeremy Woeppel/XW Poultry German/Good Shepherd NH cross eggs this year. He carries his tail a bit higher than this..but considering it was 104, he still had his wings tucked decently. He's got some more growing and filling out to do, no doubt....there's 2 other males that look decent for back up. This one was my pick from early on...

***Vickie-this is that male you were hoping I had a plan for

Just finished putting my birds away that were entered in our State Fair, been gone all weekend. Lots of reading to do, but my NH's don't look anything like this at 5-6 months.

Walt

 

[thedragonlady]

Quote:
Simple explanation....Eye of Newt .

 

[Canieldonrad]

Simple explanation....Eye of Newt .

I see this discussion heading in the direction of "BURN THE WITCH."

 

[fowlman01]

Sorry for the hijack, but I was just discussing "station" with a friend offline.

I'm curious what folks will say about this - how important is station in poultry? Is it something that's a bit of an "afterthought" so to speak, or are there folks who pay very close attention in their breeding choices to it? If a bird is supposed to posess, say, a medium station and has, instead, a high station, would they be faulted for this at a show? And what of a bird that is heavier than the standard calls for; would this bird not naturally have a higher station? Would he then be faulted twice (heavy/high station), or would this be looked at as one thing?

I have been at out State Fair all weekend.

Generally Station is not talked about a lot in most large fowl. It usually isn't a problem. If you have a bird that leans forward or backward.....that would be a problem. Some breeds like Modern Games and Runner ducks have points for station. I think Station is being used in a couple different ways here. You could say "short stationed", but judges usually just say it has short legs. Station to me is the posture of the bird and it does have a lot to do with where the legs are. The most dramatic example is this Runner duck.




Note where the legs are on this duck. If the legs are anywhere else, the duck would not be able to stand vertically like this. This duck will actually go into a 90 degree station without falling over backward. It is all in the placement of the legs and it is a real problem in these ducks. In station a Runner will have it's tail buried in the ground and can hold a 90 degree pose for quite some time without wobbling or trying to maintain balance. It is all about where the legs are in relationship to the body weight. Vickie described it well when she said the legs are the balancing point or however she worded it.

So to me "Station" is more about the pose. This Runner is the CA State Fair Champion bird of the show and he can stand a lot better than this..

Walt

 

[fowlman01]

I see this discussion heading in the direction of "BURN THE WITCH."

She has already been burned a few times and still keeps coming back.

w.

 

[thedragonlady]

That's been suggested before ! Here is a 5 1/2 month Buff Orp Cockerel on the right, and a 4 1/2 month old on the left, both by Max, Monty's Bro., out of SOP hens. Guess which one ate more Eye of Newt !