Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[Pathfinders]

I haven't found it practical to sell eggs locally, too many other folks in the area sell them under what they cost to produce (at least for me, because I feed high quality foods to my birds) and I just don't do things at which I take a huge loss. So before winter I cull out the non-breeding quality females, and sell them off to folks as layers for their flocks.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Everyone has a different approach. When I sell a bird, it becomes their bird to with as they wish. We breed for productive, SOP birds. I'm not ashamed to sell folks our Red hens or our Barred Rocks hens. I do "interview" them a bit to see that they are not expecting ISA Brown type laying ability.

Very few of these folks are intending to breed. They just desire a good, high quality layer and want a good representative of the breed. That's what they get.

If someone does express a desire for breeding stock, I help them, if I can, or point them toward someone would might be able to help them. Breeding stock is a whole other thing. I'm not particularly competitive about the whole thing.

 

[ocap]

It's turned into a perpetuating business because most of these folks get a few new hens from me about every other year and I take their older hens off their hands since most don't want to fool with butchering them.

this post has answered my question, although my plumber can't eat his because of his daughter's love for the hens

 

[NYREDS]

When you do sell them as layers, do you specify what breed(s) they are?

Any culls I sell, I sell as "generic laying hens", but someone has taken me to task about that, saying I should just slaughter my culls. Certainly, none of us who do this are in it for the money. I know I am not, I have yet to actually make a profit with the poultry, I do it for the love of it. If I can defray the cost of the feed a bit, I call it good.

I'm with you. My culls go to a local auction where they're rarely identified by breed & never associated with the person who consigns them. I get rid of birds I don't need & get back some money toward the feed bill. Generally the people who attend this auction are just looking for chicken. The few people there looking for show or breeder birds are knowledgeable enough not to bid on something they can't use.
As to the person who has "taken you to task", I'd tell him/her to mind their own business. I might even add an explitive to that phrase.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

So, a question for you all.

What do you do with your cull females. Do you sell them as generic laying hens? Do you eat them? Wondering...

I have yet to eat one of my hens....there seems to be a decent market in my area for laying hens. I can get $10-15 (depending on time of yr) for a hen that is laying. Unless someone specifically asks me for a "breeding pair or trio" (which are priced accordingly) then I say let the buyer beware. If they are sold as "layers" then that's what they get...."layers". Very seldom will I allow a cockerel to go with a layer when I sell them. I'm just skeptical of folks I guess.

I can buy a fully dressed bird at the grocery store for $5-6....at $10-15 for a layer, it helps to offset the cost of raising them in my book

 

[RedRidge]

And here... type, color, correctness, brick shape, etc... that all gets you nothing if you don't lay an adequate number of eggs.
I grind, mix and ferment my own soy free, non-gmo feed (in addition to BSF), so I charge a premium for my eggs.
The demand is there since so few folks around here provide this type of egg, so egg money for me is what offsets my other poultry expenses.

But we have three rules around here 1) that each type of livestock must at least support itself plus feed us, 2) you have to have shoulders (this came in handy when the kids thought snakes should be pets), and 3) you have to have a job (this is true for humans and animals). Every animal has a purpose, otherwise it isn't allowed to stay. That goes for everything from barn cats to grow children.

My meat sheep have to be self supporting with enough extra to support the dairy sheep.
My beefers need to support themselves and my dairy girls.
My production layers support my Heritage RIR.
Haven't figured out if the Rhodebars will make it yet in our financial requirements eventually, but we'll see... I'm thinking my production layers cannot support both the HRIR and the Rhodebars, so I know the Rhodebars will be a financial loss over the next few years.

We put pen and paper to it regularly... if we break even on each type of livestock we consider that a win.
Since we consume our own beef, milk, lamb, eggs and chickens then breaking even on paper without charging ourselves for our own food means no grocery bill... another win.

 

[Arielle]

As to the discussion on egg color, I think it is a woman thing. I think I can speak for many women here in that we just appreciate the beauty in a basket of beautiful multi-colored eggs sitting on the kitchen counter or in a carton. It has nothing to do with the quality of the eggs' contents (although that is important too, love the rich orange yolks!) but just in the variety of colors represented. I have a black wire basket and when it is filled with dark brown, blue, green, light brown, and white eggs, it is a joy to behold.

I always enjoy collecting the eggs!! Each one is a work of art.

Must be why Ihave Am, EE and marans. Need a white layer though.

 

[maryhysong]

When you do sell them as layers, do you specify what breed(s) they are?

Any culls I sell, I sell as "generic laying hens", but someone has taken me to task about that, saying I should just slaughter my culls. Certainly, none of us who do this are in it for the money. I know I am not, I have yet to actually make a profit with the poultry, I do it for the love of it. If I can defray the cost of the feed a bit, I call it good.

Right now I have some hatchery quality buff orpington pullets for sale, They have been laying about a month. I just advertise them as not show quality BO, good for laying flock. Most people around here just want layers and are not into the whole SOP thing. This year I hatched several batches of easter eggers and sold a lot of chicks. I hatched an early batch of 30 for myself. They are POL now and one has even begun to lay. I have some definite goals for these birds, beginning with better body types. I ended up with 17 pullets and have tagged four or five I'll keep. All their brothers are destined for freezer camp and I will sell the rest of the pullets as easter eggers/rainbow layers, possible blue, green or brown eggs.

In my black copper Marans I will probably eat the worst looking ones, to me no point in taking a chance on spreading those bad genes around. I especially wouldn't sell a really bad looking rooster, there are already way too many out there being sold to new and unsuspecting people. I might sell pullets or older hens off to people wanting layers, with the caveat that they are not up to the SOP and should not be bred from. Of course I have no control over what people do with birds once they buy them.

I am a very honest person, sometimes it seems too honest for my own good. But I will point out every fault and problem with birds and make very sure the buyer understands what they are getting. For instance on these easter egger pullets, I say *probably* blue or green eggs, BUT a possibility of brown too, no guarantees! Just to cover myself!

Right now sales of birds and eggs cover about half my feed costs, but I have been growing out a lot of young birds this year. I am hoping to grow out fewer birds next year and come at least close to breaking even.

 

[Arielle]

And here... type, color, correctness, brick shape, etc... that all gets you nothing if you don't lay an adequate number of eggs.
I grind, mix and ferment my own soy free, non-gmo feed (in addition to BSF), so I charge a premium for my eggs.
The demand is there since so few folks around here provide this type of egg, so egg money for me is what offsets my other poultry expenses.

But we have three rules around here 1) that each type of livestock must at least support itself plus feed us, 2) you have to have shoulders (this came in handy when the kids thought snakes should be pets), and 3) you have to have a job (this is true for humans and animals). Every animal has a purpose, otherwise it isn't allowed to stay. That goes for everything from barn cats to grow children.

My meat sheep have to be self supporting with enough extra to support the dairy sheep.
My beefers need to support themselves and my dairy girls.
My production layers support my Heritage RIR.
Haven't figured out if the Rhodebars will make it yet in our financial requirements eventually, but we'll see... I'm thinking my production layers cannot support both the HRIR and the Rhodebars, so I know the Rhodebars will be a financial loss over the next few years.

We put pen and paper to it regularly... if we break even on each type of livestock we consider that a win.
Since we consume our own beef, milk, lamb, eggs and chickens then breaking even on paper without charging ourselves for our own food means no grocery bill... another win.

Nice job!! I know it was a lot of work to make this work!

 

[thedragonlady]

Great post.

EE and Ameaucanas are like production reds and Rhode Island Reds they think they got the same thing.

What a fad it has turned into it seems but has nothing to do to help preserve rare breeds of endangered in need of help chickens.

That is why it takes one in 500 people on this web site to buckle down and get serous about a breed. We have had great success doing this after we re educate this one person. Today we have a good number who are subscribing to the theory of breeding and sharing their birds with others. So simple if they would just treat them like chickens and not humans. That is why so many older breeders get frustrated with beginners with their off the wall ideas of razing the chickens and breeding them. They think they are like humans and they have special feelings.

In regards to brown leghorns I think they all have Old English in them. How else could you shrink a dark brown leghorn down to a bantam. They did this also with R I Red bantams in the 1930s. That's why we have pointed down bantam wings on the males on some strains. It now seems some how a Plymouth Rock got crossed into our Rhode Island Red bantams about 30 years ago and now we see Red females with backs like a Partridge Rock. I would not be leave this at the time but I am now be leaving the old man who told me this was right. How could they do such a think you may ask. This breeder thought he could make the red bantams darker and beat this old master breeder. Did not work and today we are paying for his sins.

Also, if ou can make a fly pen for your leghorn males say a pen 4 x6 and his roost about four feet off the ground this gives him stimulation of his wings to fly. I put my water up buy his roost so he has to fly up there. Then I put his feed in his litter or in a cup on the ground. then after a few months I look at the wings and choose the males that have higher leveler wing carriage. Just need two good one or two family's to correct this. Where did you get your brown leghorn bantams from?

Bob,

Encouraging young birds to use their wings is something I believe in too. My brooder is a large stock tank in my greenhouse about 6 feet in diameter.I have a large branch in it. The young Orps love to fly up, and roost. With a breed as heavy as Orps , you have to develop those pectoral muscles early, before they get too heavy to really fly. It's a shame to see so many Orps with very loose wing carriage when it can be prevented.