Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[Arielle]

Quote: I was asking because I have been talking to Walt about raising cornish as a possible breed. SO hopefully everyone will understand.Cornish are a heritage breed, or at least some are.

 

[gjensen]

So you don't have to muck out anywhere? How do you do that? You don't have manure/deep litter that you have to clean up in breeding or conditioning pens, eventually?

Kim (who was born in San Diego)

I like to garden, and the sand is five/six feet deep on my place. That manure is like gold to me. It might sound crazy, but I do not want to lose it. I even factor it in when I figure costs.

 

[3riverschick]

I was asking because I have been talking to Walt about raising cornish as a possible breed. SO hopefully everyone will understand.Cornish are a heritage breed, or at least some are.

Based on what you want in poultry, Cornish sounds like a perfect match for you
Best,
Karen

 

[fowlman01]

So you don't have to muck out anywhere? How do you do that? You don't have manure/deep litter that you have to clean up in breeding or conditioning pens, eventually?

Kim (who was born in San Diego)

I was born in SF.

I do clean out the runs where I condition the birds once a year...... maybe......I just keep adding litter and eventually the straw that was on top ends up as a very rich soil. There are no piles of manure anywhere. This way of doing litter has been discussed several times in the OTimers thread. If you keep the right balance ...which is very easy to do here.....it doesn't smell and it is very low maintenance. It produces a great planting soil.

Walt

 

[catdaddyfro]

Originally Posted by Arielle

I was asking because I have been talking to Walt about raising cornish as a possible breed. SO hopefully everyone will understand.Cornish are a heritage breed, or at least some are.

Based on what you want in poultry, Cornish sounds like a perfect match for you
Best,
Karen

You may want to PM Al 6517 he is an avid Cornish breeder on BYC theres more I'm sure but he sticks out more in my mind from previous post here on the heritage thread than any others do when talking Cornish he can either help you out or suggest maybe someone in your area, I'm sure.

Jeff

 

[fowlman01]

Originally Posted by Arielle

I was asking because I have been talking to Walt about raising cornish as a possible breed. SO hopefully everyone will understand.Cornish are a heritage breed, or at least some are.
You may want to PM Al 6517 he is an avid Cornish breeder on BYC theres more I'm sure but he sticks out more in my mind from previous post here on the heritage thread than any others do when talking Cornish he can either help you out or suggest maybe someone in your area, I'm sure.

Jeff

Al is the guy for Cornish. I don't consider Cornish as an easy breed to raise. We have raised them for years and still raise the bantams, but I would not normally suggest them for someone who has not raised SOP poultry for about at least 10 years or so.

Walt

 

[3riverschick]

Al is the guy for Cornish. I don't consider Cornish as an easy breed to raise. We have raised them for years and still raise the bantams, but I would not normally suggest them for someone who has not raised SOP poultry for about at least 10 years or so.

Walt

Just curious, why, Walt?
Best,
Karen

 

[fowlman01]

Just curious, why, Walt?
Best,
Karen

They are not the easiest bird to reproduce. A lot of people AI them. We don't, but lots do. And they don't lay many eggs after the first year...or that has been my experience with the strains raised here. I like to breed from birds over a year old so that I have an idea how they really look and what they really produce.
Al can give us his input as he raises tons of them.

Walt

 

[Arielle]

Originally Posted by Arielle

I was asking because I have been talking to Walt about raising cornish as a possible breed. SO hopefully everyone will understand.Cornish are a heritage breed, or at least some are.
Quote: As you read in Walts post--not for a beginner like me.

 

[ashandvine]

I have looked for information on breeding and there isn't much in the way of outlining how to breed. I read P1, F1, F2 etc, and looked in the forums here without finding much so I want to ask a similar question to what was asked about the Cornish... and maybe its another secret. I have a 'project' in mind, which is really just me trying to breed current stock back to the contributing breeds that created it so as to get back to some earlier standards of size. I'll just say it: I'm kind of hung up on this Houdan thing. I got some. They were not quite crap but really close. So, I have gotten rid of them and slowly maneuvered myself to find Dorkings and Anconas. I am going to bring the Dorkings here for other reasons, but while they are here the idea of trying to breed Houdans, Mottled if I can, back to what Mr. Walt L showed me and what I found here: http://www.nehbc.org/images/gallery_french.jpg is tempting (and probably too ambitious, I know). I can't stop thinking about it though. I have never done anything like this. Crosses happen for fun, purposeful breeding for good stock... but this feels like trying to learn chemistry without the books.
Question is: what can I do/go/read to learn which is the cock and which the hen for the first P1, P2, and then some. I am assuming that the Ancona will come in later in the game when type/size has been established because they are for 'color' but please tell me if I am wrong. I have a cock I could get for free, or he's soup, and a hen for 20$ who is under 2 years. If I should go to another thread, please, excuse me.