BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[Kassaundra]

I have a ton of mint here...I'll hang some and dry it this year and let you know if it has any affect on laying.

Should at least give them fresh breath....

My mint is for wine making, one of my favorite home made wines has turned out to be mint.

 

[Kassaundra]

Since realizing the local poultry feed has gone totally vegan and noticing problems most likely associated with it(drop in egg production, feather picking).. I've started to mix eggs into their feed. They absolutely love it.. break the eggs over the regular poultry feed and stir to coat.

as for the chicks on chick starter I like to add black oil sunflower, wet the mash- stir it and then break eggs over it and stir again to coat the whole thing.

they all love this so much they go nuts when they see the bowls for this mix.. the hens are back up to laying levels they were at before the vegan feed, feather picking stopped(in the mild cases though- the hard core pickers like the EE chicks continued to pick, the only solution was culling).

be a good way to use up the excess eggs after feeding the dogs?

The most trouble I have ever had w/ outright feather picking was w/ EE

 

[Kassaundra]

Wooo Hooo finally caught up.

I have been raising a couple of CX girls (suppose to be 4 but I am very sure 2 are CX and 2 are WR), I am hoping to keep them through egg laying and breed them w/ my Naked (scaleless) boy. Anyway it has been VERY HOT here and I've worried about my "cross girls" but they are doing well. May 1st was their hatch day so hoping for eggs sometime around the beginning or mid Sept. My scaleless, broodies, tweens, cross girls, and one old gimpy are all in a community run w/ the rabbits. They (the chickens) have discovered how much cooler the rabbit tunnels are during this heat. I think I have the world's only subterranean chickens.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Wooo Hooo finally caught up.

I have been raising a couple of CX girls (suppose to be 4 but I am very sure 2 are CX and 2 are WR), I am hoping to keep them through egg laying and breed them w/ my Naked (scaleless) boy. Anyway it has been VERY HOT here and I've worried about my "cross girls" but they are doing well. May 1st was their hatch day so hoping for eggs sometime around the beginning or mid Sept. My scaleless, broodies, tweens, cross girls, and one old gimpy are all in a community run w/ the rabbits. They (the chickens) have discovered how much cooler the rabbit tunnels are during this heat. I think I have the world's only subterranean chickens.

Is your naked cockerel a meaty fellow? I suppose it would be easy to evaluate a chicken without any feathers.
Is he a naked naked neck? (sorry but I had to try that one

)

 

[Kassaundra]

Is your naked cockerel a meaty fellow? I suppose it would be easy to evaluate a chicken without any feathers.
Is he a naked naked neck? (sorry but I had to try that one

)

No my nakeds aren't meaty, that is why I'm wanting to cross them w/ bigger, faster growing stock. Genetically yes my scaleless are also NN, not all scaleless are NN genetically though they all do have naked necks! lol

As I'm working on the size I'm hoping to keep the females as carriers and one male as scaleless. That way the female breeders will have feathers for easier keeping through the winter. The breeding male being scaleless will need extra clothes for the winter, but I will only be clothing him. And a lot of the offspring from that pairing will be scaleless, all others will be carriers. Several generations of selecting the bigger ones for breeding (or even adding CX back in and selecting for scaleless again) I'm hoping to get a meatier version w/ minimal winter care and easy processing.

 

[DesertChic]

Okay, I didn't mean to question your judgment, but do to this very fresh incident, I just felt I had to through it out there.

No offense was taken, and I actually very much appreciate your post. Please don't ever hesitate to question anything I say. That's the best way I've found to learn, by hearing alternative perspectives.

 

[DesertChic]

Question is, are you sure you want to breed a line from a bird with a dickie heart?

Good question....Since I was breeding him (and eventually his offspring) as meat birds that will probably be butchered before 20 weeks I think it's still okay. He was closing in on 2 years of age, so it's not as if he died super prematurely. He was by no means an SOP bird, but the majority of his offspring have carried his best attributes as far as growth rate, overall size and disposition. I think if I were pursuing a less utilitarian goal I'd be more hesitant, but right now the best I'll hope for is that his offspring show greater longevity than he has. But....you've given me something to think about. I'll have to closely monitor the age of his offspring I've chosen as breeders...just in case there is a systemic problem I should be concerned about. Thanks!

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

I have another processing question for the chefs....... If you dry pluck a chicken, does brining undo all the advantages of dry plucking ? (apparently better taste and crispier skin). If so, can you let a dry plucked chicken just sit in the fridge for a few days, will that tenderize the meat enough? This is a fourteen week old cockerel.
Thanks!

 

[lcertuche]

Kassaundra, speaking of NN's you mentioned they weren't especially meaty but I read somewhere that you could breed NN's to your dual purpose hens for bigger breast. What is your opinion on this. Also I thought they did well in cold weather even without the feathers although that seems not to make sense. I was thinking about adding a NN rooster to my flock for these reasons. Of course I've never even seen a naked neck in person, lol so I am only going by what I've read on posts here on BYC.

 

[Kassaundra]

Kassaundra, speaking of NN's you mentioned they weren't especially meaty but I read somewhere that you could breed NN's to your dual purpose hens for bigger breast. What is your opinion on this. Also I thought they did well in cold weather even without the feathers although that seems not to make sense. I was thinking about adding a NN rooster to my flock for these reasons. Of course I've never even seen a naked neck in person, lol so I am only going by what I've read on posts here on BYC.

I do have naked neck chickens and they are a regular size and don't need any extra protection in my winters. ( I do not have regular naked necks mine are on the small side of average b/c of some of the breeding that went into them before me) However I was talking about my scaleless or completely naked (no feathers at all) chickens.

Yes you can breed naked necks w/ other breeds, I personally think every breed can be helped w/ some naked neck!!! lol The good thing about the NN gene is you can see it so it is easy to keep going in the flock, if you don't see it, it's not there. It doesn't hide then pop out generations later like feathered feet.