BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[Kassaundra]

I brood on sand and at cooler temps then "recommended" and the only time I ever had chicks w/ pasty butt was one time I didn't plan ahead and my only sand was wet so I brooded on hay / straw.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

I thought this was interesting. All the testes except the center set are from sub adult roos w/I a week old of each other, all having secondary roo characteristics (big red comb, hackle and saddle feathers). The center set was from a full adult roo head of his group.

Huge variability in size! I wonder if the roosters with the smaller ones were fertile.

 

[DesertChic]

My Dom. cockerels are 3.5 weeks old today (counting hatch day) and I intend to attempt to caponize 2 or 3 of them tomorrow. I generally wait 'til they are about 5 or 6 weeks and while not especially easy, I have a pretty good success rate. My first attempt might work out or it could be tragic but it will be a learning experience. I know many folks can do them successfully at the lower age.

These birds are surprisingly hardy and if anyone cares, I only paid $54 bucks for they lot, all charges included and that's for 15 birds but they sent 19. other times, I followed the prescribed temperature suggestions and ended up cleaning lots of pasty butts. Generally having 1 or as many 5 succumb to some illness. So, I cracked the top window in my hatch house and had small window fan running, 24/7. I started the temp at 80* F and dropped it to 75* F at 12 days of age. In this case, NO pasty butts and they are eating like fiends and growing at remarkable rates. I think it will be difficult to pick which 5 I intend to keep intact by the time I leave for Porto Alegre but It's going to be a crap-shoot, even if I waited 'til I get back.

Glad to hear you got such a good flock! I hope you update us on your caponizing results. I still cringe when I think about the one and only time I attempted to caponize. I felt guilty for weeks for what I did to those boys.

 

[Turk Raphael]

I'm a bit leery crossing with Leghorns, I think it will set my meat production back a few generations. But I will if I have to. There's probably plenty of leghorn in my Hatchery breeds anyway

Perhaps the Leghorn wouldn't set you back as far nor for as long as you might think. Perhaps you could ask for information/advice of @Kev

 

[Turk Raphael]

Glad to hear you got such a good flock! I hope you update us on your caponizing results. I still cringe when I think about the one and only time I attempted to caponize. I felt guilty for weeks for what I did to those boys.

Never give up! I've never thought of you as a quitter.

When I first started, about age 14 or 15 I was totally mortified. Were I to begin tomorrow, I've been so inured to blood and gore, I wouldn't blink. You have to preserver, knowing that millions (billions?) of male chicks are ground up for animal food or whatever. It just depends upon how badly you want to do it. The meat really is worth it and when I eat chicken, it's almost always capon.

I likely wouldn't have done my first bird had it been left up to me but my dad would have no son of his, gay or not, wimp out on something he considered an important life lesson and I'm glad he twisted my ear...his favorite form of persuasion.

Yes, I'll report on the results; good, bad or indifferent.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Perhaps the Leghorn wouldn't set you back as far nor for as long as you might think. Perhaps you could ask for information/advice of @Kev

OK I will! @Kev how many generations to get back the meat qualities of a Buckeye/Cornish cross? What about the temperament? I see what I think is Leghorn temperament in my hatchery Cornish and Barred Holland stock- easy to spook, on the hyper side..... perhaps it's all about the line? I hear European Leghorns are very different from North American ones. I'm after a white egg, so I assume there would be lots of other "leghorn" genes along for the ride. If I did cross in a leghorn, I'd be hesitant to use the commercial lines because of the dwarfing genes in there. I was hoping to get white eggs from the Barred Hollands, but I'm not sure if they are even going to lay a white egg, coming from the hatchery.


Quote:

Glad to hear you got such a good flock! I hope you update us on your caponizing results. I still cringe when I think about the one and only time I attempted to caponize. I felt guilty for weeks for what I did to those boys.

@DesertChic I feel badly, too when I cull a chicken, you are not alone! I have decided that cutting the throat is not as quick as the head off approach so I've gone that route..... But caponizing would probably be a good technique to have well practised. It makes good sense on so many levels, but I too wish there was a way to do it so the chicken had at least a local anesthetic. I know that those are toxic to chickens, but it seems like you can get away with a careful dose expecially of the NSAID's. Here's a good paper on pain in birds
http://avianmedicine.net/content/uploads/2013/03/08_pain_management.pdf

 

[Kassaundra]

OK I will! @Kev how many generations to get back the meat qualities of a Buckeye/Cornish cross? What about the temperament? I see what I think is Leghorn temperament in my hatchery Cornish and Barred Holland stock- easy to spook, on the hyper side..... perhaps it's all about the line? I hear European Leghorns are very different from North American ones. I'm after a white egg, so I assume there would be lots of other "leghorn" genes along for the ride. If I did cross in a leghorn, I'd be hesitant to use the commercial lines because of the dwarfing genes in there. I was hoping to get white eggs from the Barred Hollands, but I'm not sure if they are even going to lay a white egg, coming from the hatchery.


Quote:

@DesertChic I feel badly, too when I cull a chicken, you are not alone! I have decided that cutting the throat is not as quick as the head off approach so I've gone that route..... But caponizing would probably be a good technique to have well practised. It makes good sense on so many levels, but I too wish there was a way to do it so the chicken had at least a local anesthetic. I know that those are toxic to chickens, but it seems like you can get away with a careful dose expecially of the NSAID's. Here's a good paper on pain in birds
http://avianmedicine.net/content/uploads/2013/03/08_pain_management.pdf

NSAIDs increase bleeding and should be avoided during any pre / post operative period.

 

[Kusanar]

Quote:
If I had birds and a teacher I think it would be a very good thing to know, I don't think I would do it regularly, but I think the more information you have and the more skills you have, the better off you are.

 

[Beekissed]

Same here. The more skills you have, the better. Don't know if I'd ever use it, but I wouldn't mind learning it.

 

[DesertChic]

Never give up! I've never thought of you as a quitter.

When I first started, about age 14 or 15 I was totally mortified. Were I to begin tomorrow, I've been so inured to blood and gore, I wouldn't blink. You have to preserver, knowing that millions (billions?) of male chicks are ground up for animal food or whatever. It just depends upon how badly you want to do it. The meat really is worth it and when I eat chicken, it's almost always capon.

I likely wouldn't have done my first bird had it been left up to me but my dad would have no son of his, gay or not, wimp out on something he considered an important life lesson and I'm glad he twisted my ear...his favorite form of persuasion.

Yes, I'll report on the results; good, bad or indifferent.

I'm not quitting, but I am taking a hiatus until I've studied the procedure and chicken anatomy more closely. I'm still hoping that one day I can get one-on-one instruction from someone more experienced, and Poco Pollo told me that she offers classes, so maybe when our life here isn't quite so hectic I can attend one of her classes. My one experience with trying to do it myself resulted in the first anxiety attack I've ever had in my life. It's weird....I can kill/butcher the birds because it's over quickly, but to just slice into them and cause them pain is traumatizing to me as well as the bird. And I know that the birds were far too old when I finally got around to performing the procedure, so I'll definitely start with younger birds next time. I know I'll figure it out eventually, but I need to be better prepared and in the right place mentally before I can move forward.