BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[LindaB220]

I found a very interesting webinar about the difference in production of eggs in Delawares vs Americaunas. About half an hour but most interesting. Surprising also.

https://learn.extension.org/events/1486#.U4yfCyjyT4J

 

[Kinmera]

Has anyone thought about using the little elastic hair bands like these?

I have hundreds of them around for my daughter - they are dirt cheap and I've had success with the chicks keeping them on. I double wind them on the babies and they come in multiple colors. I don't feel so bad about cutting them off and using new ones as they grow up either.

Once they're older I switch to zip ties.

 

[seventreesfarm]

@ Kinmera - I tried the hair bands once, some really small ones, and they came off pretty easy. I didn't double them though. I still have a bunch, so maybe I'll try again.

@ LindaB220 - Thanks for the webinar link! I'll check it out when I get home from work tonight.

 

[bnjrob]

I was reading the breeding section of "Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens" and read the part where birds that grow too quickly in reference to the SOP should be culled. If I remember the reason was potential health problems. I was curious if others do the same. Is it more for SOP breeders and not dual purpose breeders?

In reference to the idea of buying zip ties on Ebay; if you have 10 different colors do you double up colors if you have 11+ birds in a hatch? Maybe have a red on the right leg of one chick and a red on the left of another chick? It's a good idea because I have a bunch of very small colored zip ties!

I don't know why that would be mentioned as a reason to cull. Sounds odd to me. When you're talking about growing quickly - I think about the hatchery meat birds that grow so fast to get them ready to slaughter that their skeletons and organs just can't keep up and they keel over with heart failure and can break legs if they jump down from a height. But as far as having them grow too fast in relation to the SOP....never heard that one before. I have that book, I'll have to go look up that part and see what the whole context is. Sounds a bit odd to me. I can't see how having a faster growing bird used for breeding, even when breeding to the SOP, would be a bad thing.

As far as you mentioning "SOP breeders and not dual purpose breeders" - I am wondering why you seem to have put this into separate categories. SOP breeders are people who breed to the Standard of Perfection. Dual purpose breeders...well there really isn't such a separate category as "dual purpose breeders" - unless you're referring to people who only breed for production of eggs and meat, paying no attention to whether or not their birds continue to have the physical characteristics of the breed as listed in the SOP. The term dual purpose means birds that are used for both meat and eggs which is different than breeding for production. Honestly, I don't know how you can really separate the two - breeding for production and breeding for the SOP. The SOP is about more than just the color of a chicken but I think people who don't bother to get the SOP book and read ALL of it, may get the impression that the SOP as being about color and not about the whole package. But in reality, the SOP is about the entire chicken package, although I know of some "SOP" breeders who are more interested in color than anything else, because "pretty chickens" are what sells since the vast majority of chicken owners are more interested in the novelty of chicken eye candy that gives them a few eggs, and these particular breeders are all about making a buck and a name for themselves.

With banding - we use colored bands on different legs when we have to reuse the same color. We also double band. We use split rings, zip ties, and colored/numbered aluminum "permanent" bands also. Just depends on what is going on with hatches, different sires, etc. Banding them young does require vigilance to make sure the band does not grow into their leg so periodically we do catch them and change bands as needed. This also gives us a chance to look each one over, see how their size is coming along, notice anything good or bad about them. Also lets us see who is growing faster - who needs their bands changed more often and what size band (when using split rings). It's work but for us so far, it's doing well.

 

[bnjrob]

Has anyone thought about using the little elastic hair bands like these?

I have hundreds of them around for my daughter - they are dirt cheap and I've had success with the chicks keeping them on. I double wind them on the babies and they come in multiple colors. I don't feel so bad about cutting them off and using new ones as they grow up either.

Once they're older I switch to zip ties.

My chickens would have those suckers off in no time flat. Mine can even get split rings off sometimes. Of course my large fowl Javas can also fly short distances, including up 6 ft in height, so apparently I have weird chickens with interesting "powers".

 

[Kinmera]

Quote: Are they allergic to kryptonite?

 

[LindaB220]

Has anyone thought about using the little elastic hair bands like these?

I have hundreds of them around for my daughter - they are dirt cheap and I've had success with the chicks keeping them on. I double wind them on the babies and they come in multiple colors. I don't feel so bad about cutting them off and using new ones as they grow up either.

Once they're older I switch to zip ties.

Neat idea. Just what I need. Something cheap and interchangeable

 

[LindaB220]

My chickens would have those suckers off in no time flat. Mine can even get split rings off sometimes. Of course my large fowl Javas can also fly short distances, including up 6 ft in height, so apparently I have weird chickens with interesting "powers".

I was really thinking of the baby chicks until about 6 wks or so.

 

[Kinmera]

So this is something I stumbled on when I stuck some partridge rock hens in with one of my white rock roo's



Her tail is awful - I know that. Feathers are yellow with white penciling and her feet are yellow.

My thought process here was to see if I could put a cross together with the size of a white rock and the laying proficiency of a partridge rock. Wasn't sure what I'd come out with.

She lays as well as the partridges, and she's a little bit bigger, but not as big as my white rock girls yet. I will keep playing with this and see what comes up.

I have some Cinnamon Queen layers at the moment, but I don't really care for 'commercial hybrids'. I like my older breeds that have some meat on them as well.

 

[bnjrob]

Are they allergic to kryptonite?