BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[holm25]

Awesome duckies dan!
Wow look at those chicks holm25! Buckeye crossed with what? Must have missed it.

Their moms were hatchery Australorp

 

[GabrielBane]

Double post?

 

[GabrielBane]

Haven't been suuuuuuuuuuper active posting in here, mostly been lurking since not much has really been happening in terms of production on our end, still lots of setting up, so our flock is relatively limited to 'fancy' breeds. Although I do have some questions to ask. Our Sulms, which we were primarily raising for dual purposes, have sort of been a let down in the egg department. Our english Orps dwarf even grocery store eggs, meanwhile our Sulm pullet barely meeks it to half of the size. The boys are nice and meaty, and pretty calm, although they're exhibiting a bit more fighting amongst themselves (one of them is already mounting, which means it's time to set some eggs!) I'm not sure if it's a breed I can sustain forever here, but I'm giving them another go, but only from what we hatch here... Don't think it'd be smart to invest in them any further. We do have rocks growing out in two varieties, I consider them to be a 'fancy' line of rocks vs. production, so I'm not monitoring their growth too closely. We are planning on processing all the extra boys from this though. We have Barbezieux coming in, which I'm stoked about. I've always had issues ordering them for some reason or another so we're excited to finally have some. I know a lot of people have expressed disappointment with them, but I'm willing to give 'em a shot, since the Sulms are darn near impossible to find. The Naked Necks, however, have proven to be the best in terms of growth rate, temperament and over-all the most personable to work with (at least mine are.), since they're completely mutts, they're technically Nn, so I can't really pin-point where exactly the fast growth comes from. I know our cockerel is a sex-linked cross, the pullets all grow at different rates, so I'll be breeding both of our largest pullets to him. I'll also be breeding him over some black English orpingtons as well (again, because they lay such large eggs consistently. Plus I love their body shape) Our smallest Nn girls will be bred to a showgirl (although if they get big enough, I'd love to put THEM in with an english orp cock and then cross the Nn x Orp from both pairings together.... *brain overheats* ) Anyyyyyyyyways, hope everyone else is having a productive start of spring so far!


ETA: whoops.... never asked my question. I'll format that for another post later tonight!

 

[DesertChic]

Haven't been suuuuuuuuuuper active posting in here, mostly been lurking since not much has really been happening in terms of production on our end, still lots of setting up, so our flock is relatively limited to 'fancy' breeds. Although I do have some questions to ask. Our Sulms, which we were primarily raising for dual purposes, have sort of been a let down in the egg department. Our english Orps dwarf even grocery store eggs, meanwhile our Sulm pullet barely meeks it to half of the size. The boys are nice and meaty, and pretty calm, although they're exhibiting a bit more fighting amongst themselves (one of them is already mounting, which means it's time to set some eggs!) I'm not sure if it's a breed I can sustain forever here, but I'm giving them another go, but only from what we hatch here... Don't think it'd be smart to invest in them any further. We do have rocks growing out in two varieties, I consider them to be a 'fancy' line of rocks vs. production, so I'm not monitoring their growth too closely. We are planning on processing all the extra boys from this though. We have Barbezieux coming in, which I'm stoked about. I've always had issues ordering them for some reason or another so we're excited to finally have some. I know a lot of people have expressed disappointment with them, but I'm willing to give 'em a shot, since the Sulms are darn near impossible to find. The Naked Necks, however, have proven to be the best in terms of growth rate, temperament and over-all the most personable to work with (at least mine are.), since they're completely mutts, they're technically Nn, so I can't really pin-point where exactly the fast growth comes from. I know our cockerel is a sex-linked cross, the pullets all grow at different rates, so I'll be breeding both of our largest pullets to him. I'll also be breeding him over some black English orpingtons as well (again, because they lay such large eggs consistently. Plus I love their body shape) Our smallest Nn girls will be bred to a showgirl (although if they get big enough, I'd love to put THEM in with an english orp cock and then cross the Nn x Orp from both pairings together.... *brain overheats* ) Anyyyyyyyyways, hope everyone else is having a productive start of spring so far!


ETA: whoops.... never asked my question. I'll format that for another post later tonight!

I'm always so happy to read feedback like this about the NNs. They are just so under-appreciated by people until they actually own some, and by making crosses you can get so many amazingly different birds. All the NNs I've hatched and I've only ever had one that showed actual people aggression. That boy absolutely hated my husband and son....but he tasted amazing. All my other extra boys tug at my heart strings when I know I have to cull them, and they're surprisingly gentle. Most of my boys are so careful about removing bits of food or straw from my skin when they see it that I can barely feel their beaks. There's something truly special in that NN blood.

 

[Turk Raphael]

@Kev I have a solid black Dark Cornish pullet that I intend to cover with a very nice Dominique Cockerel. I suspect I will get Dom. chicks and hope to get some several black as well. Is this likely?

I suspect I could breed her to her full brother which has beautiful standard color and I think I might get some blacks from that since Lpatalski told my dad or brother that the lady she got her start in the DC breed was working on a strain of black DC's. I want to use the Dom. For the heterosis.

Aaron

 

[Kev]

@Kev I have a solid black Dark Cornish pullet that I intend to cover with a very nice Dominique Cockerel. I suspect I will get Dom. chicks and hope to get some several black as well. Is this likely?

I suspect I could breed her to her full brother which has beautiful standard color and I think I might get some blacks from that since Lpatalski told my dad or brother that the lady she got her start in the DC breed was working on a strain of black DC's. I want to use the Dom. For the heterosis.

Aaron

100% dom chicks in both sexes. The barring on the cocks will be a little darker, often with a couple solid black feathers, this is due to not being pure for barring.

Dom is barring over solid black, so that technically is giving you all black chicks but will also help 'solidify' the black if there is any tendency to leak in the black cornish. He will also make all of the chicks black/help throw a high percentage of blacks down the road. The brother will also work great, if he does not show brown or white leakage.. should be at least 75% blacks with potential for 100% blacks if one or both of them are pure for the black.

 

[Turk Raphael]

100% dom chicks in both sexes. The barring on the cocks will be a little darker, often with a couple solid black feathers, this is due to not being pure for barring.

Dom is barring over solid black, so that technically is giving you all black chicks but will also help 'solidify' the black if there is any tendency to leak in the black cornish. He will also make all of the chicks black/help throw a high percentage of blacks down the road. The brother will also work great, if he does not show brown or white leakage.. should be at least 75% blacks with potential for 100% blacks if one or both of them are pure for the black.

Thank you! I was absolutely certain I was going to use the Dom., now I'm not so certain...not certain at all.

 

[Kev]

Quote:
Why not? is it because of the dom?

 

[GabrielBane]

Quote:
Agreed! There's something so stinkin' charming about them! Even my cockerel's full-necked sister doesn't seem to have his best personality traits, even though they're full-blooded siblings. I'm excited to grow my flock, especially now that there's ample space to do so.

 

[Turk Raphael]

Why not? is it because of the dom?

I want to think about it just a bit more ...try to get my head around it.

The Dark Cornish are already inbred which is okay but I'm not certain which is the best way for me to go with this first cross...grab the heterosis and then breed back to pure birds or the alternate course.