BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[JulieNKC]

Posting to subscribe, love this thread! I don't breed chickens, except seramas, which are horrid production birds lol. I do have a small flock of waterfowl I'm breeding for production though. Meat geese and my ducks are bantam mutts I'm breeding to be a small dual purpose bird for myself. I wanted a mallard sized breed with a bit more meat, and would like some eggs and pretty feather colors too although those aren't my main objective. I couldn't find a duck breed that was what i wanted, so I've been trying to make it for myself. Wish I could breed chickens too, but I'm in city limits and the serama roos are all i can get away with, even though my ducks and geese are louder than any rooster. Anyway, thanks, I'm looking forward to learning from this thread.

 

[hellbender]

Posting to subscribe, love this thread! I don't breed chickens, except seramas, which are horrid production birds lol. I do have a small flock of waterfowl I'm breeding for production though. Meat geese and my ducks are bantam mutts I'm breeding to be a small dual purpose bird for myself. I wanted a mallard sized breed with a bit more meat, and would like some eggs and pretty feather colors too although those aren't my main objective. I couldn't find a duck breed that was what i wanted, so I've been trying to make it for myself. Wish I could breed chickens too, but I'm in city limits and the serama roos are all i can get away with, even though my ducks and geese are louder than any rooster. Anyway, thanks, I'm looking forward to learning from this thread.

and especially this thread!

RON

 

[hellbender]

okay thank you. It takes a lot of time to do the research so it may be a day or so between posts.
Best,
Karen

 

[Arielle]

Thread creator : if you do not want this study on this list, tell me now and I will move it to its own thread. No hard feelings.

Hi,
I've decided to start sharing my science project on this list. I was going to use Heritage Large Fowl Phase II but I think this list is more appropriate. Have come to the point in life where I don't care if anyone reads the study. Those who care will read and to those who don't, it won't make or break your breeding season. I've been privately studying the neonatal G.I. tract in multiple species for 16 years now. Wrote a successful evidence-based protocol for puppies called "The Bellwether Neonate Protocol" , published in 2002. The result of 4 yrs. (1998-2002) and over 11,000 hours of research. The end result of the Protocol was to avoid puppy losses due to environmental challenges. It worked just fine by interdicting the developmental timeline with a carefully researched trio of supplements that gave the neonate puppy more of what it naturally needed to thrive. Creating a better foundation upon which its body systems could mature after birth.

The chick is no different from the neonate puppy in that its G.I tract goes thru a period of rapid development during the first days of life. In the puppy, the 1st 18 hours are The Golden Hours for enhancing the immune system. In the chick The Golden Days are the 1st seven days of life. It is during these days that we can interdict the developmental timeline with carefully researched and approved supplements to help create a better foundation upon which the chicks body systems will mature. To understand this we need to change our focus on the chicks. We are not looking at a fluffy ball of down. We are looking at a developing G.I. tract which is running around the brooder. ( go ahead, get the laughter over with now. You will appreciate this viewpoint later) In the neonate, with few exceptions, the G.I. tract is most important to health and development now and later in life. A healthy, robust G.I. tract in the chick produces a better end product, whether it be meat or eggs.

This study will take several weeks to finish, depending on the difficulty of finding the info, collating it, and getting approval of conclusions from noted experts in the poultry science field. In the end, there should be a simple, inexpensive protocol for interdicting the developmental timeline in neonatal chicks with a carefully selected trio of supplements which will help create a better foundation upon which the chick's body systems can mature. Resulting in more robust chicks with better resistances to illness and a better end product for the raiser.
Note this is not an end run around breeding for vigor. That is a whole 'nother subject. Instead, this project is an idea to make the most of what the chick has already been granted in its genetics. Giving the chick what it naturally needs to make the most of its genetic potential.
In all these years of study, the article below is the finest synopsis I have ever read on the 1st few days of life in a species. The synopsis is not dependent on one's acceptance or approval of the product listed at the end. The product can be incorporated into the article ( or not) without changing the article's meaning. A rare occurrence on product-based articles.

First week - getting the best possible start for chicks
By: Andrew Robertson (Poultry Technical Manager, BIOMIN)
http://tinyurl.com/lyu2lkd

To make posts on the project easier to find later on with the BYC "search this thread" feature , the posts will be titled "The Golden Days" Part I,2,3, etc.
Best Regards,
Karen


.

THanks for taking the time to share this Karen!! I appreciate that Hellbender will allow the full content of your digging to be posted here!!

I wonder if this will explain why my chicks brooded by my wayward broody were and are healthy birds-- only one did not thrive and died at 2 weeks, and the remaining 12 were still trying to get under her wing at 4 months-- and each of them bigger than her. SHe did not abandon those youngesters until several months later. GOod momma.

 

[RattlesnakeRidgeWV]

Hellbender,
Great thread you started, and thank you to all who contribute. We are never too old to learn, trust me! Glad to hear your son will be home soon. Tell him welcome home and thanks for his service. We "NAM " Vets did not get that. Off subject, is your Patterdale Terrier anything like what some call a Mountain Feist? Back to the regular scheduled program!!!
Kurt

 

[brahmabreeder]

 

[Arielle]

Hellbender,
Great thread you started, and thank you to all who contribute. We are never too old to learn, trust me! Glad to hear your son will be home soon. Tell him welcome home and thanks for his service. We "NAM " Vets did not get that. Off subject, is your Patterdale Terrier anything like what some call a Mountain Feist? Back to the regular scheduled program!!!
Kurt

Thank you for your service!!

 

[call ducks]

So anyone have topics they would like to ask questions on or talk about? Post away!

 

[hellbender]

Hellbender,
Great thread you started, and thank you to all who contribute. We are never too old to learn, trust me! Glad to hear your son will be home soon. Tell him welcome home and thanks for his service. We "NAM " Vets did not get that. Off subject, is your Patterdale Terrier anything like what some call a Mountain Feist? Back to the regular scheduled program!!!
Kurt

Thanks Kurt...I'm glad you've joined this thread...Here's a pic of my male Patterdale. Being a 'Mountaineer' I'm very familiar with Feists and must say they do have some of the same characteristics but the Patterdale is Super High Test ..Sunoco 380...The Feist would be much lower octaine.

 

[smarsh]

I absolutely love chickens, dogs and and kids and hate to even think of any of them being mis-treated or having to do without the good things in life.

me too.... in that order.