BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[alisar]

I'm going to chime in here - I wet down turkey gamebird starter for my chicks because it virtually eliminates pastybutt.
An easy way to do is use a splash of ACV in a gallon jug of water set by the food so it's easy to prep twice a day - two scoops of feed on a paper plate, pour some acv water until oatmeal-like, then serve.
I would love it if the ACV actually did add some probiotic benefit but the reason why I do it is because it cuts down on the smell dramatically and prevents the chicks from kicking the food around as much. We live in Temecula where the parcels are tiny - I brood the chicks outdoors until 4 weeks old before they go out to the farm. I don't want it stinking up the neighborhood!

 

[Gramma Chick]

Quote:
Applies To all chickens ..A Fat Chicken doesnt lay ..as fat blocks The vent ...and makes the chicken back up...Not healthy at all
So everyone ....Get those chickens out there on those treadmills & working out !
One of the benefits of Free ranging is That exercise...
It has been Frigid up here in New York ..Below Zero ...BBBrrr...they still go out for at least a few hours ...
For their daily dust bath under the deck ...

turtle, gator and the best froglegs.

 

[DesertChic]

INteresting. I do not have runny loose droppings. That being said my feed is really exceptional. Comprised of many grains it is not pelleted. I think this makes a difference. Also, my hens range and get abundant leftovers from the neighboring farms, including our own. I also give a small ration of dry in the afternoon most days.

This was a great post that really got me thinking. Thanks.

Gorgeous photos!
At what cost? Depends on what your using chickens for I suppose. My chickens have never failed to thrive. I raise birds for eggs though. My fermented mash is put into the fermenting bucket each night. It is really not sitting for days fermenting much. It has all the live flora infused in it. I am not sure how partially pre digesting the proteins and moistening the food would deter growth? I think because we ferment so much (we make fermented food products) I am comfortable with the process. I will say that my food is really infused with the good bugs and has fermented very little. Seed coats are softened (as seed coats are meant to resist digestion, so beginning the process is advisable), moisture intake is increased (water levels are crucial in egg production), it's hard to fling food so loss is less, and the infused herbs makes for good intestinal health in ranged birds.

All this being said, when I raise meat birds I simply moisten the mash when I can. Frankly they eat is faster than I can keep up with and meat birds don't waste-they just ingest! LOL

Just catching up on all these great posts. There has really been a crazy amount of great info that everyone has posted and I am thrilled. Actually thinking of going back and cutting and pasting into a word document much of the amzing knowledge everyone has shared.

I have 100 hatchery chicks that just arrived. RIR, americanas (for my easter egger project), Delewares (OK, I just wanted these. Always have), and I made the plunge on the black minorcas. I will be breeding all the early layers. These are my egg birds.

Of course I still have my various orpington projects, those are SOP with a focus on egg production.

Dear Newbie to the thread,
Don't become frustrated with our sometimes noncommittal responses. Folks here will share what they have been doing in a polite way so that you can spread your wings and crow your own way. We are a polite bunch who enjoy sharing, believe we have not arrived, and will enjoy your journey!

I do this all the time. I've got multiple cut & paste Word documents on every subject imaginable...almost enough to make a full book. This thread, the two heritage breeding threads and several others have taught me a ton, and having it all organized in Word documents saves me lots of time when I need to recall something quickly. I highly recommend the practice.

 

[gjensen]

Being able to make comparisons is something that I like about having birds that came from different bloodlines and different color varieties. It helps me be able to figure out better what things may be in their genetics and past breeding and what has more to do with husbandry and current breeding selection.

Comparisons are always good. Of any kind. Often we are making an assumption without a comparison. I think half of the fun is figuring things out.

 

[Dead Rabbit]

I do this all the time. I've got multiple cut & paste Word documents on every subject imaginable...almost enough to make a full book. This thread, the two heritage breeding threads and several others have taught me a ton, and having it all organized in Word documents saves me lots of time when I need to recall something quickly. I highly recommend the practice. 

https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/backyard_flock.html

DC if you can find this book. I highly recommend it I've had a couple copies through my yrs. and it really covers a lot of info. I believe the author has died and the book isn't as available as it once was. The info in it isn't the run of the mill stuff you read on line or I in other poultry books. It takes you outside the box. This was what opened my eyes to the imagined value of fermenting oats. Compared to just soaking. Mr strecker was one that would go out under his roosting poultry and study droppings.

 

[gjensen]

Applies To all chickens ..A Fat Chicken doesnt lay ..as fat blocks The vent ...and makes the chicken back up...Not healthy at all
So everyone ....Get those chickens out there on those treadmills & working out !
One of the benefits of Free ranging is That exercise...
It has been Frigid up here in New York ..Below Zero ...BBBrrr...they still go out for at least a few hours ...
For their daily dust bath under the deck ...

There was too conversations there. One was being overweight, and the other was being over sized. The OP was referring to oversized birds, she is aware that overweight is not good. You are speaking of fat, she is speaking of size.

Fat to the point of backing up eggs? That would be an awfully extreme case. I have never heard of anyone having a bird that fat. That would be hard to do. LOL.

 

[gjensen]

I'm going to chime in here - I wet down turkey gamebird starter for my chicks because it virtually eliminates pastybutt.
An easy way to do is use a splash of ACV in a gallon jug of water set by the food so it's easy to prep twice a day - two scoops of feed on a paper plate, pour some acv water until oatmeal-like, then serve.
I would love it if the ACV actually did add some probiotic benefit but the reason why I do it is because it cuts down on the smell dramatically and prevents the chicks from kicking the food around as much. We live in Temecula where the parcels are tiny - I brood the chicks outdoors until 4 weeks old before they go out to the farm. I don't want it stinking up the neighborhood!

I have heard of some doing that, for that reason. What does the ACV do?

I largely eliminated "pasty butt" by adjusting the heat source, and managing the bedding. Some brooders are like deserts, and would dry anything out.

 

[bnjrob]

There was too conversations there. One was being overweight, and the other was being over sized. The OP was referring to oversized birds, she is aware that overweight is not good. You are speaking of fat, she is speaking of size.

Fat to the point of backing up eggs? That would be an awfully extreme case. I have never heard of anyone having a bird that fat. That would be hard to do. LOL.

That would be one heck of a fat chicken! I know how to get a lot of true fat on a bird. That is easy. What isn't as easy is getting the birds to their standard weight and making sure that it is muscle weight, not fat or feather weight, so that they can fulfill their meat purpose while still laying decently enough, for those of us with real dual-purpose birds.

And now with turkeys coming this year for us, it will be interesting to see the differences between them and the chickens, and seeing how much different it is to balance the meat and egg production for the turkeys compared to our chickens.

 

[Beekissed]

I've seen it in a few BO hens, wherein the fat deposits were so great around the vent and the eggs so big, that it was causing them to have prolapse when they laid. Usually those hens end up egg bound and that's what I would call "backed up".

Never happened to any bird in my flock as they don't get to overeat and they get plenty of exercise, but you read about eggbound hens on here all the time and one has to wonder if the fat from all that pampered eating is what is backing up those eggs. What else could prevent delivery of an egg in a hen that previously had no problems?

 

[bnjrob]

I've seen it in a few BO hens, wherein the fat deposits were so great around the vent and the eggs so big, that it was causing them to have prolapse when they laid. Usually those hens end up egg bound and that's what I would call "backed up".

Never happened to any bird in my flock as they don't get to overeat and they get plenty of exercise, but you read about eggbound hens on here all the time and one has to wonder if the fat from all that pampered eating is what is backing up those eggs. What else could prevent delivery of an egg in a hen that previously had no problems?

LOL - I am always thinking that very thing - why is it that many people I talk to have chickens that get egg bound, or get sick, have crop problems ,etc. and ours are fine?

Had one lady buy some of my *cull* pullets last year and she was just thrilled at how healthy they were. Said that she has bought chickens in the past that the owners claimed were so healthy, but they really weren't. Half of our chickens are in completely open air housing and even they are in excellent health despite sub freezing temperatures in winter and hotter than hell temperature in summer, while the people with expensive coops who keep their chickens inside when it is cold or wet outside, have sickly chickens.

A friend of mine who lives in Maine has one of my birds. She sent me photos a few weeks ago to show me the hen out in the ice cold and snow digging around while her other breeds were hiding in the barn. And that hen was also laying this winter when the other breeds she has were not. I figure we must raise some decent birds if they can go from the humid Texas heat of summer to the icy cold of a Maine winter and still thrive.