BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[JRNash]

ive never ate muscovies. Ive had One. It bullied the chickens so she had to go to another home.

 

[bnjrob]

Some years back, I made a run with about 20 Bourbon Red turkeys. They were easy to get along with and not especially difficult to feed because they free ranged for quite a lot of their own food and were free and prolific breeders. My biggest problem is that I don't really care for the flesh, neither dark nor white. I was here alone at that time and got a good offer on the whole flock and took it but would consider them again if the others could convince me me they were really up to adding another species of fowl..I'd even consider a different breed that was self-sustaining.

For my part, If another species is to be brought in, I would actually lobby heavily for Muscovies. In my mind, they are the only water fowl worth having around. (Not being argumentative...just expressing my opinion).

The only thing that I don't like about turkeys, compared to chickens, is that the meat is more difficult to get off the bone raw, and gums up the meat grinder a lot because they have so much connective tissue that is tough. Even our home grown non-hybrid chicken meat doesn't have quite as much tough connective tissue as turkey meat. But we like the flavor and we liked the idea of growing our own Thanksgiving turkey, so we got some Narragansetts.

Have only had duck one time - fancy grocery store in Dallas was having an after-Christmas clearance on them so we could afford to get it. Tasted great and made a rich broth from the bones and skin. Would like to eventually have some ducks and geese to eat, but worried at the rate all this AI crap is going, it's going to be difficult to get ducks and geese once we are ready for them.

 

[gjensen]

The only thing that I don't like about turkeys, compared to chickens, is that the meat is more difficult to get off the bone raw, and gums up the meat grinder a lot because they have so much connective tissue that is tough. Even our home grown non-hybrid chicken meat doesn't have quite as much tough connective tissue as turkey meat. But we like the flavor and we liked the idea of growing our own Thanksgiving turkey, so we got some Narragansetts.

Have only had duck one time - fancy grocery store in Dallas was having an after-Christmas clearance on them so we could afford to get it. Tasted great and made a rich broth from the bones and skin. Would like to eventually have some ducks and geese to eat, but worried at the rate all this AI crap is going, it's going to be difficult to get ducks and geese once we are ready for them.

That is a good point. I have wanted geese for a time and a half. I have never owned any. It may be that I need to go ahead and get a few.

 

[hellbender]

The only thing that I don't like about turkeys, compared to chickens, is that the meat is more difficult to get off the bone raw, and gums up the meat grinder a lot because they have so much connective tissue that is tough. Even our home grown non-hybrid chicken meat doesn't have quite as much tough connective tissue as turkey meat. But we like the flavor and we liked the idea of growing our own Thanksgiving turkey, so we got some Narragansetts.

Have only had duck one time - fancy grocery store in Dallas was having an after-Christmas clearance on them so we could afford to get it. Tasted great and made a rich broth from the bones and skin. Would like to eventually have some ducks and geese to eat, but worried at the rate all this AI crap is going, it's going to be difficult to get ducks and geese once we are ready for them.

To you as well gjensen. You might want to consider the Muscovies. They have the most delicious breast meat and to my mind, they might be just about as much goose as duck.

At a very young age, they have enormous breast and they make relatively little noise and they are very large...for a duck. They do hiss but I'd much rather hear that than the ordinary racket...lol

 

[bramblefir]

I bought a male/female pair of American Buff goslings this spring. Very intelligent, quiet birds so far. They like to chat with us and each other, but it's not loud at all. We can lead or herd them anywhere we want them to go. They eat almost entirely from our pastures and have little interest in the offered commercial feed, although they will eat it eventually. I've read that they can glean about 90% of their diet from forage. Probably their biggest "plus" is that my husband actually likes them.



They've started bossing the goats around too and have now thoroughly dominated them. This amuses me to no end because the goats think it's funny to use their heads to play chicken football.

The gander, Gus, waiting for the goats to get close enough to pinch.


Immediately after taking this picture the wether stuck his nose close enough to get it pinched.

Ducks are something I'd really like to get and I'm considering that I may need to step up those plans in case shipping live birds gets shut down. There are lots of waterfowl breeders (including the Holderreads) within the state though, so I suppose I could find something relatively closer in a pinch. I was hoping to get a pair of Sebastopol at the same time as the ducks though and they won't be available until next spring. Darned seasonal breeders.

 

[bramblefir]

Culling chickens is what I'm in the thick of at the moment and I've enjoyed reading the discussions on it lately. Just waiting for the weather and my energy levels to improve before I start butchering the next batch.

 

[JRNash]

Nice Geese

 

[gjensen]

I bought a male/female pair of American Buff goslings this spring. Very intelligent, quiet birds so far. They like to chat with us and each other, but it's not loud at all. We can lead or herd them anywhere we want them to go. They eat almost entirely from our pastures and have little interest in the offered commercial feed, although they will eat it eventually. I've read that they can glean about 90% of their diet from forage. Probably their biggest "plus" is that my husband actually likes them.



They've started bossing the goats around too and have now thoroughly dominated them. This amuses me to no end because the goats think it's funny to use their heads to play chicken football.

The gander, Gus, waiting for the goats to get close enough to pinch.


Immediately after taking this picture the wether stuck his nose close enough to get it pinched.

Ducks are something I'd really like to get and I'm considering that I may need to step up those plans in case shipping live birds gets shut down. There are lots of waterfowl breeders (including the Holderreads) within the state though, so I suppose I could find something relatively closer in a pinch. I was hoping to get a pair of Sebastopol at the same time as the ducks though and they won't be available until next spring. Darned seasonal breeders.

Nice pictures. This is the breed that I have been interested in. I have considered them for years and years, but never made the extra step.

 

[JRNash]

Metzer obtained Holdereeds Buffs if I'm
Not mistaken.

 

[gjensen]

Someone brought up a time ago (2wks?) that sometimes production is not realized in it's most contemporary sense.

I cautioned against building a false economy because that is our tendency. We justify that our birds are slow, lay few and small eggs etc. Less conservation of old and genetically important breeds, we should not perpetuate them.

But the poster had a point, and I did not mean for that to get missed.

Some of these (many of these) large breeds are nutritionally needy. They need a lot and are not particularly rugged.

In WWII some unsuspecting breeds were highly favored. The citizens were reduced to rations and restrictions. Poultry feed was more of a supplement made with waste. The birds were asked to live off of little. Some breeds performed better off of little than others. One of these unsuspecting breeds was the Sicilian Buttercups. They developed a reputation for maintaining a reasonable lay rate while rustling most of their own from the hedgerows and empty lots.

Much of the interest around poultry is in the idea of being self sufficient or sustainable. To be frank, the ultra large fowl runs against this notion. Sometimes smaller is better, or somewhere in between. When we couple ultra sizes with average production, what we have are big eating wasteful birds.

Over time my interest did shift. I came to prefer a better "prepper" typed bird. A flock that would need less in hard times, much like the Sicilian Buttercup did during WWII. I always thought the Dominique had the right type and size for this.