BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[JRNash]

Cornish cross will be the first tried

 

[dfr1973]

I think the ideal heritage (ideal at the beginning of the 1900's, not the end of the 1900's) Wyandotte was much less fluffy than today's exhibition strains, which is what I purchased as breeders. One of the changes I anticipate is selecting for closer feathering. (and earlier maturity, and larger eggs, and more eggs, and ...)
Best wishes,
Angela

I completely agree on that. In fact, I am using the 1917 book The Wyandotte Standard and Breeding online as my reference and template for what to breed for, and sort-of how to breed for it, although at the time they did double mating which I don't intend to bother with as I am not breeding solely for exhibition. One of the photograph plates in the book has three white Wyandottes as examples of proper feathering, too tightly feathered (I am not expecting to deal with that in the next couple decades), and too loosely feathered.

Did I get the link from you for that book? If not, did I share it with you? It has excellent illustrations and photos of not only what is correct, but also what the extremes to either side of correct look like in Wyandotte conformation.

 

[gjensen]

fyi, the breeder from whom I purchased my birds had had his strain ~5 years, and outcrossed to another breeder's strain last year. All sorts of surprises amongst my chicks this year.
Angela

LOL. That is usually both good and bad. I hope that it is more good for you than bad.

Hey, at least when you get it settled down, the results stabilized, and them performing well consistently, it will have been a work of your own hands.

 

[gjensen]

Actually, while the three of us (maybe more?) have the same destination/goal in mind, we're taking different paths to get there. I should put new batteries in the digicam and get some pics of the six month olds I got from Luanne, that will put good meaty size into my Wyandottes. (oh, George and Angela, I asked Luanne about fluff trimming, and she says yes she has done it a few times, as she sees being in "full feather" to not be an actual fault. I told her that if necessary I would tolerate doing it for one generation only. I personally don't want my 'Dottes that fluffy.)

Of course, I have a couple other requirements than just meatiness. I want the hens to be good for eggs too, and I want all of them to look good while they're doing it. Yup, I want "all that, AND the bag of chips," as the saying goes.

As for your kids, Ron ... what $ value do you put on their enjoyment? I know that sitting and watching the chickens is much cheaper entertainment than driving out for a date night for hubby and me.

I figure a 12-pound Wyandotte capon strolling around the yard ought to look impressive and beautiful ... with luck, I'll be able to see for myself in a couple years! (without the luck factor, I'll get there in less than a decade on sheer stubbornness.)

I have never trimmed a bird, and do not plan on it. I do know gamecock breeders with hard and tight feathered birds that do it though. Some people seam to tease out a few percentage points like that. I do not know, but I do know that I do not need to, and so I will not. Some do and enjoy results.

Some breeds and strain and breeds seam to require it. The English Orps, and Cochins etc. They are ornamentals though, and in another class.

Luanne's Wyandottes are not excessively feathered as some strains are. Many out there are fuzz balls if you ask me. I have seen Luanne's birds, and her Wyandottes seamed fine concerning the qty. of feather, and I would have noticed. I did not handle them.
This trend is not unique to Wyandottes, though I have seen more than a few Wyandottes of that type.

 

[Beer can]

@hellbender I agree Cackle's white giant pic is impressive, I have my doubts though if what you get from them or any hatchery. At least that's what I hear on the giant threads. I seriously doubt I'll get what I want from these SandHill stock, even though they are originally Golda Miller line I don't think they have been bred for size. Time will tell, and I'll do what I can with them at least for a few yrs. Maybe I'm thinking to negatively, just going by what I've heard from others.

 

[gjensen]

@hellbender I agree Cackle's white giant pic is impressive, I have my doubts though if what you get from them or any hatchery. At least that's what I hear on the giant threads. I seriously doubt I'll get what I want from these SandHill stock, even though they are originally Golda Miller line I don't think they have been bred for size. Time will tell, and I'll do what I can with them at least for a few yrs. Maybe I'm thinking to negatively, just going by what I've heard from others.

It is like that with a lot of rare breeds.

 

[dfr1973]

Luanne's Wyandottes are not excessively feathered as some strains are. Many out there are fuzz balls if you ask me. I have seen Luanne's birds, and her Wyandottes seamed fine concerning the qty. of feather, and I would have noticed. I did not handle them.
This trend is not unique to Wyandottes, though I have seen more than a few Wyandottes of that type.

Oh, I understand, George. If Luanne had "fuzz balls" for Wyandottes, I would not have bought so many from her. With Wyandottes from three different sources (Luanne, Ideal Poultry, and Cackle Hatchery) I can compare the feathering, and have decided to go a little less fluffy than what Luanne has. The four pullets I kept from the Ideal batch have feathers that stay put mostly in a soft breeze, while the crew from Luanne have softer feathers that flutter this way and that even in just a light breeze. The pullets from Cackle (down to 11 now, from 24) still have chick feathers at 13 weeks old.

Luanne said you visited and were able to see her birds in person. She certainly has a beautiful set-up her husband built for her.

 

[hellbender]

@hellbender I agree Cackle's white giant pic is impressive, I have my doubts though if what you get from them or any hatchery. At least that's what I hear on the giant threads. I seriously doubt I'll get what I want from these SandHill stock, even though they are originally Golda Miller line I don't think they have been bred for size. Time will tell, and I'll do what I can with them at least for a few yrs. Maybe I'm thinking to negatively, just going by what I've heard from others.

You will notice, I said the pic was on the Cackle site...not that it was part of their breeding program. The thing I've noticed in all breeding...no matter what the species...you can breed excellent conformation animals and get pure sheit but you can find reasonably good and even excellent specimens from hatcheries with respect to choosing birds for meat and capons/poulardes in particular.

I'm certainly not going to buy/use 'show birds' for capons...it doesn't make good financial sense....to me.

 

[bnjrob]

@hellbender I agree Cackle's white giant pic is impressive, I have my doubts though if what you get from them or any hatchery. At least that's what I hear on the giant threads. I seriously doubt I'll get what I want from these SandHill stock, even though they are originally Golda Miller line I don't think they have been bred for size. Time will tell, and I'll do what I can with them at least for a few yrs. Maybe I'm thinking to negatively, just going by what I've heard from others.

Improving size is something that is fairly easy to work on. We still get some variations in size of birds, especially if one is at the very low end of the ranking and gets abused by its mates, but overall we improved size fairly quickly. We feed 24% protein chick feed for about 4-5 months and then we switch to 21% protein Flock Raiser. Feeding the lower protein feeds meant for hatchery layers just doesn't get the job done when you are working on large dual-purpose or meat birds. Something else that helped improve size almost immediately was to separate males and females prior to the males hitting puberty. Getting those cockerels away from the pullets, before they start running each other and the pullets half to death, makes a significant difference in size. Even if you're doing capons, I would still recommend to everyone to separate those birds by gender as soon as you can recognize male from female. You'll get them larger to start with before you even caponize them. And of course selection in future generations for things like size, large shanks to support the weight will further increase size in future generations.

 

[chickadoodles]

Quote:

I love this pic!