BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[chickadoodles]

That is a beautiful bird hellbender. I bought some JG my first year in poultry from a breeder and they grew out to the same size as my BA. I was very disappointed. They Chanties and Buckeyes were very nice size birds for us.

 

[hellbender]

That is a beautiful bird hellbender. I bought some JG my first year in poultry from a breeder and they grew out to the same size as my BA. I was very disappointed. They Chanties and Buckeyes were very nice size birds for us.

This is our first year with Chnteclers and so far, we have been very impressed with them. We got ours from Cackle Hatchery and I think we got them in time. They got their stock from Greg Oaks just about three years ago and they are mostly very good representatives.

 

[cpartist]

I guess I did not go into enough of an explanation on the trimming around the vent. I have found that sometimes fertility is not always high enough in the early part of the season to get good hatches, but I am anxious to start hatching in Jan/Feb before it gets to hot here. It is possible that the fertility is poor due to the shorter daylight hours, but I sometimes will do a little vent trimming....below on the males and above on the females....just to cover my bases. My theory is that coming off winter and molt, the birds are in full and healthy feather. As the season progresses and mating activity picks up, those feathers would naturally get worn down and better contact eventually occurs, but may get a little in the way before the natural wear happens. The trimming seems to help, although I am not sure that fertility would not have improved on it's own, just from the longer days. I just do it once, early in the season and do not consider my birds to be unable to reproduce without trimming, nor consider it any more unnatural than worming or providing extra light (which I do not do) or any other human interference we do to make our birds more productive. I am all about efficiency, and tossing a bunch of clear eggs while waiting for good fertility is not efficient....IMO.

 

[Beer can]

@bnjrob That's a good idea on separation of sex. Yes my ultimate goal is giant capons, but I imagine it'll be a couple yrs before I start hatching for them.

I hear there is ways to better your hatch for pullets, has anyone ever tried the opposite, try to better your chances of hatching cockerels?

 

[chickadoodles]

Quote: I also bought mine from them the first year they got them. I took a pic of a Chantie Cock next to a Buckeye Cock and they were both the same size and amazing birds. When you pick one up you know you have a solid bird in your hands.

 

[hellbender]

I also bought mine from them the first year they got them. I took a pic of a Chantie Cock next to a Buckeye Cock and they were both the same size and amazing birds. When you pick one up you know you have a solid bird in your hands.

Yep...even these 7 week old chicks (today) are unbelievably broad across the back. The Chanteclers are supposed to be even larger than the Buckeyes, by a pound or so and just a bit taller. I know I'm at least as excited about these birds as my family and it really can't hide that fact from them....wasn't even worth trying.

 

[JRNash]

I might get some. If i had seen them at the start i know i would have. They are one of the most beutiful breeds ive ever seen

 

[DesertChic]

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.

Your timing in mentioning this is perfect and much appreciated. I haven't been set up to easily separate males and females thus far but am finally far enough along in my construction projects to start separating everyone. I was wondering about the benefits of doing so, other than giving the girls a bit of relief from those randy boys.

 

[dfr1973]

I guess I did not go into enough of an explanation on the trimming around the vent. I have found that sometimes fertility is not always high enough in the early part of the season to get good hatches, but I am anxious to start hatching in Jan/Feb before it gets to hot here. It is possible that the fertility is poor due to the shorter daylight hours, but I sometimes will do a little vent trimming....below on the males and above on the females....just to cover my bases. My theory is that coming off winter and molt, the birds are in full and healthy feather. As the season progresses and mating activity picks up, those feathers would naturally get worn down and better contact eventually occurs, but may get a little in the way before the natural wear happens. The trimming seems to help, although I am not sure that fertility would not have improved on it's own, just from the longer days. I just do it once, early in the season and do not consider my birds to be unable to reproduce without trimming, nor consider it any more unnatural than worming or providing extra light (which I do not do) or any other human interference we do to make our birds more productive. I am all about efficiency, and tossing a bunch of clear eggs while waiting for good fertility is not efficient....IMO.

You did mention the bit about early in the season to me ... I don't always remember everything as well as I used to.

Sorry if I sounded like I was misrepresenting you - that was not my intent. I am still going to select for a bit less fluffiness, because I figure if I want to look at some fluffy chickens I have Silkies for that. Also, I just cannot see myself trimming butt fluff at present. I really REALLY hope the Silkies won't need any fluff trimming.

 

[gjensen]

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.

I wish that she was closer. You are fortunate to have her in your "neighborhood".