BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[hellbender]

gjensen, dang, you remind me of yoda. I can get high protein feed if I add our condensed whey, just don't know what it is.%.....I add ground up whole blue gills also, dang kids catch them by the.....how ever many i want to feed them.

Seems like you are following a path not so dis-similar from what we've done here for decades but with much larger wild animals (whitetail deer-'road-kill') and culled chickens, at an earlier time.

So many other things I will not willingly discuss again for a while but plenty of protein/nitrogen as value added.

 

[dfr1973]

I am glad that Purina reformulated Flockraiser to include 0.5% methionine, which is the most commonly deficient animal-based essential amino acid. Plus, it is now cheaper than the 30% gamechick starter I was using. I may keep the breeders and brooder chicks on the 30%, or just switch the entire flock to a single formula, (for my convenience.) I am ambivalent on this. The breeding adults certainly maintained their condition well on the 30%, and I do like "pretty" chickens.

I currently have 3 mobile hoop coops in the pasture, for growing out larger chicks. I really like them, and hope to get my husband to build 3 more. In addition to getting the chickens more live food, it saves me having to clean their pen or raise live greens/bugs for them.

I tractor my birds, and I also use Purina FlockRaiser as feed. I mix that equally with a 3-grain scratch and Mid-South's Showtime Rooster Maintenance, plus the birds get their turn being out to chase grasshoppers and scratch around. Pretty much every chicken (except the poofy Silkies) has a gloss to their feathers and black feather shine green in sunlight. I'd say give the FlockRaiser a shot.

 

[hellbender]

I tractor my birds, and I also use Purina FlockRaiser as feed. I mix that equally with a 3-grain scratch and Mid-South's Showtime Rooster Maintenance, plus the birds get their turn being out to chase grasshoppers and scratch around. Pretty much every chicken (except the poofy Silkies) has a gloss to their feathers and black feather shine green in sunlight. I'd say give the FlockRaiser a shot.

I've been to several places in Florida but mostly around Bradenton where I hunted hogs with friends who live there. It's a beautiful state (my favorite areas are around the Keys) but I remember clearly, enough flying-cooties to out-weigh the poundage of beef that grows in great herds in that state. Chickens should get plenty of protein from these little natural 'live-stocks' to more than make up for any they might miss in regular poultry feed.

Keep in mind, I'm at least half joking!!!

 

[DesertChic]

Well, after nearly a month of trying to break my broody White Rock pullet, I finally caved and gave her half a dozen eggs to sit on. She instantly went from growling at me and puffing up angrily, to cooing affectionately as I placed the eggs under her. I gave her five fertile eggs from my NN Turken flock, and one egg from my best-laying Australorp who'd been mated by the NN Turken cockerel I will be butchering soon. I'm really excited to see how it all turns out as this is my first attempt at a natural hatch.

 

[dfr1973]

Well, after nearly a month of trying to break my broody White Rock pullet,

I really hate hearing about all these folks trying to break broodies.

Bossy the Wheatie Am has been testing out cubby holes, but still not ready to commit. Meanwhile, Torpie the other Wheatie Am likes to sleep in a cubbyhole, but is also unwilling to commit.

Anyone want to give odds on all these juvenile Silkies going broody in the same week, after New Years'?

 

[Beekissed]

I recently broke a broody also. Learned my lesson last year about having chicks in the fall, won't be doing that again! I got this one early enough that she wasn't full on into it, so she didn't have to stay in the pen for long. Got another showing signs of being on the nest too late in the evening, so she may be next in the pen. No more summer/fall/winter broodies for me.

 

[DesertChic]

I really hate hearing about all these folks trying to break broodies.

Bossy the Wheatie Am has been testing out cubby holes, but still not ready to commit. Meanwhile, Torpie the other Wheatie Am likes to sleep in a cubbyhole, but is also unwilling to commit.

Anyone want to give odds on all these juvenile Silkies going broody in the same week, after New Years'?

Well, our temps were still well above 95 in the daytime and I was honestly worried that she'd die from heat stroke if I gave her any eggs to sit on. I would remove her from the nesting box, panting and pale, multiple times per day and place her in a cool puddle. She'd stay out for roughly half an hour each time, scratching in the mud, dust bathing, eating greens and food, and drinking a ton of water before returning to her favorite nesting box. Her persistence and the cooling temps + humidity reduction are the only reasons I finally caved and gave her some eggs. Ultimately, it's always been my goal to switch to natural hatching for my flocks, but not during the intense heat of an AZ summer.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Well, our temps were still well above 95 in the daytime and I was honestly worried that she'd die from heat stroke if I gave her any eggs to sit on. I would remove her from the nesting box, panting and pale, multiple times per day and place her in a cool puddle. She'd stay out for roughly half an hour each time, scratching in the mud, dust bathing, eating greens and food, and drinking a ton of water before returning to her favorite nesting box. Her persistence and the cooling temps + humidity reduction are the only reasons I finally caved and gave her some eggs. Ultimately, it's always been my goal to switch to natural hatching for my flocks, but not during the intense heat of an AZ summer.

Gosh, I'm glad she made it this far!

In the pics, she's in a pretty blue box - any chance of a larger view? I'm just curious how you have your nest boxes organized. (Spent all day building my coop, so I have it on my mind...)

- Ant Farm

 

[DesertChic]

Gosh, I'm glad she made it this far!

In the pics, she's in a pretty blue box - any chance of a larger view? I'm just curious how you have your nest boxes organized. (Spent all day building my coop, so I have it on my mind...)

- Ant Farm

It's actually a green with a lot of blue undertone. I built it out of scrap wood and made the nest boxes large because I noticed the my larger breed birds seem to prefer them. I also made it fairly low to the ground, which they also seem to like.

 

[gjensen]

Well, after nearly a month of trying to break my broody White Rock pullet, I finally caved and gave her half a dozen eggs to sit on. She instantly went from growling at me and puffing up angrily, to cooing affectionately as I placed the eggs under her. I gave her five fertile eggs from my NN Turken flock, and one egg from my best-laying Australorp who'd been mated by the NN Turken cockerel I will be butchering soon. I'm really excited to see how it all turns out as this is my first attempt at a natural hatch.

If she does well, you will do well.

Where you are, hatching this time of year should not be a problem.

You put together some nice nest boxes.