BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[Fire Ant Farm]

OK, so as I think I've shared before, on an impulse, I got 5 Speckled Sussex chicks at the feed store 4 weeks ago. Shouldn't have, but I did, and they're my responsibility to manage now... My intention is to NOT name them, have the pullets as layers for a little while, and then play it from ear from there - if they turn out big enough, I may cross into the NN line. If not, either cull or turn loose and see how well they do as a more free ranging low management group. Cockerels will be eaten.

I have NO idea of their sex. The Cream Legbars I have are auto sexing, and the Naked Necks, while not auto sexing, were pretty easy to sex very early (2-3 weeks) for the vast majority of them (and once Kev shared some coloring tips regarding male vs. female, it was even easier). The New Hampshires have lagged, but I am certain about the sex of them now at 9 weeks (which to me seems late, as I am comparing to the NNs and Cream Legbars).

I just looked up the Specked Sussex "What sex is my chick" threads - I had no idea what sort of drama was involved in waiting to see the gender of these (or some of the other common breeds) for SOOOOOO long - including just waiting to get an an egg!!! I guess I'm just spoiled.

Sooooo, that brings me to my point - that the ability to sex chicks early (either at hatch or early in life) is a production-related characteristic, depending on your management style. I have rather stridently made this point over on the Cream Legbar thread, because the breed was actually developed primarily as an auto sexing breed, yet some breeders/lines are now selecting for subtle pretty feather characteristics to the detriment of auto sexing (and not taking care of the whole package, coloring AND auto sexing, when making their breeding decisions). This is alarming in a new-ish breed where a characteristic like good auto sexing can be lost so quickly. I may have made myself a little bit irritating about it...

What are everyone's thoughts about this?

- Ant Farm

edit to add: I don't think Cream Legbars will win any productivity awards any time soon, I just mean the general concept...

 

[eyralis]

Really? Mine go crazy when they see the stuff. Swiss Chard is a favorite too. They definitely prefer the leaves, but they'll eat the stalks from the kale too. 

I'll try! Maybe chop it up into little pieces... or dip it in yogurt... my girls seem to think EVERYTHING is better in yogurt...

 

[Our Roost]

Yesterday one of my gc marans hens laid an egg without shell. It was more like a water balloon and not broken. What the heck! Any thoughts on this?

 

[Beekissed]

It's fairly common and happens on occasion. Mostly happens more when chickens are coming into and out of seasonal laying times such as early spring, late summer when molting is happening, later on in winter when they are resuming laying after completing a molt, after getting back into lay after a broody time, getting old in their laying and starting to go into henopause, etc.

If a particular hen is doing it often, you might want to cull. If all the other birds in the flock can make an egg with a shell while going through all these different phases on the diet you are currently giving, then it's a bird problem and not a flock issue. First thing most people will tell you is to increase calcium, but I never see the reasoning behind that...increase calcium to ALL the birds because one didn't make a shell one day? Ridiculous.

Now, if you have several birds that are laying fart eggs and you aren't feeding a balanced ration, THEN it's a flock or nutrition problem.

 

[Beer can]

Yesterday one of my gc marans hens laid an egg without shell. It was more like a water balloon and not broken. What the heck! Any thoughts on this?

I had one lay one once, perfect egg just no shell. It was only the one time though.

 

[DesertChic]

We have four seasons here, almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction....Lol!

LMAO!!!!

 

[DesertChic]

We butcher at any time of year, depending on when we hatched and when birds grow into flaws that they need to be culled for. We butchered a couple of times this year already, I've got some turkeys to do this month, and there will likely be some cockerels to butcher come January/Feb, and I've got a hatch that is a month old and will look to see about culling some of them when they are 4-6 months old as a first cull for that hatch.

This is kind of my process as well....especially since I'm still working out my plans. Since I did so many hatches throughout the year in the hope of maintaining egg production no matter the season (and so far that's working out really well), I culled as I went, butchering the mean and under-performing cockerels as time progressed. I think having such mild autumn, winter and spring weather is conducive to this method for the time being, but I've been thinking that I may have to eventually adopt an annual or semi-annual culling "season" just to keep the chicken math from overtaking me.

 

[DesertChic]

But yeah, crazy chickens. My explanation is that Cream Legbars are the cats of the chicken world. It's true in every way, I swear! My NNs are my puppies...

- Ant Farm

LOL! Note to self.....do not get Cream Legbars. (I'm definitely more of a dog person than a cat person.

)

 

[DesertChic]

Yesterday one of my gc marans hens laid an egg without shell. It was more like a water balloon and not broken. What the heck! Any thoughts on this?

It's fairly common and happens on occasion. Mostly happens more when chickens are coming into and out of seasonal laying times such as early spring, late summer when molting is happening, later on in winter when they are resuming laying after completing a molt, after getting back into lay after a broody time, getting old in their laying and starting to go into henopause, etc.

If a particular hen is doing it often, you might want to cull. If all the other birds in the flock can make an egg with a shell while going through all these different phases on the diet you are currently giving, then it's a bird problem and not a flock issue. First thing most people will tell you is to increase calcium, but I never see the reasoning behind that...increase calcium to ALL the birds because one didn't make a shell one day? Ridiculous.

Now, if you have several birds that are laying fart eggs and you aren't feeding a balanced ration, THEN it's a flock or nutrition problem.

I've also experienced this from a few of my girls when they first started laying, and from one pullet after she'd been laying a while. She produced the shell-less egg only about 12 hours after having laid an egg, pushed it out of the nesting box, and then continued to lay normally after that. It's been months now since that happened without additional incidence. I think @Beekissed nailed it and I wouldn't worry unless it becomes a recurring problem.

 

[Beer can]

LMAO!!!!

I've heard the reference to other states as well Lol, I got it from Jeff Foxworthy;

"You know you are a true upstate New Yorker when..."​

You know several people who have hit a deer more than once.
You often switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day and back again.
You can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard, without flinching.
You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend/wife knows how to use them.
You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction.
Your 4th of July picnic was moved indoors due to frost.
"If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 36 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping that the food will swim by, you might live in Upstate New York."
"If you're proud that your region makes the national news 96 nights a year because Saranac Lake is the coldest spot in the nation, and Syracuse gets more snow than any other major city in the US, you might live in Upstate NY."
"If your local ice cream stand is closed from October through May, you might live in Upstate New York."

You actually understand these jokes, and you send them to all your Upstate New York friends and to those who used to live here and left (Chickens).