BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[thedragonlady]

This is probably the thread for it, but I did an interview recently for a Urban Chicken podcast talking about my breed, the Langshan, when doublechecking my knowledge of the breed history I found many references to birds hatched in late fall and laying by April, best case scenario that's 6-7 months. Yet many of our "heritage" poultry these days is taking much longer to mature. Why? This shouldn't be happening. Have we just totally ignored the rate of growth in our birds? Is it due to smaller flocks and less of them so the lines are too inbred? Genetics gurus want to chime in on this?

Matt,

I'm seeing much later maturity, and a definite lack of early egg laying, in a lot of flocks of Orps, that have had the short backed, English type Orps bred into them.These then become "Yard Ornaments" , not Heritage birds, in my book. I have always put a premium on early maturity, and I will cull a pullet not laying by 6 months old. Nearly all of my pullets lay at 20 weeks, and keep on laying through hot, and cold.These are big girls too , with very deep, well rounded fronts, that produce cockerels that provide a meal for 4, at 6 months old.

The problem seems to be that we have too many "breeders" who have never had functional birds.The current Orp craze is certainly not helping the breed maintain dual purpose characteristics.

 

[chickadoodles]

Anyone wanting to can , or preserve anything, should have a copy of "Putting Food By'. It tells you how to preserve everything under the sun safely. Last time I looked, it was available on Amazon. I used it for years.

Thank you so much dragon lady! I found it and I am ordering it now. I appreciate your help so much!

 

[armorfirelady]

Dragon lady thanks for the info on the book. I want to get a pressure cooker so I can can more this year. I'm hopeful my garden does better this year

 

[BGMatt]

Matt,

I'm seeing much later maturity, and a definite lack of early egg laying, in a lot of flocks of Orps,  that have had the short backed, English type Orps bred into them.These then become "Yard Ornaments" , not Heritage birds, in my book. I have always put a premium on early maturity, and I will cull a pullet not laying by 6 months old. Nearly all of my pullets lay at 20 weeks, and keep on laying through hot, and cold.These are big girls too , with very deep, well rounded fronts, that produce cockerels that provide a meal for 4, at 6 months old.

The problem seems to be that we have too many "breeders" who have never had functional birds.The current Orp craze is certainly not helping the breed maintain dual purpose characteristics.

And clearly despite what the naysayers of selecting for early maturity say the overall size of your birds has not suffered.

Did your line come to you with these traits? If not, how long did it take to create them within the line?

 

[LindaB220]

Anyone wanting to can , or preserve anything, should have a copy of "Putting Food By'. It tells you how to preserve everything under the sun safely. Last time I looked, it was available on Amazon. I used it for years.

Thanks, I bought the paperback for $4 shipped. Not bad for the amount of info I'm getting.

 

[hellbender]

And clearly despite what the naysayers of selecting for early maturity say the overall size of your birds has not suffered.

Did your line come to you with these traits? If not, how long did it take to create them within the line?

Matt, our birds begin to lay at 4.5 to 5 months of age. I think that's young enough because I want them to be fully feathered before they are expected to 'go to work'...

 

[thedragonlady]

And clearly despite what the naysayers of selecting for early maturity say the overall size of your birds has not suffered.

Did your line come to you with these traits? If not, how long did it take to create them within the line?

Over an 8 year period, I weeded through a bunch of Buffs I had bought from an old lady, who had bought stock from Dr. Clevenger years before.They had a good work ethic, but needed work on color, combs, breast and forechest.They were decently sized birds, but not as large as I have now, from crossing in the UK type, really Belgian imports.

I was lucky to get imports who much more closely fit the UK standard, than what is being shown in the UK. I still have to select for body length and width, to keep on producing good layers. Though I do maintain a line from the original imports also, I make no bones about telling prospective buyers that my crosses are the better layers, and will certainly show more successfully. The imports do have an amazing depth of keel, and uniformly good color, with nice tidy combs. There are many lines of two toned,Leghorn combed Buffs, with cut away fronts, who could use a cross to these imports.

 

[LindaB220]

He'll be here one week from today and will work for three days. The instructions will be posted here in a vid., provided I get the 'ok' from the Moderators. Don't see why it should not be forthcoming.

The vid. will include general photos of our farm, the dogs, birds etc, and specific areas of importance to the aspects that keep this place running with relative smoothness.

Yea!!!! Several of us are interested and waiting.

One more question, Hellbender, where do you get your NN from?

 

[hellbender]

FYI: I just PM'd a Moderator requesting permission to show the video that will be taken of our farm and the 'clinic' which will be taking place over a three day period. We are going to try to get everything squeezed into 20 minutes yet making sure there is enough detail that those who want to learn the 'procedure' will get enough detail to decide if it's for them or not.

RON

 

[3riverschick]

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