BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[Arielle]

Quote: YEs, the sheep are very useful for that purpose. If I want all the stump sprouts cleared ( killed) we leave the sheep in an area a long time to force them to strip and thereby kill the sprouts. Otherwise if some brush is desired we move the sheep on after eating a lot of leaves but before the bark is chewed.

Some of my girls ( long ago) that grew up with goats stood on hindlegs to reach tree branches . . .monkey see monkey do.

 

[LindaB220]

Update on the workshop? How's it going?

 

[hellbender]

Update on the workshop? How's it going?

Today was the first for actual 'clinic'. Mr. Mong is absolutely the right man for the job! We learned a lot...just a matter of absorbing it.

Tomorrow, Jason and I will have have a go at it. We are learning how to do the procedure from only one entry point....clearly the best way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[TopHatsNSpats]

Quote:

Not entirely apples and oranges. I am a smallhold farmer and breeding criterion are the same in all species, really. You select what is important to you and you move forward on your path. I also do AKC shows as well as producing dogs for very specialized purposes (SAR, service dogs for the handicapped, etc.) so I am no stranger to the kind of backbiting that exists between people on a mission to purify their breeds and weed out those who are not breeding what they think is right, by hounding them to death. I have seen how form follows function can be used to build a great line, and also how it has been perverted to create extreme animals with certain features focused on to the exclusion of all else. Sometimes this is good, but often it devolves into a screaming match when people with different images in their head of the 'perfect' Whatsit start arguing about type and etc. I am a live-and-let-live kinda gal, if a breeder is going in a direction I am not interested in I will wish them well and go my own way, but I do wish that so many people did not find it necessary to snipe at others who have a different vision.

I am interested in both production and type in my birds, because the bulk of my business is producing attractive ornamental fowl that also lay well. That is the niche I decided to fill, and it works for me, but maybe not for others. In that regard, I am looking for handsome showy birds that the owner can enjoy looking at strutting around in a BYC environment, but as a farmer I am also interested in boosting egg production. In my own case, I do not sell eggs, I have flocks I keep just to produce eggs to incubate and sell, and others I keep just for egg production for my family and the dogs. I'm always interested in finding better ways to do things, and that happens when you talk to other producers and find out how they are working through different problems. It works better when people can respect each other and just listen to learn instead of feeling like they have to dictate to others how it has to be. That's my .02 anyway.

 

[BCMaraniac]

Not entirely apples and oranges. I am a smallhold farmer and breeding criterion are the same in all species, really. You select what is important to you and you move forward on your path. I also do AKC shows as well as producing dogs for very specialized purposes (SAR, service dogs for the handicapped, etc.) so I am no stranger to the kind of backbiting that exists between people on a mission to purify their breeds and weed out those who are not breeding what they think is right, by hounding them to death. I have seen how form follows function can be used to build a great line, and also how it has been perverted to create extreme animals with certain features focused on to the exclusion of all else. Sometimes this is good, but often it devolves into a screaming match when people with different images in their head of the 'perfect' Whatsit start arguing about type and etc. I am a live-and-let-live kinda gal, if a breeder is going in a direction I am not interested in I will wish them well and go my own way, but I do wish that so many people did not find it necessary to snipe at others who have a different vision.

I am interested in both production and type in my birds, because the bulk of my business is producing attractive ornamental fowl that also lay well. That is the niche I decided to fill, and it works for me, but maybe not for others. In that regard, I am looking for handsome showy birds that the owner can enjoy looking at strutting around in a BYC environment, but as a farmer I am also interested in boosting egg production. In my own case, I do not sell eggs, I have flocks I keep just to produce eggs to incubate and sell, and others I keep just for egg production for my family and the dogs. I'm always interested in finding better ways to do things, and that happens when you talk to other producers and find out how they are working through different problems. It works better when people can respect each other and just listen to learn instead of feeling like they have to dictate to others how it has to be. That's my .02 anyway.

Well said.

 

[hellbender]

The pullets (and two cockerels) that were neutered yesterday would be impossible to distinguish from the others if they had not had some spray-dye put on them. We were going to put them in separate areas but Dr. Mong says it's better to put them back with their flock...makes them feel comfort and does not create even a little bit of difficulty in having them together.

Mong is slick!

RON

It's going to be a very interesting time over the next couple of days!

 

[call ducks]

Well time to build a new facility. Getting a new breeding flock of 112 chicks next month and need some place to put them. It's going to have lighting, and water ( I hope!). Now time to see what's out there for nest boxes.


Does anyone here use those fowl stuff ( I think is the brand) purchases that go a 5 gal bucket?

 

[armorfirelady]

I made my own nesting boxes out of empty plastic litter boxes I got from a friend. I just attached wood roosts on front so they could get in

 

[hellbender]

FYI: Total of 4 cockerels and 63 pullets have been processed...one pullet fatality. No way of knowing...either my fault or a weak bird. Clinic will continue and finish today. Several hours of tape to edit.

RON

EDIT: three colors of dye used to distinguish who did what bird.

 

[Manningjw]

Reading back through a couple of pages it sounds like you guys are caponizing. I didn't realize people ever did this to pullets? I thought it was only cockerels. Are the benefits the same in a pullet? I presume she never lays eggs?