BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[Arielle]

Quote: That is a great idea! Allows you to start working on portions of the set up will need, the brooder and the grow out pens, then add the breeding pens later.

We have TWO large chest freezers-- I rotate stock. Roasting a chicken or turkey, then butchersing three: one to oven and two to freezer. ( I hand p luck and water only stays hot for 3 birds)

Sorry...I forgot to mention that getting farm fresh brown eggs is very easy in this part of the country but they are not the same as collecting our own. I guess we're blessed to have them at all.

I enjoy the various colors. Better than an Easter egg Hunt.

Quote: What truly facinates me is that there are so many different breeds of chickens that have different charactersistics and that there is a bird to meet our individual needs. I'm willing to give up total egg count IF I can have eggs year round. From what Laura Haggerty told me, even the buckeyes take a break.

Won't know until thier second year . . .

 

[call ducks]

It is very intresting to look at the breeds they used and did not use. Langshans used to be used widely as an egg laying type in Eastern USA.

The carcass has a lot to do with how they (sussex) are finished, although selection still needs to be applied it's how they are finished that makes all the difference with Sussex.

 

[gjensen]

It is very intresting to look at the breeds they used and did not use. Langshans used to be used widely as an egg laying type in Eastern USA.

The carcass has a lot to do with how they (sussex) are finished, although selection still needs to be applied it's how they are finished that makes all the difference with Sussex.

I have wondered why there was not more interest in Langshans. I think there could be. People like unique, and they are good looking birds that could prove to be useful.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: WHen I started in chickens a few years ago, learning about all the br eeds was a challenge. I studied the pictorials on My PEt Chicken , realize at the time I didn't know what a n SOP was. Many of the rareer chickens are not listen on that site, and a few breeds are missing pictures. ( I realize these are not SQ birds at My PEt chickenc but it atleast was an intro)THe popular breeds come up in discussion over and over on BYC ; the rarer ones just occassionally so it was hard to get a handle on them. I remember the first langshan picture-- I had given it a completely different type, just as I had with the leghorn. I was pleasantly surprised to see it looked like a regular chicken and not the extreme long type that I had created in my mind. lol

 

[Turk Raphael]

Don't the Langshans have feathered feet? That would be a problem for me. I have seen other breeds that had feathered feet in the yards of friends and they seem to carry pounds of mud and poop around with them. But they do seem to be very handsome and stately birds when cleaned up.

 

[bnjrob]

We have TWO large chest freezers-- I rotate stock. Roasting a chicken or turkey, then butchersing three: one to oven and two to freezer. ( I hand p luck and water only stays hot for 3 birds)

We bought a turkey fryer to use for scalding and plucking - we just take the propane tank off the grill and hook it up to the burner and heat water in the big stockpot that came with the burner.

 

[Turk Raphael]

We bought a turkey fryer to use for scalding and plucking - we just take the propane tank off the grill and hook it up to the burner and heat water in the big stockpot that came with the burner.

That is a great idea! An Idea that will be copied by me! Don't know how much help it will be with plucking but it will make the mass-scalding a breeze. <<<Joking about the plucking!

 

[bmvf]

Has anyone tried making a homemade plucker?

I've considered making something like this.
http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/ez_plucker.html

 

[bnjrob]

Has anyone tried making a homemade plucker?

I've considered making something like this.
http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/ez_plucker.html

We thought about it but saw a number of people complaining that pluckers can beat up the meat, so we decided not to bother.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Great idea-- love multi-use tools.

THe endless branches that fall off the trees keep us supplied for our grilling needs. Makes for great tasting steaks. Or hot dogs, or hamburgers.