BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[hellbender]

Good luck to your daughter. I've showed all kinds of livestock (cattle, sheep, dogs...). The easiest on you physically is rabbits. Maybe what she needs is a nice trio of AmChins. ;-)

Thank you. If she were to decide to go the rabbit route, we have some of the finest pure Florida Whites that we cross with NZ Whites for meat.

 

[Heron's Nest Farm]

I have had both chest and upright.

Chest freezers are great for storing a ton of meat, like when you buy half a cow. My experience with them though was that they were hard to find things. Things often got lost or forgotten and then thrown away. I'd open the chest and have to set things on the table to get to what I wanted and then have to put them back. I'd send my someone to the freezer, who was unfamiliar with where things were, and it would be trashed organizationally. They do hold up well and stay really cold because everything is so stacked.

I have an upright now and I LOVE it. I can get in and out because I know where everything is. I have individual shelves for meats and another for fruit. All my nuts are on the door. My quick fix meats like sausage and hamburger in the duware. Did I mention I LOVE my upright.

I would, however, get a second freezer, possibly the chest for foods I would transition to my upright when needed; like whole chickens. Currently I cut mine up and freeze for more compact storage.

Did I mention I love my upright.


And now for a question:
At what age of the hen should you test to see the finger spread of the pelvic region? Does this span improve between 4-12 months?

 

[ronott1]

I have had both chest and upright.

Chest freezers are great for storing a ton of meat, like when you buy half a cow. My experience with them though was that they were hard to find things. Things often got lost or forgotten and then thrown away. I'd open the chest and have to set things on the table to get to what I wanted and then have to put them back. I'd send my someone to the freezer, who was unfamiliar with where things were, and it would be trashed organizationally. They do hold up well and stay really cold because everything is so stacked.

I have an upright now and I LOVE it. I can get in and out because I know where everything is. I have individual shelves for meats and another for fruit. All my nuts are on the door. My quick fix meats like sausage and hamburger in the duware. Did I mention I LOVE my upright.

I would, however, get a second freezer, possibly the chest for foods I would transition to my upright when needed; like whole chickens. Currently I cut mine up and freeze for more compact storage.

Did I mention I love my upright.


And now for a question:
At what age of the hen should you test to see the finger spread of the pelvic region? Does this span improve between 4-12 months?

That is one way to tell. Another it so look at the comb and the vent. A little dry vent is not laying eggs along with a pale comb.

For yellow skinned hens, you can look at the legs and the color around the vent. If you see yellow at the vent and bright yellow legs then she is not laying.

Of course given the time of year it would be best to wait until spring since a lot of hens will not lay right now.

 

[RedRidge]

And we apparently didn't get any extra points for production this weekend at the APA Nationals. My best pullet laid an egg literally as the judge reached in to pull her out of the cage. Needless to say she didn't show well. My other pullet who is not laying right now took BOV. Go figure. You'd think she'd get extra points for production. LOL

 

[DesertChic]

And we apparently didn't get any extra points for production this weekend at the APA Nationals. My best pullet laid an egg literally as the judge reached in to pull her out of the cage. Needless to say she didn't show well. My other pullet who is not laying right now took BOV. Go figure. You'd think she'd get extra points for production. LOL

So bribing the judge with fresh eggs doesn't work?

Good to know.

 

[hellbender]

We are finally home in West Virginia and I got the email straightened out...with some major help from Premium Tech Support...best money I ever spent. They interface with my pc, do all the work themselves and I pay no more than the small monthly charge. So worth it.

I have several emails and I will try to respond to them all over the next couple days.

 

[gevshiba]

I've finally caught up. Now I have some questions. I'm pretty new to chickens. I've had turkeys a bit longer. Right now, I'm housing my birds at my neighbor's house, so I'm limited on space and hobbled by rules and the situation. I don't have the best birds, but they aren't commercial hatchery stock, either. I have Speckled Sussex. I've decided to concentrate on one breed. I apologize for any silly, newbie questions, but if you don't ask, you'll never know.

First, I joined the New Years Day hatch along. On post 1614, gjansen said he likes to hatch the chicks upright in cartons. My eggs lie on their side in the incubator, then I move them to the hatcher. Would you still advise sitting them upright?

Here might be a stupid question. I candled my eggs before putting them in the incubator. One of my pullets is regularly laying a chalky egg, that is very porous. I'm not hatching any of those, but noticed a lot of the eggs have varying degrees of porousness. Is this something that can be and should be selected against, or is it not important?

Way back at post 170, Arielle quoted "A line can be fast growers but mature at a smaller adult body weight compared to another line, or one which grows slower but finishes larger." I had this exact thing happen. Group 1 matured fast. I butchered 3 cockerels at 21 weeks with weights in the 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 pound range. Group 2 matured much slower. They are visibly larger. I butchered 1 cockerel from group 1, who was now around 30 weeks. He was 4 1/2 pounds (would have been more but the turkeys harassed him for 3 days before processing). 2 cockerels from group 2, at around 26 weeks, came in at just over 6 & 7 pounds. I can't eat the dark meat on chickens or turkey (pity, I like it), but I can say the breast meat was very good, despite the age. So my question. Someone (sorry, can't remember who) was talking about weighing at certain ages and culling the lightest birds. Is this after you know how your particular birds mature? If I had done this, I might have lost my best rooster. He's from group 2, but not the biggest. He's not small, but he's still the best structurally and color-wise (yes, that is important to me, but not above structure). BTW, I did not breed these birds. My first eggs from them are in the incubator now.

Sorry for the long post.

 

[ronott1]

I've finally caught up. Now I have some questions. I'm pretty new to chickens. I've had turkeys a bit longer. Right now, I'm housing my birds at my neighbor's house, so I'm limited on space and hobbled by rules and the situation. I don't have the best birds, but they aren't commercial hatchery stock, either. I have Speckled Sussex. I've decided to concentrate on one breed. I apologize for any silly, newbie questions, but if you don't ask, you'll never know.

First, I joined the New Years Day hatch along. On post 1614, gjansen said he likes to hatch the chicks upright in cartons. My eggs lie on their side in the incubator, then I move them to the hatcher. Would you still advise sitting them upright?

Here might be a stupid question. I candled my eggs before putting them in the incubator. One of my pullets is regularly laying a chalky egg, that is very porous. I'm not hatching any of those, but noticed a lot of the eggs have varying degrees of porousness. Is this something that can be and should be selected against, or is it not important?

Way back at post 170, Arielle quoted "A line can be fast growers but mature at a smaller adult body weight compared to another line, or one which grows slower but finishes larger." I had this exact thing happen. Group 1 matured fast. I butchered 3 cockerels at 21 weeks with weights in the 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 pound range. Group 2 matured much slower. They are visibly larger. I butchered 1 cockerel from group 1, who was now around 30 weeks. He was 4 1/2 pounds (would have been more but the turkeys harassed him for 3 days before processing). 2 cockerels from group 2, at around 26 weeks, came in at just over 6 & 7 pounds. I can't eat the dark meat on chickens or turkey (pity, I like it), but I can say the breast meat was very good, despite the age. So my question. Someone (sorry, can't remember who) was talking about weighing at certain ages and culling the lightest birds. Is this after you know how your particular birds mature? If I had done this, I might have lost my best rooster. He's from group 2, but not the biggest. He's not small, but he's still the best structurally and color-wise (yes, that is important to me, but not above structure). BTW, I did not breed these birds. My first eggs from them are in the incubator now.

Sorry for the long post.

We did have a big discussion about setting eggs.

Hatching not shipped eggs has been the subject of poultry studies, primarily for hatcheries. They set the eggs big end up for the first 18 days and then put them on their side when they are moved to a hatching tray. The tray does old the egg so that it does not become a hockey puck. There is also something like cheese cloth on top of the wire that the eggs sit on. I use foam shelf liner--it is washable and reusable.

For your own eggs, it really does not matter how the are set at hatching. Hatch rates will be good either way.

See, I avoided using lock down....

Remember to enter your guess for the number of eggs set for the hatch a long. This contest is open to all BYC members

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...atch-a-long-total-number-set-contest-number-4

 

[hellbender]

My neighbor took two black bears off my land today and I'm very thankful for him hunting here. We've been too busy with life, in general to be able to hunt.

After the bears are skinned, they will be soaked in strong salt brine then hung for a few days in my walk-in. The meat will be given to folks who like to eat it or just want to try it. I personally can't stand the stuff, no matter how it's prepared but I make sure I get some slow rendered 'bear grease'. So many uses, especially for preserving leather boots.

Don't think I'd want any eggs that were fried in it but I haven't been that hungry either....One never knows what they would do before they starved or allowed their family to starve.

My Daughter, Ariel went out with the second crew. She could only stay in the truck and wait but she enjoyed being out with a couple friends she hadn't seen in a few years.

 

[ronott1]

My neighbor took two black bears off my land today and I'm very thankful for him hunting here. We've been too busy with life, in general to be able to hunt.

After the bears are skinned, they will be soaked in strong salt brine then hung for a few days in my walk-in. The meat will be given to folks who like to eat it or just want to try it. I personally can't stand the stuff, no matter how it's prepared but I make sure I get some slow rendered 'beat grease'. So many uses, especially for preserving leather boots.

Don't think I'd want any eggs that were fried in it but I haven't been that hungry either....One never knows what they would do before they starved or allowed their family to starve.

My Daughter, Ariel went out with the second crew. She could only stay in the truck and wait but she enjoyed being out with a couple friends she hadn't seen in a few years.

Nice!