BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[DesertChic]

Quote:
My chicks won't eat the fermented feed at all. They did however managed to get covered in the stuff...and then it hardened...and then I spent a good part of my day gently bathing their caked feet. I've decided that dry feed + supplements in the water is definitely the better way to go.

 

[Arielle]

I want to apologize.

Last year I was critical of some on BYC for
1. not wanting their hens to go broody
2. preferring Standard over hatchery

I had seven hens go broody last spring and summer and those birds took out 75% of my production.
I had to see for myself, so..... I ordered brahma and australorp from both hatchery and recognized breeders who strive for maintaining true dual purpose chickens, the difference is visible to me... a beginner.

I also now understand why so many tried to talk me into only one breed. I just spent another $1,000 on pens.

I"ve been at it 4 years now--and made similar mistakes. I feel like I keep climbing a mountain that gets taller and taller. lol

 

[ocap]

We have all resisted something, or the truth, because we want it to be some other way. Many always will, depending on emotion or fanciful ideas instead of experience and logic. They will continue to not like what is said (or wrote). It would be interesting if we could all look back at what we write in these posts five years from now.
What you are doing is learning and evolving. Something that we all do, and will continue to. There are many fanciful myths running about on the net, but those that stick with this on any serious level will come to a more sober place.

It is interesting to get the impression that you are serious about trying to do something. That is refreshing. Many just like the idea of it, and that is ok.

You can still devote yourself to one breed. Particularly if you want to include breeding for utility. The number one reason that we do not have quality standard bred lines of productive birds, is the qty that we raise. It requires numbers to prove pullets, and cockerels. Any intelligent effort requires proof. Then to remain faithful to the breed, we have to stay faithful to it's type. Variety matters, and utility lines should probably be simple color varieties. The more points of selection, the more time it takes to make progress.
If you have the space to breed two, what could you do with one? I am not saying to do this. You mentioned it, so I am saying that you still can.

Broodiness is both useful, and an additional management challenge. It depends on who is raising them, how, and why. Broody hens dictate when, and where. They decide. We do not. That can be a problem. It might be advisable to preserve the trait in some lines, and discourage it in others.

Good luck with your efforts. I hope that you do well.

Thanks.

I feel like I am reinventing the wheel.

 

[ocap]

I"ve been at it 4 years now--and made similar mistakes. I feel like I keep climbing a mountain that gets taller and taller. lol

Yes, but must I "Climb Every Mountain"?

 

[hellbender]

I'm hoping to make the NN a bit more popular here in southern AZ. Based on everything I know of the bird, it just seems it would be perfectly adapted to this environment. I've already created a bit of buzz about them among my chicken-keeping neighbors, some of whom will be ready to acquire new flocks themselves right around the time my birds reach a year old and I've decided which to breed. There have been hints at buying chicks from me, especially after they visited my house and saw how I care for my birds. (Yes, they're totally spoiled.) I've promised to keep diligent records on rate of growth, weights at various ages, and egg laying numbers. (Looks like I'll be trap nesting.) My NN chicks are only days old and I'm already quite impressed with them. After just 24 hours these little guys were eating and drinking and make almost no fuss over being handled...even jumping into my hand to be lifted out so I can examine them. They're growing so fast, are wonderfully active, but are also so very calm when I handle them...nothing like the hatchery birds I started out with just a few months ago. I had to spend a lot of time handling them and making them "friendly", whereas these little hatchlings seem adoring and companionable right from the start. I can't wait to see how this breed develops! And I've become so enamored with them that my original plans to raise a few potential meat breeds simultaneously for comparison purposes has been moved to the back burner while I reconsider my breeding ambitions.

@ Hellbender - Three of my hatchlings have feathered shanks/feet and one has a fully feathered neck. I know the neck feathering means the bird is homozygous recessive, which means its siblings may or may be either homozygous dominant naked, or heterozygous naked dominant and interbreeding them (if possible) could weed out the homo from the hetero...but where on earth did the feathered shanks come from? Have you heard of this feature in this breed? The breeder insists they're "pure Naked Neck", but needless to say I've got some doubts since the genetics math suggests otherwise.

Hummm. If they have feathered shanks, I'd bet there's an Asian in the wood pile somewhere ...up close. I would keep an eye on that breeder. They might be excellent stock to play with, might be great producers and delightful to eat but I wouldn't play marbles with them!

 

[Arielle]

I didn't bother to ask because they can't be expected to tell the truth. I've seen where some have asked and their answer was, 'I just don't remember'. No matter...they are extremely nice birds, very heavy breasted and supported by hefty legs/thighs under extremely wide and flat backs. Show quality?...maybe could win at a large County Fair but otherwise, I doubt they would do all that much in a sanctioned show.

I'm making the Buckeye over Turken cross to increase the speed of growth just a bit...but nothing like the C-X crosses, and I mean NOTHING!. The hybrid should be a bird with all the attributes of both breeds and actually be better and bigger than either in the F-1 generation.

Also, I plan to have all but our 'show' NNs to be pea combed...I've come to really appreciate the look of it.

EDIT: I got the Buckeyes from cackle Hatchery. They hatch and ship all their chicks from their own facility...no drop shipments.

Arielle: My Buckeye cockerels (I have only three) are just at 8.5 months old and average a bit more than 8 pounds. That's a nice sized bird.

The hybrid offspring should mature at 10 to 12 pounds, for cocks,...more when I caponize them.

Lots to be said for cross breeding the right stock.

I have to admit that because I only process a few birds at a time for my family, and by hand with not much more than a pot of hot water, a bigger bird with more meat is a better use for my time than a scrawny bird. ( Must be why I prefer to process a turkey. lol)

 

[Arielle]

Quote:
ROFL I still have a couple mountains to send to freezer camp!!

I had planned to cut out a couple turkey breeds. . . . but they are still here!! I love the color of the BO but they are too docile and the roosters cant hold up to the others on the farm. ANd they are still here. . . .

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Temperament is a function of selection isn't it? (grin)
GLad you have started the PR necessary to get a lint up of customers. Having other breeders to work with can be a plus.

 

[dfr1973]

I have chicks! Woohoo ... bouncing balls of fluffy cuteness hopping around in the brooder tubs!

Along with my hatchery order of 25 GLWs and 25 "red broilers" to play with right now, in a couple weeks I may be getting some "culls" from Eight Acres Farm near Gainesville. Luanne said she was not going to keep the black-laced Wyandottes out of her recent hatch. She does the Blue-Laced Red Wyandottes, and has really typy-bodied birds, so this ought to be a "shortcut" to better build on future chicks. Ideal's latest email says they are already sold out for the entire month of March, so I'll likely place an order with Cackle to see how I like their GLWs. They also have cuter Silkies.

I'll elaborate later ... I am a bit tired after an eventful day. Chicks were originally due to arrive tomorrow, and we had two Cornish-Rocks still that our neighbor traded for a couple of barred chicks she said were too pretty to eat, and those CRs should have fulfilled their destiny two weeks ago. I told hubby I'd prefer these be our last CRs, and he says he is good with that.

ETA: last, not latest ... bleh. I just don't want to raise up any more.

 

[DesertChic]

I have chicks! Woohoo ... bouncing balls of fluffy cuteness hopping around in the brooder tubs!

Along with my hatchery order of 25 GLWs and 25 "red broilers" to play with right now, in a couple weeks I may be getting some "culls" from Eight Acres Farm near Gainesville. Luanne said she was not going to keep the black-laced Wyandottes out of her recent hatch. She does the Blue-Laced Red Wyandottes, and has really typy-bodied birds, so this ought to be a "shortcut" to better build on future chicks. Ideal's latest email says they are already sold out for the entire month of March, so I'll likely place an order with Cackle to see how I like their GLWs. They also have cuter Silkies.

I'll elaborate later ... I am a bit tired after an eventful day. Chicks were originally due to arrive tomorrow, and we had two Cornish-Rocks still that our neighbor traded for a couple of barred chicks she said were too pretty to eat, and those CRs should have fulfilled their destiny two weeks ago. I told hubby I'd prefer these be our latest CRs, and he says he is good with that.

Congratulations!!!! Seeing those little fluff balls can sure brighten your day, can't they?