BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[gjensen]

Or here in AZ.

Southern Arizona is hot. Florida is not hot. LOL. Florida is humid.

 

[Dead Rabbit]

with toe punching is the best way cutting a notch in the web?

Buy you a toe punch. They are cheap. And experiment. You can also incorporate both punching and cutting on the same bird.

I quite punching and went with cutting


Went to destin area of fl for two wks in mid sept. In 2013. It was 98 degrees one day I was talking to some locals. I was sweating through my clothes. They said yeah it's been a hot summer but it's starting to cool down now. Lol.

 

[LindaB220]

That is a problem for some lines, and some breeds. On the other hand, if your pullets are eight months old now, the day length has an effect. That is true for any line that has been hatched late enough where they would come into lay during the winter. Hatchery or not. When they are hatched has it's place. You will know better when you can hatch them earlier in the year.

No gripes on my Blosl and XW rocks. They are totally worth it. I will be getting the ISA Browns for the egg business. Putting it all on hold for a few months. Today I went to the knee surgeon and set up the date of March 10. That's gonna give me time to get everything done and set up for the SIL to watch over the birds while I'm incapacitated. I'm in such great shape except for the knee and when it heals watch me go. ha

 

[Rainey]

I do not want a newcomer to think we are saying that smaller is better is either. Far from it. Breed appropriate weights is what we are saying so that they are equipped to be as they could. I would rather start a little too large rather than the other extreme. The hatcheries are on the other extreme for the most part.

I read the whole post but just wanted to ask a question (as a newcomer) about this last part. For someone whose goal is eggs, not meat, is the direction of the hatcheries appropriate? In the past I've kept (obtained from hatchery) hens described as dual purpose, and I came to the point of thinking that it was not efficient to raise those hens for eggs, that smaller would be better. But I'm still learning and hope you'll tell me why smaller birds are not better.

 

[DesertChic]

Southern Arizona is hot. Florida is not hot. LOL. Florida is humid.

I don't do well in humidity. Even here in dry AZ, my body hurts like mad during summer monsoons and winter rains, but at least the heat keeps it bearable. I grew up in Ohio and went back there after living away for over six years. I could barely move in that humidity. I like the dry heat.

And though a summer temp of 110 is way too high for anyone, we don't get that many days that hot down here. That's more of a Yuma and even Phoenix temperature. I live south of Tucson at a higher elevation and summer is gorgeous....in my opinion.

 

[DesertChic]

No gripes on my Blosl and XW rocks. They are totally worth it. I will be getting the ISA Browns for the egg business. Putting it all on hold for a few months. Today I went to the knee surgeon and set up the date of March 10. That's gonna give me time to get everything done and set up for the SIL to watch over the birds while I'm incapacitated. I'm in such great shape except for the knee and when it heals watch me go. ha

Best of luck with the surgery! I can't wait to hear about everything the "bionic woman" does once her knee is fixed.

 

[dfr1973]

I don't do well in humidity. Even here in dry AZ, my body hurts like mad during summer monsoons and winter rains, but at least the heat keeps it bearable. I grew up in Ohio and went back there after living away for over six years. I could barely move in that humidity. I like the dry heat.

And though a summer temp of 110 is way too high for anyone, we don't get that many days that hot down here. That's more of a Yuma and even Phoenix temperature. I live south of Tucson at a higher elevation and summer is gorgeous....in my opinion.

Meanwhile, I don't do dry heat very well ... I tend to want to dig and build fighting positions with proper overhead cover for the mortar rounds at night. I spent most of 2003 in Kuwait and Iraq. You could tell who was from the SW desert over there ... they said it felt like home, and didn't seem to be bothered until the temp hit 120F.

As for Hellbender's comment earlier ... sounds like someone visited down here around Labor Day, a few years back. I'll still take the humidity over dry heat.

 

[gjensen]

I read the whole post but just wanted to ask a question (as a newcomer) about this last part. For someone whose goal is eggs, not meat, is the direction of the hatcheries appropriate? In the past I've kept (obtained from hatchery) hens described as dual purpose, and I came to the point of thinking that it was not efficient to raise those hens for eggs, that smaller would be better. But I'm still learning and hope you'll tell me why smaller birds are not better.

Breed appropriate sizes is better when discussing pure breeds. The discussion was on pure breeds, and how their standard weights related to their usefulness. It is about being loyal to the purpose and role they were intended for. No different than working dogs should have the appropriate characteristics for the breed etc. The discussion was breed appropriate sizes, and the examples were dual purpose breeds.

You are shifting the conversation to the production of eggs alone, which is fine. It only matters that we are discussing the same thing.

If you are only concerned with the production of eggs, you cannot do better than the commercial crossed strains of Leghorns. There is no more cost effective layer on the planet. If you prefer brown eggs, then ISA Browns etc. are a better choice. You can breed them to, but the cost effectiveness of your enterprise seams to be a concern. They are so cost effective to purchase that it is cheaper to replace them every couple years rather than breeding them at all. A single male eats a little over 90lbs of feed in a year, and two at least is better because chickens die. Then the offspring will not lay as well as the initial cross, and their is a loss rather than a gain.

The cheapest way to produce eggs is to purchase commercial laying strains and replace them every two years.

Smaller lighter breeds were (and are) favored for the production of eggs alone, because they eat less feed. In that sense smaller is better, but too small is another problem of it's own. The 42 -48 oz commercial leghorn crossed strains are at their limit of efficiency concerning the production of large eggs. They cannot be beat though. Any smaller and they need to be laying smaller eggs. See how we are getting back to breed appropriate weights? The Standard Leghorn hen weight is 56oz.

Personally, I think the lighter Mediterranean and Continental breeds are neglected and overlooked among those interested in pure breeds.

 

[gjensen]

I don't do well in humidity. Even here in dry AZ, my body hurts like mad during summer monsoons and winter rains, but at least the heat keeps it bearable. I grew up in Ohio and went back there after living away for over six years. I could barely move in that humidity. I like the dry heat.

And though a summer temp of 110 is way too high for anyone, we don't get that many days that hot down here. That's more of a Yuma and even Phoenix temperature. I live south of Tucson at a higher elevation and summer is gorgeous....in my opinion.

The higher elevations of southern AZ are not as bad. The valleys like Phoenix have very tough summers. At 117 and there is no shade, and the heat is reflecting off of the rocks back at you, humidity is not on my mind. LOL. The sun's intensity out there exposed is tough, and will kill you.

I used to go out their every year. I would try to time it after the summer monsoons. All the better when they would come later into September.

I love south of Tuscon. I love the Sonoran desert. I did some wandering around Nogales to. Arizona is a beautiful and remarkable place. Once the summer is over, even the area around Phoenix is nice. I did a lot of climbing in and around the Superstitious Mts. I only love the sea islands of the coastal South East more.

 

[gjensen]

No gripes on my Blosl and XW rocks. They are totally worth it. I will be getting the ISA Browns for the egg business. Putting it all on hold for a few months. Today I went to the knee surgeon and set up the date of March 10. That's gonna give me time to get everything done and set up for the SIL to watch over the birds while I'm incapacitated. I'm in such great shape except for the knee and when it heals watch me go. ha

I realized that you were not. You have great birds. I only thought to 8 months in the middle of Feb. is 6 months in the middle of December. The shortest days of the year.