BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[Arielle]

My focus this time around will be on sustainable meat strains. Having said that, AFTER I get the APA standard my OCD will probably drive me nuts if the birds deviate from the guidelines too much. With this all ready in mind Ive already been researching reputable show breeders that have SOP birds.lol

It's a tough call between utility and and SOP. Im hoping that if I can start out with birds that come reasonably close to the Standard it will be easier to predict breeding outcomes. My doctor thinks I have unrealistic expectations too.lol I find it fascinating that scientists believe the broiler industry has in no way reached the growth potential genomic studies are indicating is possible. Who knows what new breeds are waiting to be discovered!!!

Nash-- I selected buckeyes for a couple reasons. One is that much work has already been done to restore this dual purpose meat bird. Yes this bird is meat first, and eggs second. The man I purchased chicks from was upfront that his birds must perform as meat birds first, so he does have some flaws in the line. THat he was honest is a plus, especially as I had already figured out that the show birds have lost many of their utilitarian traits. So, you can have both. DO have a list of questions, and listen carefully to the answers. It is as must what is not said as what is said.

ANd ya, I understand the OCD impact. I have not culled yet.

Perhaps work with a breed that comes from a nearby source so that you can ask for help during the selection process for the breeding stock.

 

[JRNash]

Be careful Arielle. If I remember correctly the cyanide is a cumulative poison.

 

[Arielle]

Quote:
ROFL Love him!!!! Looks like a buckeye on steroids!!

 

[Arielle]

Be careful Arielle. If I remember correctly the cyanide is a cumulative poison.

Hmmm. . .not from what I have read. Have a whole book on it , or rather on B17. My mother eats a small handful of almonds daily for the same effect.That is: cancel cell killer.Do you have any information that supports that it is cumlative??? Would like to read it. The information I read had an example of an overdose in which it was a one time consumption. BUT the cause of death might have been concluded too quickly by some accounts. Based on the % body weight that my rabbit eats in apple seeds he should be dead; and based on the amount of choke cheeries I used to eat as a kid playing out side, boy, I should be dead too. Yikes. Chokecherries are VERY high.

Let me know if you run into that source again.

 

[JRNash]

Can't remember. It could be an old wives tale for all I know. Many " poisons " have therapeutic uses in the right dosage

 

[JRNash]

I had the wrong form of cyanide. The type that is cumulative is cyanide chloride.

 

[Arielle]

I had the wrong form of cyanide. The type that is cumulative is cyanide chloride.

Ahhh.

I would have to look up the cyanide in the plants. IT was a loooong name. I was facinated with the natural way of killing cancer cells and looked up the plant sources for B17. WOw the list is long. I wont list them here as there are so many. As a matter of fact if a person was truely worried about this chemical, their good foods list would shorted a hair. I purposely choose these foods along with mushrooms as mushrooms have a study behind it to prove it has anti cancer properties in regards to breast cancer ( 30% decrease in recurrance.). Would really love to see a real study of the B17 and not just governmental squashing of information.

Years ago, the government squashed the goodness of eggs, claiming the cholesterol in eggs caused high cholesterol in humans. Well, about 1982 I took a class at an ag univeristy where the profs didnt cotton to that idea. Though at that time the thought was that the method of calculating the cholesterol was poor. NOW the government is cautiously ok'ing eggs and that it might not cause high cholesterol afterall. NO KIDDING!!! SHeesh. Fortunately I have followed the advice of the professors and clearly all the eggs I eat ( usually 6-8 a day at times) have contributed to GREAT cholesterol levels. Oh ya, and the government is FINALLY pointing the finger at sugar. Finally. Needs to point another finger at the high carb diet it supports. 300 a day is way off. Time to significantly reduce grains.

OK , off my soap box. lol

 

[ronott1]

Nash-- I selected buckeyes for a couple reasons. One is that much work has already been done to restore this dual purpose meat bird. Yes this bird is meat first, and eggs second. The man I purchased chicks from was upfront that his birds must perform as meat birds first, so he does have some flaws in the line. THat he was honest is a plus, especially as I had already figured out that the show birds have lost many of their utilitarian traits. So, you can have both. DO have a list of questions, and listen carefully to the answers. It is as must what is not said as what is said.

ANd ya, I understand the OCD impact. I have not culled yet.

Perhaps work with a breed that comes from a nearby source so that you can ask for help during the selection process for the breeding stock.

Apples have about 5 seeds in them--not a bowl of straight cherry pits so the volume is low. I would restrict the amount that you feed them.

I feed my chickens potato skins--as long as they are not green. None have died yet!

 

[Arielle]

Quote:
ROFL THese same professors used themselves as the guinea pigs for eating the green potatos. Afterall these were food scientists, at the Univeristyof Maine. Potatos are a huge cash crop there. They said they only had some tummy upset and related events. Nothing truely serious.

A bowl of cherry pits would not last long here. A few for everyone. Though now I am wondering about my plan to plant cherry trees and bushes like sand cherries. Sounded like a good idea as the birds can feed themselves the whole cherry.

As I remember, the advice was eat 1-2 apples a day, the whole apple, seeds and all. Chomping down a half cup of just seeds would definitely be risky.

 

[gjensen]

Thank you.

Although selecting for earlier maturity is a top priority, one of my lesser goals is to get this flock up to large/extra-large eggs and >200 eggs per unlighted pullet year with quick molts. The early-laying pullet was not reliable until I added lights, and I "broke" her broody spell within a week. The other pullet is much more determined to set. I figured I had enough to work on addressing egg size amongst the daughters this year, watching their mothers' molt and return to lay this autumn. I will work on documenting egg output this fall.

I have a diet/food scale for smaller chicks and a postal scale for the juveniles and adults. I started out weighing chicks, and sorting by comb/wattle growth into pens receiving 20% or 30% protein feed. I think I had quite a few chicks on the "wrong" feed for different amounts of time, plus the weather has changed dramatically since I started bringing chicks outside, and there are so many age groups, I did not think my exact weights were very helpful. I will still cull the very slow featherers and of course any sickly, ill-dispositioned, or structurally abnormal chicks. I do still think I can differentiate between the chicks prone to add muscling earlier and those prone to add muscle later. Since I don't know how to select for good lacing yet, I am growing out all the questionable chicks.

I will share whatever I learn about lacing, and see if I can get good pictures with my phone and post them here.

Best wishes,
Angela

Here is a couple general pictures of 6wk old project pullets. There are a couple that are starting to show promise. I still have about 40 of these pullets on the ground. As I get a few separated, I will get a few pictures of those. @ 6wks, they are a ways off from showing what they are about.

These project birds are part of a re build effort of sorts. The color of my birds and the challenges associated with that required (in my opinion) a radical turn around. The project birds have plenty of vigor. Hopefully I will come up with a bird or two that I can use in another generation or two. It is a lot of work and money just to make an outcross. They are 3/4 Catalana here.