BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[gjensen]

Right here represents what I consider perfection. Perhaps not the greatest layers but there will be plenty of eggs for my family and a few friends....also lots of eggs for the birds and dogs!



Buckeye over Dark Cornish.

Have I seen this picture before?

Someone is familiar with metal stud framing.

With a more well developed breast, a bird like this would make a good sire line for a cross with a fast maturing large dual purpose strain. A developed line like this could be useful in the right crosses.

 

[hellbender]

Have I seen this picture before?

Someone is familiar with metal stud framing.

With a more well developed breast, a bird like this would make a good sire line for a cross with a fast maturing large dual purpose strain. A developed line like this could be useful in the right crosses.

No, you could never have seen this picture before but you likely did see the bird. I posted a pic of him a few weeks ago on this thread but he was on the ground. He's one of the lucky few that missed the 'operation' because he thought he was a dog and endeared himself to my daughter...that saved his life and his cojones.

EDIT: thank you for the kind words. Both breeds used in his genome are slow to mature and that's what makes them attractive for me to use as capons and wonderful capons they are!

 

[hellbender]

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.

Beautiful!

 

[DesertChic]

Right here represents what I consider perfection. Perhaps not the greatest layers but there will be plenty of eggs for my family and a few friends....also lots of eggs for the birds and dogs!



Buckeye over Dark Cornish.

He is beautiful! Look at those thick shanks! Sturdy, meaty looking....I'm impressed!

 

[JRNash]

He looks wide

 

[hellbender]

He looks wide

Yes, this hybrid tends to be quite broad but for that matter, the parent stock is also known for very broad backs as well as very large leg/thigh and deliciously ample breast.

The hybrid cross accentuates and draws on the meaty quality of both breeds, producing a bird that is amply endowed and produces better flavor and meat texture..especially when caponized.

 

[chickadoodles]

Linda I pray that you will continue to get stronger in your recovery.

 

[Beer can]

...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

Yikes! And humm, I remember eating the pits and all as a kid also!
Native Americans made Pemmican, dried smoked meat and choke cherries pounded fine pits included mixed with fat.

 

[MBK Farm]

I just recently finished all 377 pages on this thread. Utility and production are at the heart of my goals/mission so I am certainly keeping up with this discussion. Nice, constructive discourse. Refreshing. I was reading the ALBC pages regarding breeding for better birds and found this which made me chuckle a bit...


"An entire book could be written on culling. It is the single most beneficial practice that poultrymen can use to better the quality and health of their flocks. An old saying is that the best tool you can use to improve the quality of your birds is an axe! "

"A well-known Leghorn breeder and poultry judge, Mr. Richard Holmes, used to tell a story about a master breeder of White Leghorns who in his early years hired an older poultry judge to come and cull his flock. The old judge locked himself in the poultry house and started catching and killing Leghorns. The story goes that the discards came fast and heavy. When the judge was finished the breeder had only one trio left out of 150 birds. The breeder later commented that from that day forward he made progress!"

Reference: Chicken Assessment for Improving Productivity, Chapter 3; http://albc-usa.etapwss.com/images/uploads/docs/ALBCchicken_assessment-3.pdf




I look forward to following more discussion of this subject matter and hope to post some of my future observations, gains and challenges as well. Cheers!

 

[JRNash]

Great read MBK