BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[Our Roost]

JRNash, malines eh? I'm not so sure how they would do in the heat down there. Its not one of their better traits. I just hatched out some really nice birds this spring. I was on pins and needles because I only had 1 rooster and 2 hens from different bloodlines. Surprisingly, These guys are eating me out of house and home and gaining weight fast. I outcrossed the roo with a few golden cuckoo marans and they look fantastic. Little to no change but a bit smaller. I will try to post some pic's in a few days. Keep stroking!

 

[neopolitancrazy]

I looked at the site Hellbender recommended. This year is the last one they will be handling their white dorkings.

yup, Joe posted earlier this year that they were selling off their Dorkings at the end of this growing season.

 

[Ifish]

It is called progress. Or what we call progress.

People were moving to the city at an alarming rate. Industrialization was in full swing. Mechanization of agriculture to feed the people in the city was at a fever pitch. Supermarkets were only an improved way to market, promote, and offer the commodities to an ever selective (and demanding) public.

With the mechanization of grain production, and a large percentage of the population that did not raise their own food, chicken became a more and more lucrative market. Because of their growth rate, and the scale they could be reproduced, an emphasis on the production of poultry grew.

Quickly the old breeds were left behind for the more modern breeds, because economically they made more sense. The concerns were practical. They did not have the luxury of a love affair with nostalgia like we do today. These were not emotional decisions. The city folk did not care what breed produced those eggs or carcass. It was about a product, cost, and profit.

The breed that you have is a very commercial breed. It was in it's time, and usurped the competitors that came before it. For a time if it was not a NH, it was crossed with it. It was a quickly changing and evolving time. The breed came on fast, took over fast, and were left behind just as fast.

We do better to understand this time period concerning our hobby when we leave our emotions out of it. We tend to want to insert more than what was there. The majority of people then only cared about product and profit. If it was better, it was. If it was not, then it was not. The people then embraced progress. Progress put food on the table. Literally. Only today with our bellies full are we as inclined to get emotional about our food.

I am a bit nostalgic myself. I am not enthralled by this progress either. It does not care whether or not I am though. It will continue, and at some point there will be a correction. There is always a correction. The best that I can do is carve my little humble existence out as I am, until I am not.

Progress is a certainty in life, but also a bad word these days.

Thanks for the discussion.

 

[hellbender]

I'm more than a little bit disenchanted with all this rain. I know, I know...at least we won't be flooded and I am very glad about that. I started to type that we might as well be getting flooded too but I know better, having witnessed flooding on a grand scale and the population not only expected it but would have likely starved without the annual monsoon.

So...I'll stop crying about a little (whole lot) of rain.

 

[Ifish]

I'm more than a little bit disenchanted with all this rain. I know, I know...at least we won't be flooded and I am very glad about that. I started to type that we might as well be getting flooded too but I know better, having witnessed flooding on a grand scale and the population not only expected it but would have likely starved without the annual monsoon.

So...I'll stop crying about a little (whole lot) of rain.

I hear ya. The Garden is suffering bad here from the rain. Can't even get into it without sinking, can't pull weeds. Can't cut hay, wheat, and corn is turning yellow in the fields.

It's normally a balance of extremes, but this year has been nothing but extremes so far.

 

[JRNash]

Texas has allready exceeded it's yearly average rainfall. Unless something drastic changes with el Nino this will be one for the history books.It allready exceeds anything I can remember

 

[1FlewOver]

Texas has allready exceeded it's yearly average rainfall. Unless something drastic changes with el Nino this will be one for the history books.It allready exceeds anything I can remember

Yes....3trillion gallons of water in May alone....after 5 long years of drought....the first half of May was a blessing.....after that....it was just too much!

 

[hellbender]

Yes....3trillion gallons of water in May alone....after 5 long years of drought....the first half of May was a blessing.....after that....it was just too much!

I guess we gotta' be careful what we ask for.

 

[Beer can]

Here we doubled our monthly avg last month in rainfall.

 

[hellbender]

Here we doubled our monthly avg last month in rainfall.

Hope you got all you needed...??