BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[draye]

Nothing here.

 

[cyborg]

How are you Black Jersey Giants handling this heat? I've wondered about them out here. (I live in Green Valley, AZ).

I'm about 10 miles west of Marana. The last weekend was 110+ all weekend, and the Jerseys handled it fine.

 

[hellbender]

Sorry about the late response. I stepped away for a couple days and suddenly there are 115 new posts.

I separated them around 12 weeks. It was a little later than I'd planned, but I hadn't finished building the last two pens in my cabin yet. Today I had to separate one of the cockerels from the other three as they were picking at him non-stop, three to one. He's the largest of the cockerels, but seems to be developing much more slowly than they are. His wattles are quite small, his comb is smaller and he hasn't started to crow yet, but he's got the saddle and neck feathers of a cockerel. Honestly I've spent weeks trying to figure out if it's a male or female and finally decided it's a male, but now I'm wondering if it's a masculinated female or some other anomaly.

I wouldn't mess with it...eat the thing.

 

[JRNash]

Yummmy in the tummy

 

[Beer can]

I'm not sure who to trust other than myself. Migratory birds seem to be the carriers but why arent they dying or dead already? We have so many critters and birds in the area that I cant keep up with them. We took down the bird feeders after the fact but still have birds eating what they can steal from within the run areas. Chipmunks galore and squirels also. Thankfully nothing has hit the Michigan borders as yet. Why is that? Its almost like some certain areas have been targeted!

Nothing in NY either, but close in Canada. Good point, you'd think we'd see wild fowl dying by the thousands. I know they are not in close quarters, but they are aren't they? Geese and ducks flock together.....
Yeah, dang birds steal my chickens feed, and red squirrels and chipmunks, pellet rifle has been busy but ineffective....

 

[Our Roost]

I've watched documentaries on Tv regarding bird migration patterns. You can almost bank on a flight path of where they are going and have been and when they will return. Unless there is a natural disaster, they are quite repetitive of their routes. To me that means the diseased birds can be tracked to where the problem is generally coming from. Their habitat must have somehow changed for them to become a virus carrier. We never know what nature is going to saddle us with. I can only imagine that the DNR in many of our states are taking this very seriously but the communication to the public is sketchy at best. I wish we were more informed on how to deal with it so we could better protect our stock.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Okay, what breed do you have that loves fire ants, because most of my birds completely ignore the dang things and I've got ant hills all over the place. I'd be willing to take on another breed just to get one that will feed on the ants!

Cream legbars. duluthralphie refers to them as roadrunners, not a bad comparison. (They are fast and they fly!) Other folks who have them say they love fire ants as well, so it's not just me. One person had them clear her whole yard of mounds when she started letting them roam, I think (if I correctly recall the thread that was on - it gets a little scrambled in my head sometimes). For what it's worth, they seem to have done fairly ok in the heat here without too many heroic steps (just being in shade and having ice in the water and a pan of cool water to stand in in the afternoons) - I haven't had to mist or spray anyone off or rescue anyone. But they haven't been above 104F yet, so YMMV.

- Ant Farm

 

[hellbender]

I've watched documentaries on Tv regarding bird migration patterns. You can almost bank on a flight path of where they are going and have been and when they will return. Unless there is a natural disaster, they are quite repetitive of their routes. To me that means the diseased birds can be tracked to where the problem is generally coming from. Their habitat must have somehow changed for them to become a virus carrier. We never know what nature is going to saddle us with. I can only imagine that the DNR in many of our states are taking this very seriously but the communication to the public is sketchy at best. I wish we were more informed on how to deal with it so we could better protect our stock.

The powers that be will say, when cornered, that witholding information is for our own protection... like we're all children

I've watched documentaries on Tv regarding bird migration patterns. You can almost bank on a flight path of where they are going and have been and when they will return. Unless there is a natural disaster, they are quite repetitive of their routes. To me that means the diseased birds can be tracked to where the problem is generally coming from. Their habitat must have somehow changed for them to become a virus carrier. We never know what nature is going to saddle us with. I can only imagine that the DNR in many of our states are taking this very seriously but the communication to the public is sketchy at best. I wish we were more informed on how to deal with it so we could better protect our stock.

Cream legbars. duluthralphie refers to them as roadrunners, not a bad comparison. (They are fast and they fly!) Other folks who have them say they love fire ants as well, so it's not just me. One person had them clear her whole yard of mounds when she started letting them roam, I think (if I correctly recall the thread that was on - it gets a little scrambled in my head sometimes). For what it's worth, they seem to have done fairly ok in the heat here without too many heroic steps (just being in shade and having ice in the water and a pan of cool water to stand in in the afternoons) - I haven't had to mist or spray anyone off or rescue anyone. But they haven't been above 104F yet, so YMMV.

- Ant Farm

We have fine-spray misters set up on three of our grow-out pens but have only felt obligated to use them two days so far this year.

 

[DesertChic]

I wouldn't mess with it...eat the thing.

Yep! That's the plan. I'll determine gender while butchering it. I just want it to gain a little more weight first.

 

[DesertChic]

Cream legbars. duluthralphie refers to them as roadrunners, not a bad comparison. (They are fast and they fly!) Other folks who have them say they love fire ants as well, so it's not just me. One person had them clear her whole yard of mounds when she started letting them roam, I think (if I correctly recall the thread that was on - it gets a little scrambled in my head sometimes). For what it's worth, they seem to have done fairly ok in the heat here without too many heroic steps (just being in shade and having ice in the water and a pan of cool water to stand in in the afternoons) - I haven't had to mist or spray anyone off or rescue anyone. But they haven't been above 104F yet, so YMMV.

- Ant Farm

The powers that be will say, when cornered, that witholding information is for our own protection... like we're all children


We have fine-spray misters set up on three of our grow-out pens but have only felt obligated to use them two days so far this year.

It hit 111 with 42% humidity here last Saturday. Even my Naked Necks said "enough already!". I spent a lot of time trying to help overheated birds and thankfully haven't lost any. I'm looking forward to autumn.