BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[DesertChic]

5 acres of "sterile dirt and lots of rocks" won't get you much beef or bison but you could have more red meat than you ever wanted with muscovy ducks. They don't need much water, since they're a different species than other ducks. They make red meat. I have heard it tastes much like beef and can be eaten as a steak.

Look, this is muscovy meat:



Looks a lot like beef, doesn't it?

I love the taste of Muscovy! I've been threatening to get some Muscovy hatching eggs for a while but promised my husband "no more poultry" until I finish building all the runs. He helps when he can with the installation as the panels get pretty dang large and heavy for me to manage by myself, but I'm the builder in the family with very little time to build. I'm working on the final two right now and hope to have them done before the end of the month. Then....time to start planning for my next adventure, which will probably either be turkeys or Muscovies.....or aquaponics.

 

[Beer can]

First time I tried roasted wild Canadian goose breast they didn't tell me what it was. I thought it was venison Lol.
Makes great jerky also.

 

[DesertChic]

STRONGLY recommend the book "Growing food in a hotter drier land" by Gary Nabhan, who has a farm on the edge of the Sonoran desert. Describes a lot of land management techniques (including those 1000+ years old) that fit that setting, but are also somewhat cross applicable for me here in South Texas...

- Ant Farm

That is actually one of the books that started me on my path towards being self-sustaining. Unfortunately the very green thumb my mother had totally skipped over me and went to my son, who has no real interest in gardening now that puberty has set in. Learning to keep plants alive long enough to actually consume their "fruit" has been a rewarding challenge, though I'm actually finding it much easier to raise poultry than most produce. Luckily, most of the items I've had the greatest success growing happen to be things my chickens LOVE, and with our warm winters I can grow an abundance of greens for them all year long. And besides, I will never convince my husband or son to like kale. At least the chickens appreciate my efforts.

At least now that I have all these chickens I have natural producers of compost to use in my garden.

 

[cyborg]

That is actually one of the books that started me on my path towards being self-sustaining. Unfortunately the very green thumb my mother had totally skipped over me and went to my son, who has no real interest in gardening now that puberty has set in. Learning to keep plants alive long enough to actually consume their "fruit" has been a rewarding challenge, though I'm actually finding it much easier to raise poultry than most produce. Luckily, most of the items I've had the greatest success growing happen to be things my chickens LOVE, and with our warm winters I can grow an abundance of greens for them all year long. And besides, I will never convince my husband or son to like kale. At least the chickens appreciate my efforts.

At least now that I have all these chickens I have natural producers of compost to use in my garden.

I grow a lot of fruit trees (in containers). What does really well here is citrus of all kinds, but I also have figs, plums, apples and grapes. I use those blue plastic 55 gallon barrels cut in half, with some holes drilled in the bottom for drainage. Just about everything that I plant is edible, won't waste water on anything else.

 

[neopolitancrazy]

Greetings, all.

I want to update y'all on my Blue Laced Red Wyandotte project. In January I purchased 2 juvenile pairs, and began collecting and hatching eggs in February. Cockerel A with pullet 1 produced the "Blue" family of chicks, while cockerel B and pullet 2 produced the "Red" family of chicks.

The Blues had 50% hatch rate, have noticeably more width between their legs, and are heavier than the age and sex matched Reds. The Reds had a 75% hatch rate, but all the cross beaks, scoliosis, and seizures plus a heat-related death and what was either a hermaphrodite or a really ugly pullet. I will not repeat the red mating.

This coming hatching season, I will swap partners, (A2 and B1), call those families green and yellow, and grow out their chicks. I'll cull the very slow-feathering chicks out somewhat sooner, now that I expect them.

Best wishes to your upcoming breeding plans,
Angela

P.s. All the cockerels who spent their entire lives on 30% protein grew extra-long legs, like Langshans. The cockerels who spent some of the time between 4 and 12 weeks of age on 20% protein have normal leg length, so I will change all chicks to 20% feed at 4 weeks of age next year.

P.p.s. The cockerels are about 6 lbs and the pullets 5 lbs at six months. I think I am going to focus on improving weight gain and maintaining type and color until I get rid of the very slow feathering. I will focus on egg production again when their feathering/weight gain improves.

 

[DesertChic]

I grow a lot of fruit trees (in containers). What does really well here is citrus of all kinds, but I also have figs, plums, apples and grapes. I use those blue plastic 55 gallon barrels cut in half, with some holes drilled in the bottom for drainage. Just about everything that I plant is edible, won't waste water on anything else.

I definitely want to try the container fruit trees. I tried growing fig, apple and peach trees in our yard but they all just died off no matter how much water and compost I gave them. I've been thinking of growing some of the container fruit trees...and maybe some grapes... around the west side of one of my runs to provide some additional shade for the chickens. I never thought of using the 55 gallon barrels. Thanks for the tip!

Oh...do you think avocado and pomegranate would work as a container trees?

 

[dfr1973]

Greetings, all.

I want to update y'all on my Blue Laced Red Wyandotte project. In January I purchased 2 juvenile pairs, and began collecting and hatching eggs in February. Cockerel A with pullet 1 produced the "Blue" family of chicks, while cockerel B and pullet 2 produced the "Red" family of chicks.

The Blues had 50% hatch rate, have noticeably more width between their legs, and are heavier than the age and sex matched Reds. The Reds had a 75% hatch rate, but all the cross beaks, scoliosis, and seizures plus a heat-related death and what was either a hermaphrodite or a really ugly pullet. I will not repeat the red mating.

This coming hatching season, I will swap partners, (A2 and B1), call those families green and yellow, and grow out their chicks. I'll cull the very slow-feathering chicks out somewhat sooner, now that I expect them.

Best wishes to your upcoming breeding plans,
Angela

P.s. All the cockerels who spent their entire lives on 30% protein grew extra-long legs, like Langshans. The cockerels who spent some of the time between 4 and 12 weeks of age on 20% protein have normal leg length, so I will change all chicks to 20% feed at 4 weeks of age next year.

P.p.s. The cockerels are about 6 lbs and the pullets 5 lbs at six months. I think I am going to focus on improving weight gain and maintaining type and color until I get rid of the very slow feathering. I will focus on egg production again when their feathering/weight gain improves.

Interesting observations there. Judging from the results of the "red" hatch, either cockerel B or pullet 2 ... or more likely both! ... have some ugly recessive genes. I've also had long-legged cockerels here, though I didn't go above 24% protein chick feed. They did have more opportunity out of the tractor to hunt bugs and scratch around, and boy have the bugs been bad this year even with all the chickens in the yard. We couldn't even hang laundry this spring without getting at least one tick each time, which is why we are now growing out guinea fowl.

I'd be curious/interested in what weights you have at various ages, also what weights your breeders are as well.

 

[hellbender]

I definitely want to try the container fruit trees. I tried growing fig, apple and peach trees in our yard but they all just died off no matter how much water and compost I gave them. I've been thinking of growing some of the container fruit trees...and maybe some grapes... around the west side of one of my runs to provide some additional shade for the chickens. I never thought of using the 55 gallon barrels. Thanks for the tip!

Oh...do you think avocado and pomegranate would work as a container trees?

With your fruit trees...did you try to put a heavy layer of mulch in a hole that was just a bit deeper than called for and put a couple of layers of HEAVY perforated black weather-proof material over the heavy mulch around the base of the trees?

 

[gjensen]

Greetings, all.

I want to update y'all on my Blue Laced Red Wyandotte project. In January I purchased 2 juvenile pairs, and began collecting and hatching eggs in February. Cockerel A with pullet 1 produced the "Blue" family of chicks, while cockerel B and pullet 2 produced the "Red" family of chicks.

The Blues had 50% hatch rate, have noticeably more width between their legs, and are heavier than the age and sex matched Reds. The Reds had a 75% hatch rate, but all the cross beaks, scoliosis, and seizures plus a heat-related death and what was either a hermaphrodite or a really ugly pullet. I will not repeat the red mating.

This coming hatching season, I will swap partners, (A2 and B1), call those families green and yellow, and grow out their chicks. I'll cull the very slow-feathering chicks out somewhat sooner, now that I expect them.

Best wishes to your upcoming breeding plans,
Angela

P.s. All the cockerels who spent their entire lives on 30% protein grew extra-long legs, like Langshans. The cockerels who spent some of the time between 4 and 12 weeks of age on 20% protein have normal leg length, so I will change all chicks to 20% feed at 4 weeks of age next year.

P.p.s. The cockerels are about 6 lbs and the pullets 5 lbs at six months. I think I am going to focus on improving weight gain and maintaining type and color until I get rid of the very slow feathering. I will focus on egg production again when their feathering/weight gain improves.

Hey. Actual comments on actual breeding.

I do not like feed that is too hot either. I like that you are comparing, and taking mental notes etc. We can get pretty good at managing our own birds.

I purchased an Akbash dog recently, and was discussing their growth curve with a breeder yesterday. They did not know what I meant, so I explained it another way. It was interesting to note that they knew their dogs well enough to actually know, though they did not know it by name. They knew their dogs well enough to alter the feed according to this pattern of growth. Mainly to avoid feeding feed that was "too hot", and promoting leg problems. Knowing their animals and feeling out an ideal. It was all refreshing to hear.

Their needs and what is ideal does change with time. It is interesting to hear your observations with your own birds.

Even with poultry, they are the most efficient when they are at their best.

It is interesting to hear the markedly different results that you did realize with the different matings, and your plan to move forward.

Your plan with your experiences is a model for others to follow. To secure the best stock that we can. Something deep enough to start with. Either two pairs or one trio. Go in some different directions, and focus on what does work best.

Then you have narrowed your focus, which we have to do. And that can change from year to year, according to what we are seeing. Heck, sometimes we have to set a side pen up to work on something separate from the main effort. Not getting too complicated, but not to the neglect of something that we will pay for later either.

You will do well if you choose. I hope that others consider your example, and establish a model that aligns with these fundamentals. It is helpful for me to be reminded of them.

I am pleased with the Catalana project of mine. I held a dozen pullets, and a couple cockerels. This is the project line that I emphasized this year. I am pleased. I will go back to my original birds this spring. That may conclude the project. I am thinking that it will.
I am not sure how many I will use from this line. Four that I am certain of with surprisingly good type, and pretty good body color. If I had to guess now, 6-8.

I have neglected the originals to establish the above, other than establishing a respectable flock. I hope that I have not went too far, and that I will get enough hatched from them to catch them back up. I would like to get a couple respectable trios from them. That is all I need.

I hope to finally be on my way this coming year.

It has been interesting to work through all that it has required to just get started. The most rare and challenging breeds really should not be everyone's starting place. There really is value in considering a breed and variety in better shape, and simpler to start. There is nothing wrong with white Leghorns or Rocks. LOL.

 

[cyborg]

I definitely want to try the container fruit trees. I tried growing fig, apple and peach trees in our yard but they all just died off no matter how much water and compost I gave them. I've been thinking of growing some of the container fruit trees...and maybe some grapes... around the west side of one of my runs to provide some additional shade for the chickens. I never thought of using the 55 gallon barrels. Thanks for the tip!

Oh...do you think avocado and pomegranate would work as a container trees? 

I have a pomegranate in my yard (not in a container) that is alive, but I have a problem with it setting fruit. It flowers and starts to set, but the buds dry up and fall off before growing to any respectable size, I can't seem to give it enough water. It would probably do better in a container.
I used to live near Santa Barbara, Cal, where there are extensive avocado plantations in the coastal mountains. These trees do well, because of a constant cool, moist, onshore breeze. I haven't tried any avos, but suspect that they wouldn't do well here because the air is too hot and dry. Planting in containers or dirt wouldn't make much difference, but if you used a greenhouse where you could control the humidity, I think they would do well.

Another advantage to containerized trees, is the ability to move them around, to suit your tastes, or to provide the most advantageous microclimate for the tree.