BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[speney]

[COLOR=FF0000]Horrific trailer-park Avian Flu disaster [/COLOR]

I just laughed for about 10 minutes straight thank you I needed that

 

[AnthNDacula]

I've read that a hen can produce fertile eggs up to a month after breeding. How long should a hen be kept from a cock to insure she's not still producing his chicks? Conversely how long should she be with a new cock to start producing fertile eggs from him?

(PS Thanks for all the responses on my previous post asking about pair matings and wearing out the hens. There's a lot of good knowledge in this group.)

 

[hellbender]

I've read that a hen can produce fertile eggs up to a month after breeding. How long should a hen be kept from a cock to insure she's not still producing his chicks? Conversely how long should she be with a new cock to start producing fertile eggs from him?

(PS Thanks for all the responses on my previous post asking about pair matings and wearing out the hens. There's a lot of good knowledge in this group.)

Informed responses will surely follow.

And welcome to our thread.

 

[oshun55555]

Quote: Sure glad I am not the only that notices this, I breed them for meat and eggs being secondary. I cull the poorly patterned, but they still seem to crop up, if a poorly pattern DC is of good size and proportion then I would consider breeding her, like i said I raised my birds for food.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

I've read that a hen can produce fertile eggs up to a month after breeding. How long should a hen be kept from a cock to insure she's not still producing his chicks? Conversely how long should she be with a new cock to start producing fertile eggs from him?

(PS Thanks for all the responses on my previous post asking about pair matings and wearing out the hens. There's a lot of good knowledge in this group.)

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Well, I got up this morning, went outside, and was greeted by puffy unhappy looking Speckled Sussex chicks and blood on the bedding. Cocci.

Within about 15 minutes, they were all dosed with a strong dose of Amprol in their water (at 7 weeks they're fortunately still small enough for me to hold them and get them all to drink some). We're just past a damp cool week or so, so all chicken housing was due for refresh, but I only got the NH and NN pens done after work yesterday before it got dark, so the Sussex bedding refresh this AM turned into an entire bedding cleanout and replacement.

All this before I had brushed my teeth or even taken out my retainer! (Much less had any coffee.)

Finally finished, and got the Cream Legbar bedding refreshed while I was at it, and am FINALLY sitting down to my morning coffee at 11:30-ish. I was supposed to put the roof on the coop this morning - but I need a break before strapping on the tool belt.

They're all napping in the sun now. One SS in particularly looks more miserable than all the rest, so I think she's the one in danger. She got a couple good doses - she's walking around, and will drink, but I know this can go fast (they were fine yesterday from what I could tell), so I've got my fingers crossed that she'll get better throughout the day.

I think I need a nap...

- Ant Farm

 

[AnthNDacula]

Hi Everyone,

I guess I should have introduced myself before I jumped in with questions. I raise grass fed & finished beef and all natural pork outside of Atlanta. I've also always had chickens but really just big flappin' yardbirds... never anything SOP. I sell beef and pork and have sold nest eggs in the past but got tired of the eggs because of the heavy workload of coordinating customer pickups. I often spent as much time selling a $5 dozen eggs as I did selling a $500 share of beef. So I took off a couple of years from the chickens. Now I'm interested in going at it again... albeit from a different angle and am interested in working with White Dorkings and developing a sideline business on my farm of selling Christmas Capons. I'm hoping by spring to have the foundation of my breeding stock and a number of cockerels to practice on. Those practice birds will likely be something other than White Dorkings. With any luck I should have a trial run of 20 or so capons ready to sell next Christmas. So here I am hoping to learn all I can about "Breeding for Production...Eggs and or Meat". And am particularly hoping someone can answer my earlier questions about how long a hen has to be isolated from a cock to stop passing on his genes and how long a hen must be exposed to a new cock before her eggs start to be his. Thanks in advance for any input.

Happy Grazing,
Anthony

 

[ronott1]

I've read that a hen can produce fertile eggs up to a month after breeding. How long should a hen be kept from a cock to insure she's not still producing his chicks? Conversely how long should she be with a new cock to start producing fertile eggs from him?

(PS Thanks for all the responses on my previous post asking about pair matings and wearing out the hens. There's a lot of good knowledge in this group.)

You have pretty much answered your question with information in your question.

There are odd internet ideas out there about a new rooster cleaning out the sperm from the previous one but no, that does not work.

It is a percentage game actually. For the first two weeks, the eggs will be fertilized close to 50\50 between the two cocks. After that, the percentage for the previous bird will go down until sometime after the 30 days. You can still get an odd egg fertilized for a week or so after that though.

It really depends on how critical it is to you to have pure offspring. IF it is not that critical go with 30 days. If not, go longer.

 

[hellbender]

Hi Everyone,

I guess I should have introduced myself before I jumped in with questions. I raise grass fed & finished beef and all natural pork outside of Atlanta. I've also always had chickens but really just big flappin' yardbirds... never anything SOP. I sell beef and pork and have sold nest eggs in the past but got tired of the eggs because of the heavy workload of coordinating customer pickups. I often spent as much time selling a $5 dozen eggs as I did selling a $500 share of beef. So I took off a couple of years from the chickens. Now I'm interested in going at it again... albeit from a different angle and am interested in working with White Dorkings and developing a sideline business on my farm of selling Christmas Capons. I'm hoping by spring to have the foundation of my breeding stock and a number of cockerels to practice on. Those practice birds will likely be something other than White Dorkings. With any luck I should have a trial run of 20 or so capons ready to sell next Christmas. So here I am hoping to learn all I can about "Breeding for Production...Eggs and or Meat". And am particularly hoping someone can answer my earlier questions about how long a hen has to be isolated from a cock to stop passing on his genes and how long a hen must be exposed to a new cock before her eggs start to be his. Thanks in advance for any input.

Happy Grazing,
Anthony

Anthony, I could easily answer your query with dispatch but it would seem cold and detached. I would hope you could just a bit more patient and someone will come on here and give you the answers with details and caveats.

See, just like I said and Ronott was typing at the same time as I.

 

[ronott1]

Anthony, I could easily answer your query with dispatch but it would seem cold and detached. I would hope you could just a bit more patient and someone will come on here and give you the answers with details and caveats.

See, just like I said and Ronott was typing at the same time as I.

That happens so often!

Thanks for starting this thread and keeping it going too!