BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[stryker]

Hatching question, but also sort of related to Buckeye's egg shape question as well: My Cream Legbar pullets have been laying since Oct/Nov (and yes, were wormed before POL), and while most eggs are quite normal and lovely (some rounder than others), occasionally, as the eggs get larger and larger, they are sometimes pointy at one end or not a "perfect" egg shape. Not all the time, and usually when they take a jump in size.

I will be hatching from these girls this spring - my first time. Any tips on egg shapes that lead to poor outcomes, hatch-wise?

- Ant Farm

If you are referring to legbar hens, I have three and on their second year they lay a nice size large to extra large egg.

 

[stryker]

Town past where I work, Downsville NY, Triple M Ranch raises a cool hybrid. They raise pure Watusi cattle and Texas Longhorns and have a cross for sale also. They own a restaurant/Inn in town and serve them up. Pretty impressive animals, they have them on a mountain they clear cut yrs ago across the road above the high school. Wish I could find a pic of the mountain, it's steep, they must use those massive horns to balance and not fall all the way to the bottom Lol!


One of their longhorn cows was featured on Fox and Friends, http://video.foxnews.com/v/4360118/after-the-show-show-chicken-and-longhorns/
Spent too much time talking to Larry Gatlin and the Hooters girls, Longhorn only made a short appearance at the end.

I just watched the clip. Very impressive.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

If you are referring to legbar hens, I have three and on their second year they lay a nice size large to extra large egg.

Yep, and mine are working their way up to Large/XL eggs as well - most are nice roundish or normal egg-shaped, but an occasional one will have a point on the end, and I was just wondering if that was harder for a chick to hatch out of...

- Ant Farm

 

[stryker]

That is a good question. I would like to also know.

 

[NanaKat]

They do lay a lot of eggs, and at 6 weeks. Mine took a break for winter and are laying again now.

Yep, females can be housed 2 per square foot, and the pens only need to be 8 inches to a foot tall, so they can be stacked easily. They start laying around 6 weeks, 8 for late bloomers, fully grown at 12 weeks.

Lifespan? Can you direct me to a particularly good thread with the basics of quail, or should I just search...

(POULTRY MATH!!!!!!!!!)

- Ant Farm 

I raise Coturnix quail...have about 80 right now....2 cocks with each 8 hens in stackable cages and freezer camp pens of all males. They begin laying at 7 weeks...prolifically. Getting about 100 eggs every three days. Make great pickled eggs. Hard to crack the thin small shells...so I boil with vinegar in the water and they are easier to peel. Or crack the big end of a raw egg and peel open the end. Hatch rate is about 25 to 40 % on about day 16...about equal males to females. Skin is fragile so we skin them instead of plucking and can pack 4 to 6 into a quart zip bag. They eat layer pellets, weeds and scratch..love to walk in their water containers. Pick the biggest birds for the breed pens. I've had some of the breeders now for two years.

 

[AnthNDacula]

On the topic of small eggs (quail, bantam, etc.) I've had bantam eggs in the past, and they sold fairly well. I listed them on my farm store sign as "cocktail eggs" and when people asked about them I suggested them as appetizers (boiled, cut in half, topped with a dollop of mayonnaise and everything from capers to caviar). They were also popular with people who wanted to control their portion sizes and for children who were overwhelmed by a large egg. Give a kid a dozen tiny eggs and the parents will be back every week to buy more. I knew of several children who wouldn't touch a large egg but thought the baby eggs were so cute they couldn't help but eat them. The cocktail eggs accounted for only a sliver of my egg sales, but I sold two or three dozen each week for $3/dozen. I don't think bantam eggs would make much of a business but can bring in a a few bucks as an add on sale... especially if your chicken math is out of control and you need to do something with those eggs.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

I raise Coturnix quail...have about 80 right now....2 cocks with each 8 hens in stackable cages and freezer camp pens of all males. They begin laying at 7 weeks...prolifically. Getting about 100 eggs every three days. Make great pickled eggs. Hard to crack the thin small shells...so I boil with vinegar in the water and they are easier to peel. Or crack the big end of a raw egg and peel open the end. Hatch rate is about 25 to 40 % on about day 16...about equal males to females. Skin is fragile so we skin them instead of plucking and can pack 4 to 6 into a quart zip bag. They eat layer pellets, weeds and scratch..love to walk in their water containers. Pick the biggest birds for the breed pens. I've had some of the breeders now for two years.

This is extremely helpful - and is very, very tempting! And I love pickling and canning...

On the topic of small eggs (quail, bantam, etc.) I've had bantam eggs in the past, and they sold fairly well. I listed them on my farm store sign as "cocktail eggs" and when people asked about them I suggested them as appetizers (boiled, cut in half, topped with a dollop of mayonnaise and everything from capers to caviar). They were also popular with people who wanted to control their portion sizes and for children who were overwhelmed by a large egg. Give a kid a dozen tiny eggs and the parents will be back every week to buy more. I knew of several children who wouldn't touch a large egg but thought the baby eggs were so cute they couldn't help but eat them. The cocktail eggs accounted for only a sliver of my egg sales, but I sold two or three dozen each week for $3/dozen. I don't think bantam eggs would make much of a business but can bring in a a few bucks as an add on sale... especially if your chicken math is out of control and you need to do something with those eggs.

You know, the reason I asked is that I was at a work-related dinner a couple nights ago and someone at the table got quail, and the side dish had a little fried quail egg on top of it. I found the size so very appealing!!!!

- Ant Farm

 

[stryker]

We use to fry quail eggs up and put one between two crackers. They were good..

 

[napdognewfie]

I like to pickle them in beet juice. The color goes all the way through and turns the yolk pink. Very pretty.

 

[dfr1973]

First Silkie chick hatched last night before we went to bed - a little blue! I awoke before dawn when the first Wyandotte chick hatched out - they are much louder than the Silkie babies. Several pipped, more than half a dozen out and dry. I originally set 42 eggs, pulled 12 clears at the day 10 candling, and none quit so all 30 remaining ones set for hatching. Here's hoping for a good hatch rate! The GLWs are Azar x the Pretties from Cackle Hatchery - they have me swamped in eggs! A seriously good laying group.