BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[ChickenCanoe]

I use colored zip ties till they're big enough for #7 bandettes.

 

[AnthNDacula]

I love following this group. I seem to learn something new every time I read the posts. Sometimes I do get confused though when people use acronyms. I really do want to know what your BRXTYZ is. It certainly saves on time to use the acronym, but unless the names are written out at least once I am just FUBARed. (10 points to anyone who knows what that means but please don't write it out here.

There may be children spying on us.) So thanks in advance to anyone who will spell out their breed names at least once in their posting/conversation.

PS BRXTYX is a made up acronym referring to no actual breed of chicken.

PPS No actual chickens were harmed in the writing of this post.

 

[neopolitancrazy]

My "management system" is a work in progress, with hard limits imposed by the size of my store-bought brooder, (holds 25 four-week chicks,) and our appetite for home-grown chicken, (50 grown birds/year.) The soft limits are my husband's willingness to donate labor and my own free time/money/energy. My tiny flock is now large enough to use the mating system where a cockerel is put over hens, and a cock over pullets, with an extra cock who threw some chicks last year that really packed on a lot more flesh at earlier ages. We don't need more than 6 laying hens for the 2 of us.

It has occurred to me that culling Cornish-game-hen-sized juveniles would increase the number of chicks my system can absorb, as would selling cull pullets. (I have tried giving away extra birds, with unsatisfactory results.) This year I am strongly considering culling ~50% of the pullets and 90% of the cockerels at 8 weeks, and focusing primarily on egg production until egg size/shape, winter laying, and early POL/rapid molting are well set in my flock. I could also improve early weight gain in both sexes. As my husband constructs more mobile tractors, (aka grow-out pens,) I can select for more of the later-manifesting traits. I hope that selling cull POL pullets will be more gratifying and cost-effective than gifting them.

Angela

 

[DesertChic]

OK, 25 out of 30 eggs hatched in the Hovabator, and 4 out of 6 out with the Silkiebators. I toe punched the Wyandottes, but will need to check to see if any closed up. The web on the little Silkie feet just looked too small to my eye, so that will be even more fun next week when I steal them out of the nests at night to toe punch them as well (so I can see which cockerel throws the larger chicks). All 25 inside-hatched chicks are now under the Silkies - we have a freeze warning for tonight now!

The inside hatch.

Congratulations! Adorable chicks!

 

[dfr1973]

You can mark their heads with nail polish until they are big enough to band/punch.
Congratulations! Nice hatch.

Thanks. (You also DesertChic) They are a bouncy bunch ... then again, they really do need to be pretty strong and vigorous to get out of the shells! The Silkies in particular have been laying strong-shelled eggs, enough so hubby noticed. I actually do not own any nail polish, believe it or not. LOL I may just need to make sure only one cross hatches in one main area at a time (outside vs inside vs which set of broodies, etc).

I need to be careful I don't hatch faster than hubby can build ...

 

[RiddleMe]

... I am just FUBARed.  (10 points to anyone who knows what that means but please don't write it out here.   There may be children spying on us)

I will claim my ten points, up beyond all reason.

 

[AnthNDacula]

My "management system" is a work in progress, with hard limits imposed by the size of my store-bought brooder, (holds 25 four-week chicks,) and our appetite for home-grown chicken, (50 grown birds/year.) The soft limits are my husband's willingness to donate labor and my own free time/money/energy. My tiny flock is now large enough to use the mating system where a cockerel is put over hens, and a cock over pullets, with an extra cock who threw some chicks last year that really packed on a lot more flesh at earlier ages. We don't need more than 6 laying hens for the 2 of us.

It has occurred to me that culling Cornish-game-hen-sized juveniles would increase the number of chicks my system can absorb, as would selling cull pullets. (I have tried giving away extra birds, with unsatisfactory results.) This year I am strongly considering culling ~50% of the pullets and 90% of the cockerels at 8 weeks, and focusing primarily on egg production until egg size/shape, winter laying, and early POL/rapid molting are well set in my flock. I could also improve early weight gain in both sexes. As my husband constructs more mobile tractors, (aka grow-out pens,) I can select for more of the later-manifesting traits. I hope that selling cull POL pullets will be more gratifying and cost-effective than gifting them.

Angela

Hi Angela,

I've found that giving farm products away is... less than satisfying. Those people want you to kill, dress, and cook the chicken on the night they want to eat it, or it will sit in their fridge and rot. Sorry to sound so negative but people only seem to appreciate things they pay a lot for. I've also learned not to give bargain prices on my farm products. People looking for a bargain will tell you what's wrong with it to try and get it cheaper. People who pay a high price thank you for your effort and commitment to local farming. Based on that I quit putting signs in front of my farm and on my truck years ago. Invariably anyone who drops by out of curiosity wants two hours of my time for free. Most of my customers come from LocalHarvest.org where they can search for local farms by zip code. I have built up an e-mail list of over 1600 people over the last 10 years and probably half are from that website. You can make a page for you farm there with pictures and descriptions of what you have and how you sell it. I think I pay $25 a year for the service, and it has paid for itself thousands of times over. There are people within a mile of me with a sign in their yard selling eggs for $3/dozen, but I charge $6 and am raising my price in May. My beef and pork bring top dollar as well, but almost none of my customers are neighbors/friends. Real customers find me on the internet. On the very rare occasion I get "price negotiators" anymore they are immediately dropped from my mailing list, and I write "black ball" in front of their name in my address book, so I know not to respond to further contacts. But again I'm sorry for the rant... I guess I'm just touchy about people who want Champagne for beer prices... oh forget that... they want it for free!
Anthonuy

 

[gjensen]

My "management system" is a work in progress, with hard limits imposed by the size of my store-bought brooder, (holds 25 four-week chicks,) and our appetite for home-grown chicken, (50 grown birds/year.) The soft limits are my husband's willingness to donate labor and my own free time/money/energy. My tiny flock is now large enough to use the mating system where a cockerel is put over hens, and a cock over pullets, with an extra cock who threw some chicks last year that really packed on a lot more flesh at earlier ages. We don't need more than 6 laying hens for the 2 of us.

It has occurred to me that culling Cornish-game-hen-sized juveniles would increase the number of chicks my system can absorb, as would selling cull pullets. (I have tried giving away extra birds, with unsatisfactory results.) This year I am strongly considering culling ~50% of the pullets and 90% of the cockerels at 8 weeks, and focusing primarily on egg production until egg size/shape, winter laying, and early POL/rapid molting are well set in my flock. I could also improve early weight gain in both sexes. As my husband constructs more mobile tractors, (aka grow-out pens,) I can select for more of the later-manifesting traits. I hope that selling cull POL pullets will be more gratifying and cost-effective than gifting them.

Angela

I do not like selling birds, but I do sell pullets locally. I did not have to advertise any last year. People get to know you as a source of birds. These are not necessarily POL pullets. The only criteria is do I have any available to part with, and are they culls? So many come that you have to turn some around. It puts some pressure on me to put some pressure on them.

I would rather sell them before they reach POL. I picked up from a friend that selling them younger is better. People will pay as much for an 8wk old bird as they will a 16wk old bird.

Gifting them is paying for them to take them. Getting back the cost of feed is gifting them the bird.

I started killing and eating 8-10wk old birds. My birds have enough on them for a meal (for one) then. I split them and put them on the grill. We have five people in our home, so over three weeks can cull and eat 15 cockerels if grilled on Saturdays. I kill them, skin them, clean them, wash them, and throw them on the grill. It is quick and easy. I will also give my dogs a few raw over a few weeks. Finally @ 12-14wks, as a family, there is the big cull. We pluck these.

My point is that though I may hatch 160 +, I do not grow out that many. They are being culled so fast that you would never think I hatched that many unless you counted the chicks as they hatched. The most that I have hatched for a breed is a little over 200. Even then, I did not grow out more than 40 to adulthood.

The idea is to always be looking for a reason to kill them. The best birds never give you a reason to kill them.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

My "management system" is a work in progress, with hard limits imposed by the size of my store-bought brooder, (holds 25 four-week chicks,) and our appetite for home-grown chicken, (50 grown birds/year.) The soft limits are my husband's willingness to donate labor and my own free time/money/energy. My tiny flock is now large enough to use the mating system where a cockerel is put over hens, and a cock over pullets, with an extra cock who threw some chicks last year that really packed on a lot more flesh at earlier ages. We don't need more than 6 laying hens for the 2 of us.

It has occurred to me that culling Cornish-game-hen-sized juveniles would increase the number of chicks my system can absorb, as would selling cull pullets. (I have tried giving away extra birds, with unsatisfactory results.) This year I am strongly considering culling ~50% of the pullets and 90% of the cockerels at 8 weeks, and focusing primarily on egg production until egg size/shape, winter laying, and early POL/rapid molting are well set in my flock. I could also improve early weight gain in both sexes. As my husband constructs more mobile tractors, (aka grow-out pens,) I can select for more of the later-manifesting traits. I hope that selling cull POL pullets will be more gratifying and cost-effective than gifting them.

Angela

I do not like selling birds, but I do sell pullets locally. I did not have to advertise any last year. People get to know you as a source of birds. These are not necessarily POL pullets. The only criteria is do I have any available to part with, and are they culls? So many come that you have to turn some around. It puts some pressure on me to put some pressure on them.

I would rather sell them before they reach POL. I picked up from a friend that selling them younger is better. People will pay as much for an 8wk old bird as they will a 16wk old bird.

Gifting them is paying for them to take them. Getting back the cost of feed is gifting them the bird.

I started killing and eating 8-10wk old birds. My birds have enough on them for a meal (for one) then. I split them and put them on the grill. We have five people in our home, so over three weeks can cull and eat 15 cockerels if grilled on Saturdays. I kill them, skin them, clean them, wash them, and throw them on the grill. It is quick and easy. I will also give my dogs a few raw over a few weeks. Finally @ 12-14wks, as a family, there is the big cull. We pluck these.

My point is that though I may hatch 160 +, I do not grow out that many. They are being culled so fast that you would never think I hatched that many unless you counted the chicks as they hatched. The most that I have hatched for a breed is a little over 200. Even then, I did not grow out more than 40 to adulthood.

The idea is to always be looking for a reason to kill them. The best birds never give you a reason to kill them.

As always, another useful and timely discussion, as I am currently thinking about my own limits as I look toward my very first hatch, for which I will set eggs soon. I am resigned to cull some at hatch or right after - that will be a whole new thing to learn (emotionally). Among the Naked Neck hatches, this would be any fully feathered babies. Folks who do more serious breeding, esp. including coloring, often discuss how it is important to grow out chickens long enough (including through the molts to see what final coloring will be), but I will likely cull as many as I can at 12-14 weeks like I did this year. Even if/when I get lots of pens set up, it's too much time and effort to have a lot growing out at the older ages (and too much noise if the boys start all crowing in chorus). Maybe one day when I retire and buy lots of land...

- Ant Farm

 

[gjensen]

As always, another useful and timely discussion, as I am currently thinking about my own limits as I look toward my very first hatch, for which I will set eggs soon. I am resigned to cull some at hatch or right after - that will be a whole new thing to learn (emotionally). Among the Naked Neck hatches, this would be any fully feathered babies. Folks who do more serious breeding, esp. including coloring, often discuss how it is important to grow out chickens long enough (including through the molts to see what final coloring will be), but I will likely cull as many as I can at 12-14 weeks like I did this year. Even if/when I get lots of pens set up, it's too much time and effort to have a lot growing out at the older ages (and too much noise if the boys start all crowing in chorus). Maybe one day when I retire and buy lots of land...

- Ant Farm

Culling is from the beginning and until the end. Literally. The start is not setting undersized and off shaped eggs in the incubator. Then runts and unthrifty chicks etc.

No breeder grows all of their birds, all of the way, all of the time. That would make no sense at all. If there is reason to cull them early, then there is reason to cull them early. If there is no reason, then they are culled late.

We cannot fully evaluate the type or color until they are fully developed. That is not to say that there is not a lot that can be evaluated before. Especially, once we know our birds. Once you know them especially well, you can spot many things, very early. At the same time, the more uniform the stock is, the longer it takes to tell for the majority.

When selecting breeders, be very careful not to cull your best birds. Some will surprise you late in their development. There should always be a percentage retained for the final evaluation.

You cull for many things at different times. The final selection is made once the prospective breeders are finished and fully developed. There is a point where different strains obtain their "finish". It is up to you to find when that is.