BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[CanadianBuckeye]

Thanks- 2 great recipes to try! Simple is good.

 

[lpatelski]

I just put 14 eggs worth of F2 & F1 generations into the incubator. Hatch date 2/10/16.

The mixes are:
9.5 pound Redmen over 8 pound Lavenia

1/2 Dark Cornish 1/2 Cornish Roaster Redmen over the same mixed pullet "Lavenia". Same father different hens. Should net 25% Dark Cornish type, 50% 1/2 & 1/2 type, 25% Cornish Roaster type. Growth rate all over the map from fast to semi fast to slow.

Next cross is 11 pound Bob over 10 pound Betty:
X
1/2 Dark Cornish 1/2 Cornish Roaster "Bob" over Cornish Roaster hen "Betty". Not directly Related. Hens were from the same place( Murray McMurray). Should be 1/4 Dark Cornish 3/4 Cornish Roaster. Semi fast growing white. Faster than my 1/2 & 1/2 crosses.


Next cross is 11 pound Bob over 7.5 pound Marion:
X
1/2 Dark Cornish 1/2 Cornish Roaster "Bob" over Pure Dark Cornish hen"Marion". Should net 3/4 Dark Cornish 1/4 Cornish Roaster. Semi Slow Grow type. Most likely will be red/black/white or red/black

And my Pure dark Cornish 12 pound BamBam over 7.5 pound Guinevere:
X

100% LF Dark Cornish. Slow growth

Fingers crossed. I rotate my eggs into the incubator every six days/candle every six days. After 18 days they are moved out to the still incubator to hatch. Works for me. I am looking forward to this year's hatch!

 

[DesertChic]

Fire ant farm- good luck! How many did you set?

I have a couple of frozen whole tilapia in the freezer- anybody have any advice regarding how I should cook them? We don't have a barbecue.
Tilapia is one of my favourite fish. Unfortunately it's just too cold here to grow them commercially.

Our favorite Tilapia recipe requires just a little salt and pepper and a quick 10 minute bake at 400º F and then coated with a mixture of melted butter + lemon juice + capers.


Right now the AZ Game & Fish isn't making any distinction between various breeds of Tilapia but they're "considering" making exceptions for aquaponics. I have a mix of Mozambique and Red Nile Tilapia. Other edible fish options include Trout and Bass, but those do better in colder climates or in the wintertime, Catfish and Pacu. I honestly don't know about Bluegill. Non-edible fish include Goldfish and Koi. I have also heard of people using shrimp and crayfish, but with mixed results. It's been recommended to me to include some kind of standard fish rather than going solely with a crustacean.

I did add about 4 dozen feeder goldfish to the tank (it's a 300 gallon tank) and the 16 Tilapia I now have are very much enjoying their sushi. I have a separate aquarium ready to be set up for Tilapia fry, and one of my employees is so excited by our aquaponics setup that he wants to go catch some Catfish from one of the small nearby lakes and add them to our tank. (I have really good employees.) And today I transplanted the first of the seedlings I started over a month ago - two varieties of tomato, broccoli, butternut squash, black beans, shelling peas, Royal Burgundy bush beans, sugar snap peas, Toscana kale, Freckles Romaine lettuce, and rainbow chard. Tomorrow I'll add cucumbers, spinach and herbs and keep my fingers crossed.

@Fire Ant Farm I know that some of the fish hatcheries sell male-only Tilapia, but that kind of defeats the purpose of being self-sustaining, in my opinion. Besides, Tilapia do occasionally switch gender in a single gender environment, so I suspect that Game & Fish won't put much weight on single gender purchases.

 

[DesertChic]

I just put 14 eggs worth of F2 & F1 generations into the incubator. Hatch date 2/10/16.

The mixes are:
9.5 pound Redmen over 8 pound Lavenia

1/2 Dark Cornish 1/2 Cornish Roaster Redmen over the same mixed pullet "Lavenia". Same father different hens. Should net 25% Dark Cornish type, 50% 1/2 & 1/2 type, 25% Cornish Roaster type. Growth rate all over the map from fast to semi fast to slow.

Next cross is 11 pound Bob over 10 pound Betty:
X
1/2 Dark Cornish 1/2 Cornish Roaster "Bob" over Cornish Roaster hen "Betty". Not directly Related. Hens were from the same place( Murray McMurray). Should be 1/4 Dark Cornish 3/4 Cornish Roaster. Semi fast growing white. Faster than my 1/2 & 1/2 crosses.


Next cross is 11 pound Bob over 7.5 pound Marion:
X
1/2 Dark Cornish 1/2 Cornish Roaster "Bob" over Pure Dark Cornish hen"Marion". Should net 3/4 Dark Cornish 1/4 Cornish Roaster. Semi Slow Grow type. Most likely will be red/black/white or red/black

And my Pure dark Cornish 12 pound BamBam over 7.5 pound Guinevere:
X

100% LF Dark Cornish. Slow growth

Fingers crossed. I rotate my eggs into the incubator every six days/candle every six days. After 18 days they are moved out to the still incubator to hatch. Works for me. I am looking forward to this year's hatch!

I seriously want some Dark Cornish to cross with my NNs.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Thanks- 2 great recipes to try! Simple is good.

OK, the more thorough version (derived form two different recipes, then simplified):

Serves 4

For 4 servings, combine 2T olive oil, 2T lime juice, 1/4 tsp salt, and ground black pepper in a ziplock and mix well. Put in 4 tilapia filets, remove as much air as possible and seal, and allow to marinate for 20 minutes (turn and flop around some to ensure all filets are coated).

Meanwhile, get toppings/fixins/wrappings ready:

sauce:
Mix 1/2 cup greek yogurt (or thick strained homemade plain yogurt) with 2 Tbsp chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (the stuff out of a little can). Add salt to taste (You can make this ahead so flavors marry, even doubling it, keep in fridge.) (Original recipe recommend adding 2 Tbsp mayo as well - I skip that, keeps better and still tastes good to me).

toppings:
1-1/2 cups shredded green cabbage
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves (or more if you like cilantro

taco wraps:
Get out and warm 3 small flour tortillas per fillet (you can also skip the shredded cabbage and use a cabbage leaf as a wrap instead of the tortilla)

Heat a nonstick pan to medium/medium high and cook the tilapia until done (should only take a few minutes). Cool a few minutes, then flake the fish. Put a little sauce into the wrap of your choice, then add fish, then toppings. Eat. Enjoy!

This is my adaptation - my favorite way to eat tilapia. Easily messed around with to get it the way you like it.

- Ant Farm

 

[DesertChic]

OK, the more thorough version (derived form two different recipes, then simplified):

Serves 4

For 4 servings, combine 2T olive oil, 2T lime juice, 1/4 tsp salt, and ground black pepper in a ziplock and mix well. Put in 4 tilapia filets, remove as much air as possible and seal, and allow to marinate for 20 minutes (turn and flop around some to ensure all filets are coated).

Meanwhile, get toppings/fixins/wrappings ready:

sauce:
Mix 1/2 cup greek yogurt (or thick strained homemade plain yogurt) with 2 Tbsp chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (the stuff out of a little can). Add salt to taste (You can make this ahead so flavors marry, even doubling it, keep in fridge.) (Original recipe recommend adding 2 Tbsp mayo as well - I skip that, keeps better and still tastes good to me).

toppings:
1-1/2 cups shredded green cabbage
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves (or more if you like cilantro

taco wraps:
Get out and warm 3 small flour tortillas per fillet (you can also skip the shredded cabbage and use a cabbage leaf as a wrap instead of the tortilla)

Heat a nonstick pan to medium/medium high and cook the tilapia until done (should only take a few minutes). Cool a few minutes, then flake the fish. Put a little sauce into the wrap of your choice, then add fish, then toppings. Eat. Enjoy!

This is my adaptation - my favorite way to eat tilapia. Easily messed around with to get it the way you like it.

- Ant Farm

Now THAT sounds like a nice fish taco recipe!

Needless to say I'll be keeping this recipe and trying it as soon as my fish are big enough to harvest and eat.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

@Fire Ant Farm I know that some of the fish hatcheries sell male-only Tilapia, but that kind of defeats the purpose of being self-sustaining, in my opinion. Besides, Tilapia do occasionally switch gender in a single gender environment, so I suspect that Game & Fish won't put much weight on single gender purchases.

Yeah, that's what I meant about that not always working. And I wouldn't do it either - I would want to be able to make baby fish...

But it shows up in the discussions sometimes...

- Ant Farm

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Now THAT sounds like a nice fish taco recipe!

Needless to say I'll be keeping this recipe and trying it as soon as my fish are big enough to harvest and eat.

It's a simplified combination of an Ellie Krieger recipe and an Alton Brown recipe - I think you can find them both on Food Network still under recipes. I compulsively save recipes I find that I like, since sometimes stuff gets pulled down if a book is published. It's closest to the Ellie Krieger recipe. the Alton Brown one is good, but more fussy than necessary IMHO.

- Ant Farm

Edit to add: The cabbage leaf wrap option is really excellent and tasty if you either want to reduce processed carbs or just don't have tortillas on hand.

 

[Beer can]

@DesertChic I always threw bluegill in the bushes when I caught them, or rotted them down for liquid fertilizer, I was after yellow perch. Then I had someone tell me they would rather eat a bluegill any day before a trout, I've been filleting them out ever since, mmm good, small ones I grind up whole bones guts head scales everything but the hook, cook on the side burner on my grill and feed to the chickens, they love bluegill burgers... Bluegill are sweeter than perch, just as good if not better than crappie or northern pike, and tastier than tilapia IMO ( I've only ate cheap tilapia frozen in the big bags, and whatever tilapia they serve for Denny's Tilapia Ranchero, only time I had fish tacos at a restaurant it was tilapia battered and fried, I think they put way to much fresh cilantro on them, it's not lettuce, they were good though, soft taco) which brings me to my favorite tilapia/perch/bluegill/crappie recipe quick marinade, more of a just dip it in or brush it on so you still taste the fish, little soy sauce mixed with a little liquid smoke and as many dashes of tabasco as you need to tickle your tastebuds and throw the fillets on the grill, forms a nice dark hot smoky salty crust on the outside, tender white juicy flavor in the inside. Wife usually just puts fillets in aluminum foil with a little butter and salt and pepper and bakes them.Good, but I prefer BEER battered and fried, or grilled. That dude that said he'd rather eat a bluegill over a trout any day?, yeah I found out they are delicious, but I'd take some fresh caught trout or salmon, grilled over a wood fire, not propane, any day over a whitefish. Back to the hybrid bluegill, they are 80-90% male, some people use them because regular bluegill breed rapidly in ponds and if they use regular bluegill and they get overpopulated it stunts their growth. The hybrids slows down the population. Not sure if the hybrid would be better in your situation, I don't think they get bigger, only bigger because less populated, I think in your situation you could control population with regular bluegill. Don't know how fast they grow compared to tilapia, my guess is tilapia is better faster cheaper (not flavor but growth), otherwise they wouldn't be so popular with the $ makers.

 

[AnthNDacula]

I just put 14 eggs worth of F2 & F1 generations into the incubator. Hatch date 2/10/16.

The mixes are:
9.5 pound Redmen over 8 pound Lavenia

1/2 Dark Cornish 1/2 Cornish Roaster Redmen over the same mixed pullet "Lavenia". Same father different hens. Should net 25% Dark Cornish type, 50% 1/2 & 1/2 type, 25% Cornish Roaster type. Growth rate all over the map from fast to semi fast to slow.

Next cross is 11 pound Bob over 10 pound Betty:
X
1/2 Dark Cornish 1/2 Cornish Roaster "Bob" over Cornish Roaster hen "Betty". Not directly Related. Hens were from the same place( Murray McMurray). Should be 1/4 Dark Cornish 3/4 Cornish Roaster. Semi fast growing white. Faster than my 1/2 & 1/2 crosses.


Next cross is 11 pound Bob over 7.5 pound Marion:
X
1/2 Dark Cornish 1/2 Cornish Roaster "Bob" over Pure Dark Cornish hen"Marion". Should net 3/4 Dark Cornish 1/4 Cornish Roaster. Semi Slow Grow type. Most likely will be red/black/white or red/black

And my Pure dark Cornish 12 pound BamBam over 7.5 pound Guinevere:
X

100% LF Dark Cornish. Slow growth

Fingers crossed. I rotate my eggs into the incubator every six days/candle every six days. After 18 days they are moved out to the still incubator to hatch. Works for me. I am looking forward to this year's hatch!

I'm very impressed with your project Ipatelski. I've thought about doing the same thing to create a stabile Cornish type chicken with a goal of a 4 pound cleaned carcass at 12 weeks. I think a true breeding, medium growth Cornish would be the answer for many Homesteaders meat bird issues. I've had chickens for years but am just getting into the breeding, bui with other livestock we stabilize new composite breeds at 3/8. I'm thinking in this case it could be 3/8 Commercial Cornish and 5/8 Dark Cornish with selection for consistent medium growth rate. Of course these are just my pipe dreams of how I would do it but please keep posting. My energy has to go into my Dorking project for the immediate future, but I'm very interested in your results.

By the way, from what I've read the commercial Cornish crosses have significantly higher resistance to Mareks Disease because of Cornel's work in the mid 20th century. That could be a real asset to your strain.

One question: are you aware of the importance of selecting for earlier feathering? If not it should help you determine growth rate of individual birds within the first couple of weeks rather than waiting months for them to grow out.

Anthony