BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[CanadianBuckeye]

Coffee grounds, yes...........

decomposing carcasses, no thanks.........

 

[varidgerunner]

Just build a platform with 1/2 inch wire grid. Throw some roadkill up on it in the hot summer sun. Instant chicken feeder. Of course, the smell takes some getting used to.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Just build a platform with 1/2 inch wire grid. Throw some roadkill up on it in the hot summer sun. Instant chicken feeder. Of course, the smell takes some getting used to.

Ewwwwwww.....
Is that something you can get used to?

Seriously though, do chickens actually go for a ripe carcass? Is it the maggots they want or will they polish the thing off? I'm curious.

 

[Beekissed]

They will. They are scavengers. We brought some fish home last year and they wouldn't touch them fresh but as soon as they started rotting and had a full accompaniment of maggots they ate the maggots and fought over the rotten carcasses. I wouldn't intentionally go and get them a rotten roadkill carcass~never know what's been eating on that~but if I give them something fresh here that they've let spoil and produce maggots, I don't mind it much.

 

[islafarm]

Passed a special chicken scene the other day: one had been killed by a car, her friends were paying their respects by ingesting her.

Our dogs will leave a fresh kill for 3 days before they eat it, complete with seething maggots. I guess we essentially do the same with hanging beef or deer or brining chickens etc., Minus the maggots, ideally

BSF farming is much nicer than regular fly maggots. BSF adults don't have working mouths, and only live for a week or so, only the female comes near food and only to lay her eggs which she deposits above the food source. So they don't touch anything unpleasant and then eat off your plate. BSF larvae also purge their guts before they pupate and excrete a natural antibiotic which makes them extremely clean for chickens.

They do a terrific job with composting chicken poop too. I have a suspended bucket in the coop into which I put all droppings from the poop board below the roost. The BSF naturally are attracted and lay their eggs above the bucket. I have to empty it about once every 2 weeks and it is pretty decent stuff - we mix it with some decomposed sawdust and put it directly into the orchards. Doesn't smell at all - only when the bucket is being emptied.

The other great thing about BSF is they secrete or exude a scent which deters other flies, so I rarely see any house flies or blue bottles or whichever. Might be tricky to overwinter in the north, but there are people raising them in Canada so it can be done.

This is a great resource:

http://blacksoldierflyblog.com/forum/

 

[prairie]

What would you say is the best breed for egg production?

 

[Beekissed]

True breed and not a combination of breeds? White Leghorn. For longevity of lay and a close second to Leghorns, Black Australorp. I used to be able to say the RIR would be second place, but I've not seen anything good out of RIRs from hatchery stock for many a long year now.

 

[DesertChic]

What would you say is the best breed for egg production?

My Australorps and Barred Rocks don't seem to know how to stop laying....and they're friendly birds too.

 

[Beer can]

What would you say is the best breed for egg production? 

Rhode Island Reds, don't let them fool you, rir, no comparison when it's all said and done...In my humble opinion of course, based on my experience and 'facts'. Don't have any now, and don't foresee having them in the future so I think I might be 'unbiased'...maybe not...grew up with red's. Will admit this, not flighty at all, stand their ground, not good mixed flock, they can be aggressive. Egg layingist chickens ever though, and a decent carcass for meat. (My experience, super tough, best crock pot or pressure cooker....

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

I have high hopes for the Buckeye/production red crosses coming as hatching eggs this spring from True North, a Canadian hatchery that selects for production. I hope they have the temperaments of the Buckeyes, and the egg production of the reds- hopefully it won't be the other way around! I've also found that production reds can be nasty.
The weatherman is calling for a brief very cold snap- it's been such a mild winter, and this weekend it's supposed to go down to -30oC. Hope the chickens will be ok. I had some frostbite issues earlier this winter, in much milder temperatures.