BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[AnthNDacula]

And a bottle of wine, Mrs Childs never did anything w/o a bottle of wine!

That must be why she always seemed "sauced" by the end of every episode.

 

[LindaB220]

No. Saanens. Nubians are fine goats...just too mouthy for me..

Tell me about yours. The market is wide open up here for goat cheese, goat sausages, goat anything. ha

 

[stryker]

My project this year is rhodebar roo over rhodebar hens, buckeyes hens and welsummer hens. Last year I put a different rhodebar over buckeyes and welsummers and the hens were welsummer hens but I ended with all but three poullets. Going to not sell the chicks as day old this year. I might get better luck if I keep them for 6 weeks...

 

[Mini Meat]

I think a bit of back story is needed before I ask the questions I currently have.

Last summer we had a horrible mosquito and algae problem in our horses 100 gallon water trough. As a solution I added exactly 5 mosquito fish from another trough. Now, these fish do not get large (about two inches long), but boy do they breed. They started multiplying immediately and now the trough has hundreds.

Today I collected 20 and put them in my goat trough. I am thinking these lil' buggers thrive on neglect and they are the perfect size for a chicken to gulp down.

My questions are:

How many can I feed to my chickens before it causes problems?

I don't want my eggs or meat tasting of fish.

 

[Beer can]

My questions are:

How many can I feed to my chickens before it causes problems?

I don't want my eggs or meat tasting of fish. 

I grew out a bunch of different breeds feeding them lots of ground bluegill and perch. They grew great and I didn't notice any adverse affects. Some will say too much protein, might have been, but I didn't notice any problems. Eggs and meat were fine. They were free ranging all day also.
I would recommend cooking the fish though, or freeze for at least thirty days. Fish get parasites that transfer to birds.
Homemade pickled fish should be froze at least 30 days also. Pickled fish is not cooked, it's 'chemically cooked' in the vinegar brine, some is cooked but traditionally usually not. People that have skipped the long freeze end up with tapeworms....

 

[jbkirk]

I think a bit of back story is needed before I ask the questions I currently have.

Last summer we had a horrible mosquito and algae problem in our horses 100 gallon water trough. As a solution I added exactly 5 mosquito fish from another trough. Now, these fish do not get large (about two inches long), but boy do they breed. They started multiplying immediately and now the trough has hundreds.

Today I collected 20 and put them in my goat trough. I am thinking these lil' buggers thrive on neglect and they are the perfect size for a chicken to gulp down.

My questions are:

How many can I feed to my chickens before it causes problems?

I don't want my eggs or meat tasting of fish.

Well you could always do a test group (5-10) to see if their eggs and meat taste fishy and if they get any health problems.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

My project this year is rhodebar roo over rhodebar hens, buckeyes hens and welsummer hens. Last year I put a different rhodebar over buckeyes and welsummers and the hens were welsummer hens but I ended with all but three poullets. Going to not sell the chicks as day old this year. I might get better luck if I keep them for 6 weeks...

I've always thought that welsummers would make good crosses!

 

[Mini Meat]

I grew out a bunch of different breeds feeding them lots of ground bluegill and perch. They grew great and I didn't notice any adverse affects. Some will say too much protein, might have been, but I didn't notice any problems. Eggs and meat were fine. They were free ranging all day also.
I would recommend cooking the fish though, or freeze for at least thirty days. Fish get parasites that transfer to birds.
Homemade pickled fish should be froze at least 30 days also. Pickled fish is not cooked, it's 'chemically cooked' in the vinegar brine, some is cooked but traditionally usually not. People that have skipped the long freeze end up with tapeworms....

Good info. I agree that it is a lot of protein but if the Bird's free range the have a chance to balance that out.

I had not thought about parasites. These are defiantly not Sushi quality fish. I had thought about dehydrating them for storage. I wonder if that would take care of the parasites?
Freezing won't be a problem and will be nice for summer feedings.

Well you could always do a test group (5-10) to see if their eggs and meat taste fishy and if they get any health problems.

A test group is a great Idea.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

We have some hens that even figured out how to get underneath the electric fence!!!

The Naked Necks are slowly excavating under the hardware cloth apron - it's like they are trying to dig their way out of the coop!!! Although, to be fair, this was before I let them back out to range - maybe they were getting a little stir crazy.

I think I've finally encountered the final enabler I needed to push me towards hatching more eggs. One of our vendors called to "talk chicken" with me yesterday while I was at work. He wants to come out this weekend and buy some of my hens and pullets...the ones I've no intention of breeding...which means that along with the extra cockerels I'm continuing to cull, my flock numbers will have finally decreased to a level to permit me to perform another hatch.

Now I need to get busy setting up a breeding pen.

That is so super! You can have the equivalent of a "hard cull" by passing these on, and make more progress toward your goals!

- Ant Farm

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

Hello I am still new to byc and I have recently started a thread and was wondering if anyone would like to come join or help me and @Hellbender spread this thread around byc it's called chicken breed discussion thread!! For anyone who wants to come and join thanks to anyone who joins and spreads this thread around byc