BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[bnjrob]

Worthwhile read?

http://www.vt.edu/spotlight/innovation/2011-03-07-poultry/poultry.html

Interesting. Wonder what they have done in the last few years with this? I don't think they said how long he bred those different flocks before he started seeing the results he was looking for as far as consistency with weight/growth in all the offspring.

 

[hellbender]

That's very helpful although does anyone know if it's in pa or any were near Pa thanks

What? over and out

 

[hellbender]

Interesting. Wonder what they have done in the last few years with this? I don't think they said how long he bred those different flocks before he started seeing the results he was looking for as far as consistency with weight/growth in all the offspring.

I believe there's a place mentioned for more info. I'm going to follow up on it, just from curiosity.

 

[Beekissed]

Worthwhile read?

http://www.vt.edu/spotlight/innovation/2011-03-07-poultry/poultry.html

Excellent read!!!!

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Interesting. The article didn`t mention adult weights but if those are the same birds with the person for scale, I`d say they were more successful making them bantam sized than breeding much bigger than the standard. (unless those are 8 week old birds! ) Apparently the Romans had huge 30 lb chickens- wonder how they did it.

 

[Beekissed]

I don't think the article meant that the chickens were weighing ten times more than the breed average...from the pics, they seem to be pretty standard size PWRs. They were talking about the quick growing/heavy line being 10 times the weight and size of the slow growing/light weight line at 8 wks of age. I can see that happening if the focus on each line was the biggest and the smallest of the lines being bred each time. Eventually the gap would widen quite a bit. Much like when folks take small cows of a particular breed and keep breeding the smallest to the smallest, then start marketing them as "miniature" cows.

I'm not real surprised they used PWR, but I am surprised they ever found any lightweight, smaller ones to breed to one another. That would take some time.

 

[cyborg]

GENETICS QUESTIONS

I went out and picked up 15 golden sex link chicks this morning. Last week I picked up 15 California Whites. No prior experience with the CW's, but they are reputed to be prolific egg layers. I do have a lot of experience with the GSL's, and have found them to be excellent layers, but tending to smaller size, so marginal as a meat bird. The GSL parentage is a New Hampshire rooster over a White Rock hen.
I have a beauteous New Hamp rooster, but no White Rocks. What I'm wondering is if I crossed the NH roo with a Cornish X hen, would it retain the sex linked color, with a possibly larger frame. Anybody tried anything along these lines yet?

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

GENETICS QUESTIONS

I went out and picked up 15 golden sex link chicks this morning. Last week I picked up 15 California Whites. No prior experience with the CW's, but they are reputed to be prolific egg layers. I do have a lot of experience with the GSL's, and have found them to be excellent layers, but tending to smaller size, so marginal as a meat bird. The GSL parentage is a New Hampshire rooster over a White Rock hen.
I have a beauteous New Hamp rooster, but no White Rocks. What I'm wondering is if I crossed the NH roo with a Cornish X hen, would it retain the sex linked color, with a possibly larger frame. Anybody tried anything along these lines yet?

To have sex linked chicks, the hen would have to have silver , I don't know if the Cornish cross does or doesn't. A general rule of thumb is that silver does not affect black, so black and white breeds like Delawares and Light Sussex carry silver, but there are plenty of pure white breeds (eg white rock) that carry silver as well. This won't be helpful but in order to find out, you have to do a test mating- go ahead and try it!

 

[lpatelski]

"Apparently the Romans had huge 30 lb chickens"

In ancient Rome, chicken farmers used mixtures of wine-soaked bread or cumin seeds, barley and lizard fat to fatten up chickens, and also were the first to castrate roosters to boost their growth.

Holy cow batman! I'm trying the wine soaked bread!

 

[cyborg]

Here are a couple pics of Elvis, the NH roo in question.