BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[CanadianBuckeye]

@varidgerunner I do get what you are saying, I actually I don't so much dislike incubating. I very much dislike brooding. I feel that chicks raised by a hen are physically, mentally and emotionally better off. Plus, it's a pain. Anything I can do to minimize the need...

How about trying one of those other reliably broody breeds, like cochins or dorkings?

 

[lpatelski]

And for any fellow "Walking Dead" fans out there....I named him Carl.

Too funny!!!

 

[varidgerunner]

How about trying one of those other reliably broody breeds, like cochins or dorkings?

Where would one find "reliably broody" cochins and dorkings? Unless your definition of reliably broody means that one in ten goes broody at a year or more old and might set on eggs til they hatch, then I haven't found any that were reliably broody.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Where would one find "reliably broody" cochins and dorkings? Unless your definition of reliably broody means that one in ten goes broody at a year or more old and might set on eggs til they hatch, then I haven't found any that were reliably broody.

If that's the case then, good news, I'd be a lot more interested in Dorkings!

 

[hellbender]

If that's the case then, good news, I'd be a lot more interested in Dorkings!

In this case, I've really beaten the odds.!!!!!!!! 9 out of 10 Dark Cornish from the same lot have gone stark raving mad 'broody' and I have no doubt the other one will soon contract this condition. I never really messed with broodies before and have relatively little knowledge of them, opting to use the incubator and if fact, I'd still rather do it that way but things got out of hand, so to speak and the hens have control. Even three Chantecler hens have gone over to the Dark Side and are in charge of their personal pile of eggs. On top of that, I really don't know what's going on in my daughter's area...I could easily walk in and find out but I fear the whole bunch would quit the set and I'd have to wear a Scarlet Letter for years for being the cause of the problem...

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:

And that's the yardstick by which I measure a "good" forager as opposed to a regular chicken that will scratch about while outside on range but aren't dedicated hunters. Any and every chicken will scratch at the ground and poke around here and there for food, but an excellent forager looks to the range for their most important food source and they are successful hunters. You can watch a flock for awhile and see just which birds those are.

Nearly every step they make nets them a morsel of food, the head is down and the tail is up for the better part of the day. They will range far and wide, not just around the coop and other buildings, and they learn where the best forage can be found and walk that circuit pretty much on a schedule....certain times of the day will find them at certain places for when the sugar rises in the clover or fescue, certain seasons will find them gleaning seasonal food at different areas of the range, they are on hand for different hatches of bugs and when certain grubs come out of the ground. They also seem to know not to overwork any one area of range day after day. These are dedicated foragers that have learned their range, they work their range and they don't have to burn up all their calories in excess running to and fro...they know where to go and when to get there to get the biggest return for their efforts.

Then they teach the range to their young.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

LOL Hellbender you need your own Man Cave where you can run your incubators in peace and quiet. Now would be a good time to do a trial comparing the hatchability, vigour and growth rate of broody vs. incubator raised chicks

 

[DesertChic]

And that's the yardstick by which I measure a "good" forager as opposed to a regular chicken that will scratch about while outside on range but aren't dedicated hunters. Any and every chicken will scratch at the ground and poke around here and there for food, but an excellent forager looks to the range for their most important food source and they are successful hunters. You can watch a flock for awhile and see just which birds those are.

Nearly every step they make nets them a morsel of food, the head is down and the tail is up for the better part of the day. They will range far and wide, not just around the coop and other buildings, and they learn where the best forage can be found and walk that circuit pretty much on a schedule....certain times of the day will find them at certain places for when the sugar rises in the clover or fescue, certain seasons will find them gleaning seasonal food at different areas of the range, they are on hand for different hatches of bugs and when certain grubs come out of the ground. They also seem to know not to overwork any one area of range day after day. These are dedicated foragers that have learned their range, they work their range and they don't have to burn up all their calories in excess running to and fro...they know where to go and when to get there to get the biggest return for their efforts.

Then they teach the range to their young.

I can't remember which old book I read it in, but a seasoned veteran of chicken husbandry commented that all you needed to do was look at a chicken's feet to determine how good of a forager it was. If the nails were long and pointed, then that birds prefers the feeder. If the nails are short and rounded then you have a good forager. It's definitely proven true of my birds.

 

[bnjrob]

I can't remember which old book I read it in, but a seasoned veteran of chicken husbandry commented that all you needed to do was look at a chicken's feet to determine how good of a forager it was. If the nails were long and pointed, then that birds prefers the feeder. If the nails are short and rounded then you have a good forager. It's definitely proven true of my birds.

I think that's true, unless of course you have to keep them penned and after a while they decide to stop scratching because it doesn't do them any good to keep scratching. For the last year, because of weather and utility construction in my pasture, my pens haven't been moved much at all, so the lack of fresh grass has most of them not interested in scratching around. There are significant differences between my free rangers and my breeders that have to stay penned. But I've put former breeders into the free range flock who have then changed and act like the birds that have always been in the free range flock. I've got 5 acres, surrounded by my neighbor's pasture, and my free rangers go all over the place. The only times they tend to stay close to their coop is after a predator attack. But once they get over the fear from the attack, they go back to running all over the place. There are a few free rangers that would prefer to forage in the feed bucket though. I will just be so much happier when I can let everyone free range because they all are consistently good enough to be a breeder and a loss of one or two wouldn't be so critical to me. Of course the more irritated I get with show-people, I may just say the heck with the freaking SOP, and just not even worry about the nitpicky breeding issues and then everyone of the birds can be free range all the time.

 

[Beekissed]

I can't remember which old book I read it in, but a seasoned veteran of chicken husbandry commented that all you needed to do was look at a chicken's feet to determine how good of a forager it was. If the nails were long and pointed, then that birds prefers the feeder. If the nails are short and rounded then you have a good forager. It's definitely proven true of my birds.

That's true in most cases, though my WRs have better feather and nail quality than the BA and most other hatchery stock I have, so their nails tend to grow longer and stronger than hers but they all forage equally well. That's sort of like saying women with longer, strong fingernails must not do any housework, but my nails grow like crazy and withstand heavy work, whereas Mom's are paper thin and break over nothing. I have thick, longer hair and her hair is woefully thin and won't grow well.

But, for the most part, a dull nail on a chicken would indicate more foraging done and more foraging opportunities available.