BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[varidgerunner]

The harmful effects of rice on birds is a very persistent myth.
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/birdrice.asp

 

[varidgerunner]

Just getting rice wet doesn't make it expand any more, or sometimes it is even less, than any other grain. For rice to reach dangerous expansion levels it needs to come close to boiling, at which point your birds have more serious issues than an expanding crop, (which is elastic to handle expansion, anyway.)

If rice harmed chickens in any way, there are many breeds that would be extinct, as they come from parts of the world that rice is the most abundant grain crop, of which chickens get to eat moldy or bug infested portions of, or that which is spilled.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Quote:
Honestly, if you're not already dedicated to your selected breeds, heat hardy plus great egg producer = Naked Necks. Lots of us folks in hot areas have them and love them... Lots of cross following between this thread and the Naked Neck thread.

- Ant Farm

 

[DesertChic]

Ever since starting my first flock this past January I've been interested in starting a breeding flock at some point in the future, and now I found this thread so I'm going to subscribe to keep abreast. I'll tell ya, this site has done more to help me in my journey with chickens than every book I've read and everyone I personally talked to so far about raising chickens.

I'm currently raising Barred Rock and Leghorn hens and I'm disappointed that none turned out to be roosters yet. When I ordered them I requested all girls because I thought the neighbors might not like me having a rooster crowing in the mornings but after getting the flock and telling everyone about them my neighbors all said they'd be fine with a wake-up call in the morning. So now I'm thinking again about breeding at some point. It's probably a little late to add a rooster now that my girls are 16 weeks old, although I know you can always try to integrate new members, but I have the two breeds living together and I'd prefer to keep the lines pure if start pairing them up. As a result I'm thinking to build a coop separated into 5 sections along with 5 runs so I'd be able to work with 5 breeding groups. I know it would be a big structure but I'm confident I could build everything so it's sound and predator proof. The birds I think I'd like to breed are Dominiques although I'm not 100% set on them yet since there's a lot of neat breeds out there, and my goal would be for egg production. Since we have a unique (hot) climate here in central AZ I think it would be great to have birds that are adapted to the area, produce reasonably well, and are also a heritage breed that are a bit more scarce than some. I recently got a book first published in 1923 called The Mating and Breeding of Poultry by Harry Lamon, and after skimming through it today it really looks like a great book.

So anyway, just wanted to drop in and say hello. I'll be following this thread with interest.

Welcome! This thread continues to be my hands-down favorite for everything I've learned and continue to learn. I'm glad I'm in good company in that opinion.

I too live in AZ, about 40 miles south of Tucson. While I've never had Leghorns (not my breed), I can confirm the Barred Rocks do pretty well in this climate, as do Australorps. The best breed I've found this area, however, continues to be the Naked Neck Turkens. They simply shrug off heat that makes my other chickens melt away.

I also read that book you referenced...VERY helpful for the laying the groundwork for breeding. Oh...and having chicks turn out to be cockerels is NOT a problem I suffer from. Somehow most of my hatches turn out to be disproportionally male. I'm sorry I don't have any Barred Rock males left for you as I butchered the last one, but if you decided to go with breeder quality BRs for your program, I know a breeder in the area who has excellent stock to choose from. Unfortunately I don't know any Dominque owners.

Again....WELCOME!

 

[DesertChic]

"Switching gears here for a moment, I'd like to take exception to a suggestion that feeding rice to chickens is very dangerous for them. We have been feeding brown rice along with the other grains to our chickens for about 2 years now with no deleterious effect to the health or performance of any of our birds. In fact, we think doing so could be beneficial to the viability of the cock bird's semen strength. This is purely anecdotal because we have performed not even the most cursory testing.....just our notions based upon the lack of failure in that segment of our flocks.

We feed fermented grain products, including the brown rice, on a year-'round basis, changing up the combination/ratio according to the season. We feed no whole or cracked corn to our birds in the warmer months.....just because. We don't ferment any of the commercial feeds because it is just too much trouble for us to mess with and the birds (and dogs) are still fed the Recipe on a daily basis. The 'recipe' is a bit convoluted in it's makeup as well as it's description so if there's a great demand for information about it, perhaps a seasoned member of the forum can pitch in and have a go at the components and process thereof.

While we do feed the brown rice fermented as described, it's not uncommon for one of us to grab a hand full of it dry for the purpose of luring birds in to be grabbed and no problems have ever been noted due to that practice.

We just wanted folks to know that according to our experience, feeding rice to chickens is not dangerous nor liable to swell up in the birds, causing them to "bust a gut" as has been posted on the odd thread, here and there".

Jason, as dictated by: Hellbender

Shoot, my chickens LOVE cooked or fermented rice as an occasional treat...and they always reward me the next day with extra-large eggs. Happy chickens!

 

[DesertChic]

Woohoo! My Tilapia had babies! Now I just need to find the time to set up a separate tank for them so they can grow large enough not to appear as live feed for the grown-ups.

 

[ejcrist]

Welcome to the group!

If you were aiming purely for a heat-hardy egg producer, I would seriously recommended looking at the Mediterranean and Continental breeds. I'm particularly fond of Blue Andalusians and Hamburgs, but there's a ton of other breeds that are excellent layers that need a serious breeder to help them out.

Thanks for the info. As a matter of fact I'm also interested in the Mediterranean breeds and in particular the Blue Andalusian - I think they're a beautiful bird for sure. That's one of the reasons I didn't want to go without the White Leghorns which I read were excellent layers. If Blue Andalusians were as easy to get I would've got some of those too. Gosh if I keep thinking like this I'll be up to my eyeballs in chickens before long.

 

[ejcrist]

Welcome! This thread continues to be my hands-down favorite for everything I've learned and continue to learn. I'm glad I'm in good company in that opinion.

I too live in AZ, about 40 miles south of Tucson. While I've never had Leghorns (not my breed), I can confirm the Barred Rocks do pretty well in this climate, as do Australorps. The best breed I've found this area, however, continues to be the Naked Neck Turkens. They simply shrug off heat that makes my other chickens melt away.

I also read that book you referenced...VERY helpful for the laying the groundwork for breeding. Oh...and having chicks turn out to be cockerels is NOT a problem I suffer from. Somehow most of my hatches turn out to be disproportionally male. I'm sorry I don't have any Barred Rock males left for you as I butchered the last one, but if you decided to go with breeder quality BRs for your program, I know a breeder in the area who has excellent stock to choose from. Unfortunately I don't know any Dominque owners.

Again....WELCOME!

Thanks for the info DesertChic. I didn't know Naked Necks did well in the heat. If I decide to try integrating a BR cockerel I'll shoot you a pm for that breeder you referred to. I'm up above Phoenix but I'm familiar with the area down where you're at if the breeder is down there too. I go hunting down around three Points and Patagonia State Park and I have relatives over in Hereford - that's a great area to live in.

Also read your post about the Tilapia. You're doing everything I'm trying to get into. Me and my wife are planning a tilapia pond now but we probably won't get to putting it in till next spring. We just have too much on our plate at the moment. We just planted 110 wine grape vines recently and I still need to string the catch wires. I'm gettin' pooped out. But that would be great to raise tilapia, raise and breed chickens, make wine, and have a good vegetable garden going. What more could a guy/girl want?

 

[ejcrist]

"Switching gears here for a moment, I'd like to take exception to a suggestion that feeding rice to chickens is very dangerous for them. We have been feeding brown rice along with the other grains to our chickens for about 2 years now with no deleterious effect to the health or performance of any of our birds. In fact, we think doing so could be beneficial to the viability of the cock bird's semen strength. This is purely anecdotal because we have performed not even the most cursory testing.....just our notions based upon the lack of failure in that segment of our flocks.

We feed fermented grain products, including the brown rice, on a year-'round basis, changing up the combination/ratio according to the season. We feed no whole or cracked corn to our birds in the warmer months.....just because. We don't ferment any of the commercial feeds because it is just too much trouble for us to mess with and the birds (and dogs) are still fed the Recipe on a daily basis. The 'recipe' is a bit convoluted in it's makeup as well as it's description so if there's a great demand for information about it, perhaps a seasoned member of the forum can pitch in and have a go at the components and process thereof.

While we do feed the brown rice fermented as described, it's not uncommon for one of us to grab a hand full of it dry for the purpose of luring birds in to be grabbed and no problems have ever been noted due to that practice.

We just wanted folks to know that according to our experience, feeding rice to chickens is not dangerous nor liable to swell up in the birds, causing them to "bust a gut" as has been posted on the odd thread, here and there".

Jason, as dictated by: Hellbender

Oh yeah, you're right on the money about the myth. I have relatives in the Philippines and all have chickens, and I'd estimate the birds eat rice 8 days a week at least - never heard of a bird exploding over there. We also feed ours left over cooked rice maybe 2-3 times a week and they love it with absolutely no ill effects whatsoever.

 

[oshun55555]

Quote: I was just thinking some hard thoughts about this today. I really need to curtail all my "neat ideas" about colors, etc., and get back to essential goals for my birds, since I have limited space for them. I need to get to numbers of adults that are more practical for my goals (including limiting breeding groups) - I can only do so many projects all at once!!!

EXAMPLE

Your dog totally looks like he's waiting for his snack!!!!

- Ant Farm
That's not my dog or my hand, its a picture from the net that shows what I was talking about, I have not raised quail in 35 years, just doing chickens, turkeys, geese and ducks, I eat them all.