BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[CanadianBuckeye]

Thanks lpatelski that's a handy chart. I guess the weights would have to be adjusted for Buckeyes.
Big Bird certainly is a big bird and I'm not sure I like the way he's looking at me!

I wonder if he will break the Guinness record of 24 lbs?

 

[DesertChic]

Is it possible to identify obvious winners/losers early on? That is one of my goals, to learn how to spot as many of the most promising chicks as quickly as possible. That way one could focus on the few exceptional individuals, and save time!
One thing I do know, although the egg size correlates to chick size at hatch, it does not correlate to ultimate size later on. It would be nice to know for example, that at 4 weeks if a chick has not reached a certain weight for its sex, it never will be a breeding bird choice (That's just an example, I have no idea). That would be for meaties- for egg layers I don't think there are any short cuts.

I guess this is why I devote so much time to tracking and recording everything on graphs and charts. I start with the eggs before I place them in the incubator, and then weigh again at each candling, and finally record the hatch weight of the chick. This allows me to computer the percentage of weight lost. After than I track their weights every 1-2 weeks and log these as well. I hope to eventually examine the data to see if there's even a hint of a correlation between the egg data and the chick's development. (Yes...I'm that much of a nerd.)

 

[bluejean55girl]

I guess this is why I devote so much time to tracking and recording everything on graphs and charts. I start with the eggs before I place them in the incubator, and then weigh again at each candling, and finally record the hatch weight of the chick. This allows me to computer the percentage of weight lost. After than I track their weights every 1-2 weeks and log these as well. I hope to eventually examine the data to see if there's even a hint of a correlation between the egg data and the chick's development. (Yes...I'm that much of a nerd.)

well, a runt at hatch is most likely still a runt later. The others should show early vs later development to possibility separate out into different strains.

Are you seeing any growth spurts at different ages?

 

[Mini Meat]

Is it possible to identify obvious winners/losers early on? That is one of my goals, to learn how to spot as many of the most promising chicks as quickly as possible. That way one could focus on the few exceptional individuals, and save time!
One thing I do know, although the egg size correlates to chick size at hatch, it does not correlate to ultimate size later on. It would be nice to know for example, that at 4 weeks if a chick has not reached a certain weight for its sex, it never will be a breeding bird choice (That's just an example, I have no idea). That would be for meaties- for egg layers I don't think there are any short cuts.

This is something I am hoping to find out as well. I want to develop a system that is efficient yet thorough. If I have to weight every bird, every week... well that's just not going to happen.

I was thinking of something like this

@ 7 days weigh all chicks log into groups A-D
@ 14 days weigh groups A-C resort groups as necessary
@ 21 days weigh Group A-B resort
@ 28 days weigh all to see if anyone got over looked
after the 28 (or perhaps some other more appropriate set point) A group is closed. A chick can move down from group A but not up into it.
@ 35 days A-C re sort B&C
@ 42 & 49 days A&B
@ 56 days aka 8 weeks weigh all groups then close group B
all bird in C & D will later be Culls probably wont weigh them again except @ processing
Breeder to be selected from:
Cockerels only from A Pullets from A+B
Continue weighing by- weekly from A&B until breeders are chosen.

I have only just started running this scheme through my head so if anyone sees any problems let me know.

Idk it's so had to know how much is enough.

 

[bluejean55girl]

This is something I am hoping to find out as well. I want to develop a system that is efficient yet thorough.  If I have to weight every bird, every week... well that's just not going to happen.

I was thinking of something like this

@ 7 days weigh all chicks log into groups A-D
@ 14 days weigh groups A-C resort groups as necessary
@ 21 days weigh Group A-B resort
@ 28 days weigh all to see if anyone got over looked 
     after the 28 (or perhaps some other more appropriate set point) A group is closed. A chick can move down from group A but not up into it.
@ 35 days A-C re sort B&C
@ 42 & 49 days A&B  
@ 56 days aka 8 weeks weigh all groups then close group B
    all bird in C & D will later be Culls probably wont weigh them again except @ processing 
    Breeder to be selected from:
    Cockerels only from A Pullets from A+B
Continue weighing by- weekly from A&B until breeders are chosen.

I have only just started running this scheme through my head so if anyone sees any problems let me know. 

Idk it's so had to know how much is enough.

many thanks! You've put some thought into this. My oldest batch is just now coming 8 weeks. My second batch came from a different breeder and is not gaining like the first batch. Will be interesting to see if they catch up. 1st batch I bought and hatched out. 2nd batch were shipped at a week old. Fixing to get eggs from a 3rd breeder. Hubby will not be amused.

 

[RattlesnakeRidgeWV]

Wow, the stats and record keeping is amazing! I was always content with the fact that the average chicken grows 800% in just 4 weeks. Now you guys have raised the bar really high, with daily and weekly pictures.
Kurt

 

[bramblefir]

This is the culling "schedule" that I'll be using for this year. You can adjust this to fit your goals and breeds by deciding on selection points and your goal ages, etc.

Key - green = geese | blue = ducks | orange = chickens | black = all

1. Cull for egg size and shape before setting eggs.
2. Cull for hatching ability aka no assisted hatching.
3. Cull hatchlings for defects (crossbeak, missing/extra toes, etc.). Put on IDs and get initial weights.
4. Week 6, 7, and/or 8 - Move obvious cockerels to bachelor quarters.
5. Week 7 - Earliest butchering window (few/no pin feathers). Important day for weights.
6. Week 9 and on - Cull all late blooming cockerels (males that were not sorted out in previous weeks).
7. Week 9 - Earliest butchering window (few/no pin feathers). Important day for weights.
8. Week 12 - Cull bottom 50% based on weight. Second butchering window is 12.5 weeks.
9. Week 12 - Cull bottom 50% based on weight.
10. Week 15 - Cull bottom 50% based on weight. Second butchering window.
11. Raise out remaining birds. Cull for type and finer points in the Fall. Keep only birds that are good enough to breed. Final cull for geese before they bond with mates.
12. Spring - Final cull for chickens and ducks before the start of breeding season.

• I like my cockerels to become apparent early on, so I'm selecting for that by culling out males that don't start developing sexual characteristics before 9 weeks. Ideal age (for me) is 6 weeks.
• For the waterfowl, I'm selecting primarily towards size and butchering age. They have 3 "ideal" butchering windows - I am aiming for the middle window while also keeping track of the 1st window in case I can shift things earlier.
• For the chickens, I will be selecting primarily for egg production with cockerels having a fast maturation and a butchering age of 12 weeks. I do not expect them to butcher out big - this is a project aimed towards a bantam chicken that produces a large quantity of eggs with minimal to no broodiness.

 

[lpatelski]

Bob's weigh-in 1448g or a little over three pounds on 9/24/15 at just over a month old.
Looks like BigBird is going to be close in type to Bob.

 

[Mini Meat]

This is the culling "schedule" that I'll be using for this year. You can adjust this to fit your goals and breeds by deciding on selection points and your goal ages, etc.

Key - green = geese | blue = ducks | orange = chickens | black = all

1. Cull for egg size and shape before setting eggs.
2. Cull for hatching ability aka no assisted hatching.
3. Cull hatchlings for defects (crossbeak, missing/extra toes, etc.). Put on IDs and get initial weights.
4. Week 6, 7, and/or 8 - Move obvious cockerels to bachelor quarters.
5. Week 7 - Earliest butchering window (few/no pin feathers). Important day for weights.
6. Week 9 and on - Cull all late blooming cockerels (males that were not sorted out in previous weeks).
7. Week 9 - Earliest butchering window (few/no pin feathers). Important day for weights.
8. Week 12 - Cull bottom 50% based on weight. Second butchering window is 12.5 weeks.
9. Week 12 - Cull bottom 50% based on weight.
10. Week 15 - Cull bottom 50% based on weight. Second butchering window.
11. Raise out remaining birds. Cull for type and finer points in the Fall. Keep only birds that are good enough to breed. Final cull for geese before they bond with mates.
12. Spring - Final cull for chickens and ducks before the start of breeding season.

• I like my cockerels to become apparent early on, so I'm selecting for that by culling out males that don't start developing sexual characteristics before 9 weeks. Ideal age (for me) is 6 weeks.
• For the waterfowl, I'm selecting primarily towards size and butchering age. They have 3 "ideal" butchering windows - I am aiming for the middle window while also keeping track of the 1st window in case I can shift things earlier.
• For the chickens, I will be selecting primarily for egg production with cockerels having a fast maturation and a butchering age of 12 weeks. I do not expect them to butcher out big - this is a project aimed towards a bantam chicken that produces a large quantity of eggs with minimal to no broodiness.

I like this^
I like the idea of culling for early sexing. I'm gonna review this many times and see how it applies to my goals.

One thing I am leaning 'tword is having hard set rules. Such as if x is not met by such a date then CULL. No redemption later. By having hard rules It should allow me to improve the flocks more quickly.

I just have to sort out exactly what those rules should be...

 

[jbkirk]

I like this^
I like the idea of culling for early sexing. I'm gonna review this many times and see how it applies to my goals.

One thing I am leaning 'tword is having hard set rules. Such as if x is not met by such a date then CULL. No redemption later. By having hard rules It should allow me to improve the flocks more quickly.

I just have to sort out exactly what those rules should be...

Don't get to set in your ways because generally speaking the bigger the breed the slower they g.row.(to a certain point) Giants for example