BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[Dave C]

They are 8 weeks old now with an average weight of 1.82kg.
So I think they will be ready in about 4 weeks.















I'm keeping all 4 pullets but starting to narrow down which 2 cockerels I will keep back as breeders.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

@Dave C very nice! Nice and chunky, the size I prefer myself but they will be huge in another month. What are these again? I see some single combs in the mix.

 

[cyborg]

Check out this little girl. She is about 3 weeks old right now, and just starting to feather out. Her momma is a golden sex link, and dad is a Rhode Island Red. She is an experimental cross for my egg flock, and it looks like she will take after dad for color. Hopefully, she will be as prolific a layer as mom.

 

[DesertChic]

They are 8 weeks old now with an average weight of 1.82kg.
So I think they will be ready in about 4 weeks.















I'm keeping all 4 pullets but starting to narrow down which 2 cockerels I will keep back as breeders.

Nice birds! And I envy you all that grass to let them free range on. My poor birds spend their days scratching through dirt and rock until the monsoons come. They do get to chase a lot of lizards though. That's always fun to watch.

 

[eyralis]

Love baby pics! Remind me again what SFH is?

Ah sorry!! The beautiful rare Swedish Flower Hens. See Greenfire page for pix, that's where we got them.

 

[DesertChic]

Ah sorry!! The beautiful rare Swedish Flower Hens. See Greenfire page for pix, that's where we got them.

I hope one day....after I'm down below 50 chickens here...to possibly add some SFHs to my flock. They're so lovely! Of course, I'll probably wind up crossing them with my NNs. (That seems to be my habit.)

 

[Beekissed]

Now that would be interesting...Naked Swedish Flower Necks. You could make a pretty penny off those chicks.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Now that would be interesting...Naked Swedish Flower Necks. You could make a pretty penny off those chicks.

AlohaChickens is already working on something like that (as is draye) - mottled NNs that look like SFHs (but I think the mottling is bigger). They are lovely. I tried with some hatching eggs from her, and they ARE lovely, but I had to cull them for unrelated reasons. There is a thread on them...

These are some of mine when they were younger (taking a nap together):






- Ant Farm

 

[Beekissed]

Sure have pretty feathering! Have you tried selling any of your little Naked Swedish Flower birds?

I bet you'd get quite a few interesting phone calls.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Sure have pretty feathering! Have you tried selling any of your little Naked Swedish Flower birds?

I bet you'd get quite a few interesting phone calls.

Alas, they were pretty small compared to my regular Naked Necks, and I already have too much going on/too many chickens. I need to simplify. I was going to keep the two pullets, but it turns out (in retrospect) that they were raised from young age (4 weeks) with a group of Cream Legbar chicks with congenital Avian Leukosis Virus (necropsy confirmed - I did the mother who died 2 weeks after they hatched, Texas A&M did the daughter and confirmed). I'm culling that group of girls - high likelihood of long term high degree of shedding and ultimately tumors and death. The two Naked Necks are lower risk as they joined the CLs at age 4 weeks (might have developed antibodies and cleared infection), but it's chancy. I wanted to cross the girls with a favorite Naked Neck rooster, Tank. But I don't want to risk him getting infected via mating - I have too many other breeding plans for him... Then again, he is older, and his risk of infection is lower. I suppose I could take a chance.


(I don't want to have to cull the girls, Greta and Grace - can you tell?)




- Ant Farm