BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[Kev]

I FINALLY snapped some decent photos of my #1 NN/White Rock meat breeding pullet, Willa:





She weighed in at 4.0 lbs @ 16 weeks and has a nice, meaty breast.

This is the first time I've really paid so much attention to the pullets I've hatched, and I'm thrilled that I have three really nice heavy girls to use in my breeding program.

Nice bird! Meaty breasts seems to be one of the harder things to breed for. It's so pleasing to pick up a bird you bred and feel a goodly amount of breast meat, eh?

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Haha I like both. for some reason I don't like the thighs very much. Really like the breast, legs and wings but the thighs... usually use them as leftovers and stuff between pieces of bread.

Had chicken feet for the first time in Las Vegas earlier this month and they were rather nice. I'd say better tasting than the thighs but could have been the seasoning on the feet(was very good). Kinda freaky to feel the toe bones moving around as you try to eat them.... (and very amusing to eye the table companions' reactions as I ate them..)

And, Chicken soup just isn't right without the feet. We have a large community here that likes chicken feet, they are in demand- I have to pay market price of $2.50 per pound to buy them for my dogs (treats!)

 

[ejcrist]

VERY pretty hen...except for that bare patch around the neck.

Other than that, she's got lovely color and patterns and seems really meaty in her body.

Yeah, I gotta go with Beekissed on that bald spot. I betcha that would make for very easy processing though since there's no feathers to get in the way.

 

[Beekissed]

I'll be utilizing all the feet this year for stock...makes for good stock. Then will be dehydrating them to feed as dog treats later on. Those are $.99 per at the local farm store, so worth a good bit to have some on hand. I'll likely have around 20 cockerels of my own and any I can scavenge for free out of the locals, so that's a lot of dog treats.

This will make y'all laugh....called about an ad in the free locals last night. The ad was in the "other animals" section and stated: "15-20 roosters, all kinds and sizes, $20". I figured that would be a good deal for picking up some cheap meats and dog treats, so I called. The lady started laughing when I asked if she still had her roosters and said, "They are ceramic." Said that was the second call she'd had that day to see if the roosters were still for sale, folks wanting them for meat. We had a good laugh about it, but I'm guessing she'll be more detailed in the wording of her next ad.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

I have a breeding question. I have a flock of 25 or 30 cockerels (numbers keep going down as I select), just under 3 months old. Three of these cockerels, two barred hollands and a buckeye, will not leave the coop. Once the buckeye went out and got thrashed, so I suppose that's why.
I assume these 3 are at the very bottom of the pecking order. They are all on the small side.
My gut feeling is that these will never develop into anything worth keeping as breeders, but am I overlooking anything? Good temperament is important to me, but I don't want to confuse nice with cowards. Would you cull these now, or wait and see?

 

[Beer can]

@CanadianBuckeye personally I'd keep the biggest first, then figure out which one's have the best temperament from them.

 

[oshun55555]

Quote: I have named a few, but when the time came I changed their name to Food. Come time to process them always pulls at my heart, and I have processed more chickens than most have seen. I never really get used to it, and I treat my animals like family. But the purpose I have them is to feed me and my family.

 

[oshun55555]

@CanadianBuckeye personally I'd keep the biggest first, then figure out which one's have the best temperament from them.

What Beer can said.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

And, Chicken soup just isn't right without the feet. We have a large community here that likes chicken feet, they are in demand- I have to pay market price of $2.50 per pound to buy them for my dogs (treats!)

Gotta agree - feet make the best soup ever.

Quote: You betcha. MUCH easier to process. (I just processed 9 fully feathered boys last week, such a chore compared to the Naked Necks...)

- Ant Farm

 

[DesertChic]

I have a breeding question. I have a flock of 25 or 30 cockerels (numbers keep going down as I select), just under 3 months old. Three of these cockerels, two barred hollands and a buckeye, will not leave the coop. Once the buckeye went out and got thrashed, so I suppose that's why.
I assume these 3 are at the very bottom of the pecking order. They are all on the small side.
My gut feeling is that these will never develop into anything worth keeping as breeders, but am I overlooking anything? Good temperament is important to me, but I don't want to confuse nice with cowards. Would you cull these now, or wait and see?

The first thought that flickered through my head was, "Go with the biggest", but then I remembered a recent experience that gave me pause. I had about a dozen cockerels housed together and noticed one day that Zazzle, a bird I had originally planned to keep for breeding, had gone from being a big handsome boy to being a skinny, cowardly creature that didn't want to leave the windowsill in his pen. After observing for a while I realized that a rather thin but scrappy cockerel I'd always planned on culling had turned into quite the tormentor, and as I handled more and more of those boys I realized that most of them were being denied feed. Once I removed that trouble maker I discovered that a few birds I'd written off were actually turning out to be really nice boys worthy of a second look.

So...what exactly are you looking for in your keepers? Size only? Temperament? Personality traits?

Now that Zazzle's tormentor is long gone he's actually turned out to not only be a nice big boy, but also a very attentive rooster that works hard to look after his girls. He has a terrible crow though. Seriously...I may have to cull him just so I don't have to hear that crow again.