BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[3riverschick]

Hi,
Somewhere someone was discussing how to improve egg production. I went looking around at herbs and plants to help and time after time the articles from the herbalists and their books kept suggesting dried crushed nettle leaves. Not sure which kind of nettle or how much to give ( will the birds just take as much as they need like with the grit?) But throwing this out there if anyone is interested.
Best,
Karen

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

My chickens won't touch stinging nettle, even when it's very young and tender in the spring. My feelings are, once the optimum nutrition is given, it's all about genetics and selection. I do believe that chickens need a good source of meat and/ or insect protein in their diet. I still feel very strongly that commerical feed is all about minimum nutrition, not optimum nutrition.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I've given dried nettles free-choice during the winter. Sometimes they eat them and sometimes not. Supposed to be high in plant-based calcium but not sure how bio-available it is.

 

[lpatelski]

I am so proud! I sent three Dark Cornish birds to Iowa for a 4-H project and looky-looky.
They took GRAND CHAMPION Breeding pair and the pullet took...





GRAND CHAMPION OVERALL POULTRY for the whole show.

I know it's just a little County Fair, but

I am glad to give this little girl her big wins!

 

[oshun55555]

Quote: I was surprised myself, little is said of them. I have been trying to get a bird just like this for many years, I have had many birds to add to the mix, but out of shear curiosity I bought some Rainbow chicks, maybe it would be a good addition. They exceeded my expectations, they do not finish out at 12 weeks like the hatcheries say at 12 weeks they finish out about 3-4 lb, more like 14-15 weeks for hens to reach 4-5 lb and the cockerels to 5-6 lb, and it was taking 6 - 8 months to get a nice size roaster from the Dark and Buff Cornish I have, even the mixes with hybrid vigor could not match these birds, so I said to myself why reinvent the wheel and just raise these, they have been breeding true with the second generation finishing out as fast and as big, the hens are amazing layers, they forage on range great, they are very docile. Mcmurray sells only straight run chicks, but efowl you can get male and females seperate, they are a truly dual purpose birds that finishes out beautifully. I will post pics of the F1s and F2s dressed in another week and half and you can see for yourself. They are a new breed and I guess they are still working on them, they are many colored birds but hell i don't eat the feathers.

 

[stryker]

I was surprised myself, little is said of them. I have been trying to get a bird just like this for many years, I have had many birds to add to the mix, but out of shear curiosity I bought some Rainbow chicks, maybe it would be a good addition. They exceeded my expectations, they do not finish out at 12 weeks like the hatcheries say at 12 weeks they finish out about 3-4 lb, more like 14-15 weeks for hens to reach 4-5 lb and the cockerels to 5-6 lb, and it was taking 6 - 8 months to get a nice size roaster from the Dark and Buff Cornish I have, even the mixes with hybrid vigor could not match these birds, so I said to myself why reinvent the wheel and just raise these, they have been breeding true with the second generation finishing out as fast and as big, the hens are amazing layers, they forage on range great, they are very docile. Mcmurray sells only straight run chicks, but efowl you can get male and females seperate, they are a truly dual purpose birds that finishes out beautifully. I will post pics of the F1s and F2s dressed in another week and half and you can see for yourself. They are a new breed and I guess they are still working on them, they are many colored birds but hell i don't eat the feathers.

I am also very interested in the birds. I hand picked 4 cornish X pullet chicks by luck at the feed store 9 weeks ago and was going to use them for my breeding stock but they were so big that they could barely walk. I ended up butchering them yesterday. I had the feed inside the chicken coop and the water outside so they would have to move around.

These birds would do better from what you said.

I would agree with you about not eating the feathers! I might have to get some to see how they do.

 

[lcertuche]

I definitely want to get some of these Dixie Rainbows. They sound like a truly dual purpose bird. I would like to get straight run for meat and eggs. I free-range my birds along with FF. We have 3 ponds on the property and a small creek and I am always seeing my birds running by with a frog dangling. They found a nest of pack rat babies, small snakes or anything to slow to get away. They also get all our scraps. My BSL cockerels are pretty puny at 18 or 19 weeks but come cooler weather they will go in the freezer. My same age Production Red pullets are on the small size too so I don't expect their offspring to be much bigger.

If I get 50 Rainbows I should have enough pullets for eggs and fill up my freezer. I like that they grow slower too because I like to use the birds for insect patrol around the house. They really keep the tick population down, not to mention crickets, grasshoppers, ants, etc.. I think getting a good DC and maybe a NH to breed to the Rainbows will produce a really sustainable dual purpose bird. Trading out rooster every year or two will help (I think) the genetic diversity may help with overall resilience of the flock over time. I have a large family and 'size does matter', lol. I will be watching this thread to see how the 2nd and 3rd generation rainbows come out. With hybrids it is a roll of the dice when reproducing desired traits.

I love this thread and look forward to seeing how everyone's attempt to have decent production birds comes out. My family loves meat and eggs so if I can get a flock I really want a DP that has a decent amount of meat on it. That means 5-7 pounds processed and at least 200 eggs (more would be better). An occasional broody to hatch eggs. Oh, to dream... Am I asking too much?

I probably won't be able to get the birds until spring but looking forward to the process.

 

[oshun55555]

Quote: I have tried adding Cornish X hens in the mix and I had trouble getting them to live to breeding age for very long. These are just what I was breeding for, so I will just improve on these birds since the biggest part of the work has already been done. So I am for the moment giving up on creating my own meat bird, if I were a younger man I just might keep working on it.

 

[stryker]

I have tried adding Cornish X hens in the mix and I had trouble getting them to live to breeding age for very long. These are just what I was breeding for, so I will just improve on these birds since the biggest part of the work has already been done. So I am for the moment giving up on creating my own meat bird, if I were a younger man I just might keep working on it.

I cannot wait to see your birds...

 

[ejcrist]

I have Dorking mixes, but found it insanely difficult to find any pure Dorkings. My mixes haven't done too badly in the heat, but their personalities are highly variable and several of them are downright awful. In fact, for the first time every I'm going to cull hens, and all of them are my Dorking mixes. I've heard nothing but praise for pure Dorkings, but like I said, they're really hard to get your hands on. The Dorking-mix cockerels I culled really didn't taste any different to me that most of the other breeds I culled. Maybe the pure are better?

I'm glad you're at least considering the NNs. I actually just sold some hatching eggs to a young man living down in my area who wants to start raising NNs. I love that the appreciation for the breed is increasing because they really are wonderful birds.

Right now, as I type this, I have eggs FINALLY hatching in my incubator, most of which are DC and DC mixes from @lpatelski . I plan to cross them with my best NNs to further improve their meat production. Right now my biggest NN rooster weighed in at just over 11 lbs today, and my heaviest hen came in just shy of 8 lbs. This is from my elder flock, which are now closing in on being 2 years old. I'm hoping to see that kind of weight on my younger birds from here on out. I'm already really happy with my NN/White Rock crosses, which are showing really impressive growth rates as well as an increase in overall musculature. Hopefully I can keep the trend going in the right direction.

Okay DesertChic, after much thought and deep, deep reflection I finally broke down and added a half dozen straight run NN's to one of my fall orders per all the good reviews everyone has given them. I was telling friends and family what I heard about them on here, and after I mentioned they're supposedly delicious and referred them to an article I read about French gourmet chicken being NN's everyone insisted we give 'em a go. Hopefully we'll get a good cockerel and pullet out of the bunch to keep for breeding - we won't eat them but we'll BBQ the rest and see how they are. If they're as tasty as everyone says I'll switch over to them for BBQ exclusively. Nothin' like good-n-fresh chicken off the grill if ya know what I mean.