BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[Turk Raphael]

I have to get going on a chicken dinner too. I plan to dry pluck, it doesn't seem that difficult (we'll see) and it looks less messy and less stinky than the scalding.

That's why Canadians carry hockey sticks. They have come to realize that they have to bang each other over the head once in a while to get the message pounded into them. I suspect 'bout half way through that chicken, some very hot water will come into play...

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

That's why Canadians carry hockey sticks. They have come to realize that they have to bang each other over the head once in a while to get the message pounded into them. I suspect 'bout half way through that chicken, some very hot water will come into play...

We'll see!

The problem with hot water is that it melts the ice, and if you didn't know this small piece of Canadian Trivia, a half- plucked chicken makes a great hockey puck.

Watch for the slap shots though.

SCORE!!!!!!!

 

[NanaKat]

Eggs are hatching a day early! Already have a little naked neck bouncing around the other eggs!

 

[DesertChic]

Eggs are hatching a day early! Already have a little naked neck bouncing around the other eggs!

Yay!!!!!

 

[abbevilleoz]

Yay!!!!! e   

 

[dfr1973]

Eggs are hatching a day early! Already have a little naked neck bouncing around the other eggs!

Must be something in the air - my GLW eggs started hatching a good 6 hours too early - I had not yet taken the autoturner out, so they are hatching on that (unplugged).

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

I had a pleasant surprise last night- kind of unexpected. I have four Buckeye x Red sex link cross cockerels. I've been watching them grow, they are 16 weeks old and I'm trying to pick the best 2 to continue breeding with. One of the boys is huge, very heavy, and very well endowed with breast meat. Generally the Buckeye egg layer crosses have sharp keels and not much breast, but this guy is meaty! I should get a weight on him, he's at least as heavy if not more so than the Buckeyex Cornish crosses. I wonder how that happened.
I'm actually having a tough time choosing which roosters might be best for breeding for dual purpose egg laying. It's pretty clear which ones are meaty, but I'm not sure how to choose one that is both meaty and would make a good egg layer breeding rooster. I'm going to look for a long keel and deep body and decent breast meat, but I wonder if choosing a smaller rooster rather than the biggest is the way to go. I'm pretty sure this one rooster will top 10 pounds when he's done, which I believe isn't that great for egg laying ability as apparently hens bigger than 7 pounds tend to be poor egg layers. The Buckeye x red sex link hens are a good size too.

 

[DesertChic]

I had a pleasant surprise last night- kind of unexpected. I have four Buckeye x Red sex link cross cockerels. I've been watching them grow, they are 16 weeks old and I'm trying to pick the best 2 to continue breeding with. One of the boys is huge, very heavy, and very well endowed with breast meat. Generally the Buckeye egg layer crosses have sharp keels and not much breast, but this guy is meaty! I should get a weight on him, he's at least as heavy if not more so than the Buckeyex Cornish crosses. I wonder how that happened.
I'm actually having a tough time choosing which roosters might be best for breeding for dual purpose egg laying. It's pretty clear which ones are meaty, but I'm not sure how to choose one that is both meaty and would make a good egg layer breeding rooster. I'm going to look for a long keel and deep body and decent breast meat, but I wonder if choosing a smaller rooster rather than the biggest is the way to go. I'm pretty sure this one rooster will top 10 pounds when he's done, which I believe isn't that great for egg laying ability as apparently hens bigger than 7 pounds tend to be poor egg layers. The Buckeye x red sex link hens are a good size too.

I know this goes against most sage advice, but with my NNs, my rooster that had the fastest growth rate and meatiest, compact build has actually sired some of my best egg layers. It surprises me, but it's true. His latest daughter, my little girl, Rue, laid her first egg on July 31st, took two days off, and has laid every single day since then. That's 5 straight weeks without a break! And two of his other daughters displayed the same tendencies. My theory is that his obvious health and vigor may have improved the girls' health and egg laying.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

I know this goes against most sage advice, but with my NNs, my rooster that had the fastest growth rate and meatiest, compact build has actually sired some of my best egg layers. It surprises me, but it's true. His latest daughter, my little girl, Rue, laid her first egg on July 31st, took two days off, and has laid every single day since then. That's 5 straight weeks without a break! And two of his other daughters displayed the same tendencies. My theory is that his obvious health and vigor may have improved the girls' health and egg laying.

Well that's very interesting! I wonder if his mom was an exceptional layer? That's quite the impressive rooster you have there, definitely a keeper and congratulations- good eye for spotting a winner.

Your hen does look like she has a nice wide back, I'm looking for that as well.

 

[ronott1]

I know this goes against most sage advice, but with my NNs, my rooster that had the fastest growth rate and meatiest, compact build has actually sired some of my best egg layers. It surprises me, but it's true. His latest daughter, my little girl, Rue, laid her first egg on July 31st, took two days off, and has laid every single day since then. That's 5 straight weeks without a break! And two of his other daughters displayed the same tendencies. My theory is that his obvious health and vigor may have improved the girls' health and egg laying.

You are talking about the theory that they can either make meat or eggs but not both?

You are proving that one to be false. I have seen this with Pita Pintas too. The cockerels are big fast and the pullets\hens lay lots of big eggs.

The number of egg laid has to do with the ovaries producing eggs. That is a selected gene on it's own--does not link to meat production.