BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[GabrielBane]

Congrats! I have a dozen coming from a local breeder, once they feather out, I may order 25 more from Dunlap, if I can sneak it past the SO....

 

[FaerieChicken]

I second pressure cooking, makes the meat really tender.

I had my NN rooster running with the girls last month in my old pens but wasn't sure if he was doing the job,

Guess he's doing just fine!

Just hatched out a NN, I think it is a girl.... I know the one pic is spooky looking with no eyes, but I think she just moved while shooting the photo. Also, it is difficult to see that it is NN.

 

[GabrielBane]

Is it good to weigh the chicks? I had weighed the eggs when first set. The chicks are now almost 3 weeks old. But if I weigh them now, it wouldn't tell me if they are going to be good as a table bird? 

How long do you weigh? ie Every week, every other week?

I do weighing once a week (They arrived via mail on a Wednesday, so I do it typically on Thursday mornings.), it won't really tell me much about what they'll end up weighing, but it helps with determining rate of growth.

 

[FaerieChicken]

I do weighing once a week (They arrived via mail on a Wednesday, so I do it typically on Thursday mornings.), it won't really tell me much about what they'll end up weighing, but it helps with determining rate of growth.

Oh ok, I am new to trying to breed for meat. I have several different breeds that I am experimenting with to acquire a sustainable tasty meat chicken, that is slower growing and able to open pasture and forage well.

So far I have a Rainbow Rooster that I pardoned for covering my Jersey Giant, Black Australorp, NN, Cuckoo Marans and a Partridge Rock, total of 6 hens in with him.

I am looking for the Sulmtaler breed as well to add to the mix.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Quote:
Weighing weekly (esp. as you get started), and plotting that growth, is really helpful for breeding for meat, because one of the things you want is a certain amount of weight/growth (which you'll decide on for yourself) by a certain young age. It is helpful in making the "cuts" for culling, and if one (or all) start falling off, you may want to see if something is going wrong. I found that it was helpful to use as a routine with the chicks, and I was sure I got a look at each one each week. It also helped when I compared to another breed I was growing out. And depending on the breed, you can even get an early hint at gender for some. Here's an example of my chart up to 12 weeks old from some NNs from Ideal that I got. You can see the split between males and females (of course, it was obvious by looking at them at that point). The quick growing light blue line at the top is Snape, my chosen main flock leader and breeder (though if he comes at me again, he may not stay that way):



- Ant Farm

 

[DesertChic]

Is it good to weigh the chicks? I had weighed the eggs when first set. The chicks are now almost 3 weeks old. But if I weigh them now, it wouldn't tell me if they are going to be good as a table bird?

How long do you weigh? ie Every week, every other week?

Yep, as others here have already stated, the accumulation of regular data such as weights and rate of growth is extremely helpful in determining which birds are keepers and which should be culled. I weigh my birds weekly up to about 10 weeks, and then start tapering off to every 2 weeks up until roughly 18-24 weeks of age. Not only do I see which birds are growing most quickly, but tracking their gains also helps me determine at what point I can cut back on the amount of protein in their feed, and thereby save myself some money. Going through the process of weighing on a regular basis also makes the birds more comfortable with being handled. And like @Fire Ant Farm , I also graph the results for a visual aid.

 

[Kev]

What do you use to keep track and make graphs like that?

What do you use for weighing the birds?


Up until last fall, weight was not really an interest of mine.. if size was part of selection, it was done by eyeballing/handling same age birds. Pretty rough and nothing close to some of you have been doing!

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

What do you use to keep track and make graphs like that?

What do you use for weighing the birds?


Up until last fall, weight was not really an interest of mine.. if size was part of selection, it was done by eyeballing/handling same age birds. Pretty rough and nothing close to some of you have been doing!

I use a digital scale (kitchen style) - when they get past a certain size and/or it's hard to get them to stand still, I put a bucket on the scale, tare the scale, and then place the bird in the bucket (it's not a deep one). I just use Excel to track and make charts...

- Ant Farm

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

You really do have to weigh them, some chickens are real lightweights under the fluffy feathers. I've been fooled many times thinking a fluffy chicken was much bigger and heavier than another. Tight feathering can make a bird look small. Although if the birds are completely naked, you probably could do a decent job just comparing them as is

 

[Kev]