BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[FaerieChicken]

Has anyone had or currently have, white laced red cornish and regular cornish?

 

[3riverschick]

Try Walt Leonard . if anybody knows he will he has a website at
HTTP://www.rosecomb.com

 

[jbkirk]

So, what has been going on of interest with relation to your chickens?

In my flock I have a batch of chicks almost ready to hatch, and will be able to start pasturing my adults soon!

 

[DesertChic]

So, what has been going on of interest with relation to your chickens?

In my flock I have a batch of chicks almost ready to hatch, and will be able to start pasturing my adults soon!

I'm getting ready to reduce my rooster count again, have 2 hens in isolation because they've been mated so often that they have huge, gaping wounds under their wing feathers, and tomorrow night is my first candling of the eggs in the incubator. I'm also preparing to transition a whole bunch if chickens to new pens. My Silver Grey Dorkings are closing in on 18 weeks and need to go into their "grown-up pen". The pullets from my last hatch will then move to the grow-out pen, and that cockerels from that hatch will stay in the nursery until I cull them down to just the keepers.

Spring...the season of change.

 

[ejcrist]

Gosh I got a couple of layer hens that have the same wear and tear you're describing. When I went out there today I thought I had a new Naked Neck in the run but it was just the one hen the rooster likes the most. I'm going to separate that rooster for a while to give the girls some time to recover. He's an excellent rooster but is very narrow minded.

 

[DesertChic]

Gosh I got a couple of layer hens that have the same wear and tear you're describing. When I went out there today I thought I had a new Naked Neck in the run but it was just the one hen the rooster likes the most. I'm going to separate that rooster for a while to give the girls some time to recover. He's an excellent rooster but is very narrow minded.

Yeah, that's why I need to cut down my rooster population here too. There are a lot of bald hen backs on my property. My poor girls need a break.

I had originally thought that Heisenberg was to blame for the injuries I'm seeing because of his massive spurs (3-4 inches long), but after watching him breed a few hens yesterday I realized that he's surprisingly gentle with them, leaving no marks at all. Now I've figured out that it's my massive Dark Cornish (inexperienced) cockerel who's probably too blame. Both of the hens with the major injuries are his favorites, so once the girls are healed up I'll probably have to put the DC in isolation until he matures a bit more. I'm still trimming Heisenberg's spurs though.

I also watched my big boy Tubbs as he tried to mate a hen he caught. He expended all of his energy catching her, and then literally stood on top of her, holding her down, while he caught his breath before mating her. She was just trapped there, crying pathetically. I had really hoped to cross Tubbs with some of my NNs, but he's just too darn big, and I'm not going to perform artificial insemination as he really doesn't like to be handled and will probably have a heart attack if I try. I'll be culling him within the week.

At least his flockmate pullet, Clara Belle, has now begun laying eggs regularly, and it's much easier for my NN rooster to mate her so I can get fertile eggs. I'll pamper her and breed her instead of Tubbs. I have two of her eggs in the incubator right now and will find out if they're developing tonight at my first candling.

 

[Gorman Farm]

I tried chicken saddles this year for the first time, but then the edges of the wings got the brunt of it because the saddle was too hard to grasp. Ugh.
My hens are enjoying some R&R before I grow out another Roo.

 

[DesertChic]

I tried chicken saddles this year for the first time, but then the edges of the wings got the brunt of it because the saddle was too hard to grasp. Ugh.
My hens are enjoying some R&R before I grow out another Roo.

I've had zero luck with chicken saddles. My girls are master escape artists no matter how well-constructed the saddle is. They HATE them.

 

[Gorman Farm]

I've had zero luck with chicken saddles. My girls are master escape artists no matter how well-constructed the saddle is. They HATE them.

Mine staid on the hens no problem, however the rooster them grasped them by the upper wing and made a new raw spot. Ya can't win. I hope their feathers grow back soon, poor girls.

 

[ejcrist]

Mine staid on the hens no problem, however the rooster them grasped them by the upper wing and made a new raw spot. Ya can't win. I hope their feathers grow back soon, poor girls.

I've had zero luck with chicken saddles. My girls are master escape artists no matter how well-constructed the saddle is. They HATE them.

I've been told by experienced breeders that I should keep the cocks separated from the hens unless I'm in the process of breeding them, and I hate to say it but I think as a general rule they're right. I do think it mostly depends on the cock bird though. But like in the case of my layers, which I'm not too concerned about since they're not in it to win any beauty contests, it's not just the gals that go through the mill but my rooster Hoss too. For whatever reason the gals can't stand to see sickle and hackle feathers on him and constantly pull 'em out. And then he's left with little nubs on his butt and neck that I thought at first were some kind of bugs but upon closer inspection I realized they were the roots of his pin feathers. Well, I guess the girls think they're bugs too because they're constantly picking at them and so no feathers get a chance to grow. So I guess it goes both ways. At any rate I'm definitely going to separate him tomorrow so they can all heal up and hopefully get back to looking reasonable instead of like some homeless chickens standing on a street corner.