breeding

[thylton48]

I don't know if this is the right forum for my question are not, but will ask anyway. Can anyone suggest a good book or website about breeding chickens. I would like to experment with breeding but not sure what is involved such as selection of stock, pens, record keeping and such. Any help will be appreciated.

 

[Mrs. K]

I think the most important things to do is get the standards of the breed, a sharp knife, and good records.

Color is the easiest, body shapes are the hardest, egg laying can be tricky to keep count of each hen. Understand that the sooner you start the better, and it takes really about a decade to start making some serious headway... but in the meantime you get eggs, and eat a lot of mistakes and gain more experience.

Going to shows to learn what is good, and what is a weakness is good education too. Hooking up with some professionals can also be a wealth of information and sometimes, better genetics.

It is a worthwhile project, but it is a long term project.

Mrs K

 

[thylton48]

I think the most important things to do is get the standards of the breed, a sharp knife, and good records.

Color is the easiest, body shapes are the hardest, egg laying can be tricky to keep count of each hen. Understand that the sooner you start the better, and it takes really about a decade to start making some serious headway... but in the meantime you get eggs, and eat a lot of mistakes and gain more experience.

Going to shows to learn what is good, and what is a weakness is good education too. Hooking up with some professionals can also be a wealth of information and sometimes, better genetics.

It is a worthwhile project, but it is a long term project.

Mrs K

Thanks Mrs. K
I am not looking to breed show quality birds. Being recently retired I just thought it would be fun to try and improve the egg laying of my flock and have an interesting hobby at the same time. Guess what I need direction on is the mechanics of breeding. Having always had mixed breed flocks and hatched whatever eggs where gathered from the nest boxes, I don't know simple things like how to determine which are my best layers to use for breeding, how to mark the hens to identify which were breed, keeping breeding records, etc... Suppose one could figure most things out common sense and experience; but it would be nice to have some guidance before starting. Guess I'll quit rambling now.

 

[Mrs. K]

No problem, and I am hoping someone else will chime in. In a free run, especially if all the birds are one breed, then their eggs look similar, and it can be tricky to know who is laying what.

And I would like to be the first to point out, that I have only kept anecdotal records, as in, hmmmm the blue egg layer seems to be giving me an egg each day. So in a mixed flock, sometimes you can identify which egg goes with who. Take a couple of pictures of eggs, so that you know which is which, and keep a tally. Or separate you birds into individual pens say for 10 days, and keep track how many eggs in 10 days, give you a quick percentage. Two or three cages, and in 30 days, I would be able to test most of my hens.

But if it is egg laying that you would like to improve on, a much easier way, might be to look at the rooster. Get a rooster of a breed that is noted for it's egg laying. Then you don't have to separate anybody, and if you even keep fairly casual results of your hen's egg laying such as, keep a bowl of eggs on the counter, dating your eggs with a pencil, at the end of the period, say two weeks, sort your eggs, and the most prevalent group are the eggs you hatch.

Personally, I just bought a rooster, a Bielfeilder, which has some color patterns that I think will do better on the prairie, but can't really find out anything on their egg laying so hoping I did not shoot myself in the foot.

Mrs K
and this is a fascinating hobby with benefits! I have enjoyed it for years sometimes according to my plans, and sometimes not!

 

[Den in Penn]

If you are looking to find out who is laying what you could do trap nests. You have to take the time to let them out after they lay, but you will know who laid. Leg bands to identify who's who's.

 

[Sustained]

Gel food coloring squirted on the vent, just a few drops, will color the eggs laid by the hen. Use bright colors and keep a record of who is which color. The coloring lasts about 5 days usually

 

[thylton48]

If you are looking to find out who is laying what you could do trap nests. You have to take the time to let them out after they lay, but you will know who laid. Leg bands to identify who's who's.

Thanks Den in Penn, could you explain how a trap nest works; never heard of them,

 

[thylton48]

Gel food coloring squirted on the vent, just a few drops, will color the eggs laid by the hen. Use bright colors and keep a record of who is which color. The coloring lasts about 5 days usually

Thanks Sustained, that is an interesting idea, very clever. That my be the solution to my problem.

 

[thylton48]

No problem, and I am hoping someone else will chime in. In a free run, especially if all the birds are one breed, then their eggs look similar, and it can be tricky to know who is laying what.

And I would like to be the first to point out, that I have only kept anecdotal records, as in, hmmmm the blue egg layer seems to be giving me an egg each day. So in a mixed flock, sometimes you can identify which egg goes with who. Take a couple of pictures of eggs, so that you know which is which, and keep a tally. Or separate you birds into individual pens say for 10 days, and keep track how many eggs in 10 days, give you a quick percentage. Two or three cages, and in 30 days, I would be able to test most of my hens.

But if it is egg laying that you would like to improve on, a much easier way, might be to look at the rooster. Get a rooster of a breed that is noted for it's egg laying. Then you don't have to separate anybody, and if you even keep fairly casual results of your hen's egg laying such as, keep a bowl of eggs on the counter, dating your eggs with a pencil, at the end of the period, say two weeks, sort your eggs, and the most prevalent group are the eggs you hatch.

Personally, I just bought a rooster, a Bielfeilder, which has some color patterns that I think will do better on the prairie, but can't really find out anything on their egg laying so hoping I did not shoot myself in the foot.

Mrs K
and this is a fascinating hobby with benefits! I have enjoyed it for years sometimes according to my plans, and sometimes not!

Thanks for the suggestion Mrs K, intend to get another rooster, need to research good layers,

 

[aart]

There's lots of trap nests designs out there to build if you are very handy...I think you can probably by them too...do a google search on trap nests.
But it takes a lot of time and attention to utilize them..but if you are retired and can check the birds every hour or less it might be a good way to go.

You might want multiple breeding pens aside from your main coop and run, especially if you are going to use multiple roosters, to segregate pairings.

Organizing the the bird physical confinements will lead the to the outline of your records.

Do you already keep chickens?