Chantecler Thread!

[Folly's place]

I bought 20 white chicks from Cackle this April, and have kept two cockerels and six pullets; hope for some nice (not that nice!?) birds. Pictures later. The cockerels weighed in at 5.5 lbs. and 5.3 lbs. at 15 weeks of age. Is that reasonable? I've managed to misplace my records from the past, safely stored somewhere...
Mary

 

[BantyChooks]

I bought 20 white chicks from Cackle this April, and have kept two cockerels and six pullets; hope for some nice (not that nice!?) birds. Pictures later. The cockerels weighed in at 5.5 lbs. and 5.3 lbs. at 15 weeks of age. Is that reasonable? I've managed to misplace my records from the past, safely stored somewhere...
Mary

That seems reasonable. I believe standard weight is 7.5 lbs for a cockerel, but 15 weeks is quite young.

 

[BantyChooks]

I had a decent year with my buff chantecler bantams. I hatched around ten birds, seven from a cockerel I produced last year and an original hen, and three from the other two birds of my original trio. Unfortunately, I lost one of the latter group to a freak accident. The others are growing out well, though they look more like their mother than I had hoped. It's a rather small group to choose from, but taking into account the fertility issues I contended with last year, I am simply happy to have any juveniles at all. It does look like I have some rose combs being thrown, but I have not culled any so far as I prefer to avoid doing so at a young age when my breeding population is so limited.

 

[Folly's place]

A few years ago my very best white cockerel, in every other way, had a rose comb.
He moved to a nice backyard flock where he could produce nice mixes, so he had a life, but it figures, the joys of breeding...
I sent my one surviving rooster, two years old, to another home recently. he was my third choice, but the survivor of my dog's attacks last spring. Hoping that one of the 2020 cockerels is going to be an improvement!
Every year we try, at least.
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Some snapshots today, two pullets, and two cockerels, all fifteen weeks old last Wednesday.
Opinions???

The boys are out with the hens, working on being impressive for them!
Mary

 

[BantyChooks]

Decent topline on that first cockerel so far. He has a bit of almost beard-like feathering on his face, a trait I have also noted in some of my former Partridge hens. I will be quite interested in seeing how they turn out, especially the pullets as they look rather light at the moment.

 

[Folly's place]

I'll post more photos as they grow, and they are moving targets! I fuss over decisions about who should stay, and went with 'weighs more' as a major determinant. Couldn't keep the entire group, so we'll see.
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Just reread your article about managing roosters, and again, it's excellent! You spent a lot of time writing, so good of you.
Experience, it takes experience!
Mary

 

[BantyChooks]

Just reread your article about managing roosters, and again, it's excellent! You spent a lot of time writing, so good of you.
Experience, it takes experience!
Mary

Thank you, I appreciate your kind words. I have several more data points I would like to add, and some experiments to back those up; unfortunately I do not have the infrastructure to do so. Perhaps over the fall, when I don't have full breeding pens. It's a work in progress.

 

[BantyChooks]

Unfortunately, one of my original Buff Chantecler bantam hens went missing the other day, most likely to a fox. I have about 7 birds growing out from her eggs, some of which are shaping up quite nicely. I think their facial structure is an improvement on their father, and their feathering is an improvement on their mother; she had a tendency towards loose feathering with a profuse cushion which lent her an unbalanced and nearly Cochin-esque silhouette.