Chicken Breeding Template

[3riverschick]

Zooeasy has been around a long time and from what I seen seems to be quite popular. I would just go with it if it meets your needs .
You could try 'breeders assistant" software but honestly it's just for animals and Zooeasy has one special for poultry.
Karen

 

[Rancher3535]

Looking at what the program does, I would say it is way more complicated than what you need. You can accomplish the same kind of goals by using an excel spread sheet. Line breeding or spiral breeding in poultry is not that complicated and you can end up with the same kind of goals you want. I have many examples of different set ups.

One of the most important things to remember is to keep a good track of the male you use and what females are in his pen. Every bird on my place has not only a toe punch but also different colored zip ties. Left leg color indicates the year the bird was born. I use the florescent colored zip toes for the year. Right leg has a totally different color for what pen it came from. I use the regular colored zip ties for that.

Do you have a toe punching chart and a toe punch? If you want the toe punch or some of my excel examples let me know and I can and will send them to you.

 

[MrsChicky55]

Wow, after looking over all that info, I expected a much higher price than $52. Yes, that's not cheap, but seems pretty fair to me, for someone that wants to have some serious recordkeeping.
Am i correct, it's only a flat $52?

For as detailed as this system is $52 doesn't seem too steep (especially as no one's offered up maybe a simpler but free spreadsheet they use). The $52 is a one time fee but you can also pay $27/year to get all the updates. They also have it for all kinds of other livestock & pets, each additional species is $29. Still the system looks pretty cool and is not too expensive. It's just this is my first year raising chickens and I'm already over $5,000 in, thought I'd look for a free alternative first so my husband doesn't want to strangle me! But I do really like the looks and the detail of info stored and the accessibility in the zooeasy system. Might have to put it on my Christmas list!

 

[MrsChicky55]

Looking at what the program does, I would say it is way more complicated than what you need. You can accomplish the same kind of goals by using an excel spread sheet. Line breeding or spiral breeding in poultry is not that complicated and you can end up with the same kind of goals you want. I have many examples of different set ups.

One of the most important things to remember is to keep a good track of the male you use and what females are in his pen. Every bird on my place has not only a toe punch but also different colored zip ties. Left leg color indicates the year the bird was born. I use the florescent colored zip toes for the year. Right leg has a totally different color for what pen it came from. I use the regular colored zip ties for that.

Do you have a toe punching chart and a toe punch? If you want the toe punch or some of my excel examples let me know and I can and will send them to you.

I would love an example! I don't mind having to throw my own spreadsheet together even, I just really don't know where to start. If you wouldn't mind sharing yours that would be super helpful! This is my first year with birds and so I haven't done any breeding yet. I haven't even tagged any of my birds yet so thanks for sharing your system for that too. The more ideas and examples I can get before I jump in and tag them, the better decisions I can make on how I want them marked and tracked. I'd really appreciate any info you or anyone else would be willing to share with my newbie self!

 

[MrsChicky55]

As soon as those two eggs hatch I would be sure to immediately snatch those chicks and toe punch them.

Phenotype versus genotype is where it gets interesting. I don't know anything about silkies. I started raising heritage Cornish this year and the more I learn about their genetics the more confused I seem to be. A white Cornish can have 3 different genotypes - WW, Ww or ww . A WW Cornish bred to a Dark cornish and the resulting chicks will all be white with the dominant white will covering the dark gene. A ww bred to a dark cornish will produce all dark offspring but those offspring if bred to each other could result in a hatch mixed with dark and white chicks. -- I think I got that right.

Everything that that program does I do with different colored zip ties, a #2 lead and big chief tablet. I use a razor blade to make a cut in webbing between the toes; the location depends on which pen they came out of. When they become juevenilles and begin to show promise I'll zip tie the leg corresponding to their foot the color is coded to the year they hatched. This way I can grow out the whole lot of them in one pen without losing track of who's who and not eating one that I may want to use as a future breeder. Imo part of this learning project should involve keeping accurate and detailed breeding records, not fill in the blank when prompted by the computer.

That's a good point, I'd thought about tagging them first thing but hadn't thought about how to do that. How do you toe punch? Would it be horrible if I used some yarn until I figure out a better method? I do have some zip ties I could use temporarily too I suppose, but I'm not sure how small I can get them. When I bought my first chicks they had this little coated flexible wire that I liked, but I'm not sure what it is or where to get it.
You're breeding program seems pretty cooll! Actually it sounds really simple which I love. The breed I'm working with might be a little more complex. These silkies were crossbred with Frizzled cochins some F20 generations back, there are a lot of things I need to look for in getting a show quality bird. Black skin coloring, black comb, walnut comb, proper number of toes, proper spacing of toes, the color phenotype vs genotype and there are endless possibilities of that including laced or not. There are even several different types of feathers: silkie feathers, frizzled silkie feathers, sizzle or satin feathers, smooth frizzled feathers, and even birds that appear to be smooth feathered due to a Frizzle modifying gene even though the bird is actually a Frizzle. That's just the genes I can think of off the top of my head. How much info can you track with toe punches? I'm not that familiar with them but I seem to recall seeing something and being surprised at just how many options there were.

 

[MrsChicky55]

Zooeasy has been around a long time and from what I seen seems to be quite popular. I would just go with it if it meets your needs .
You could try 'breeders assistant" software but honestly it's just for animals and Zooeasy has one special for poultry.
Karen

Thanks! I hadn't heard of Breeders Assistant. You're right it doesn't have a template specific to Poultry and yet it's more expensive. It's really nice to be able to have a second system to compare the Zooeasy too. If I do go with that program at least I'll have peace of mind that I went with a high quality program that isn't the most expensive on the market. Maybe that's how I'll sell it to my Financial Planner (my husband)!

 

[Rancher3535]

I would love an example! I don't mind having to throw my own spreadsheet together even, I just really don't know where to start. If you wouldn't mind sharing yours that would be super helpful! This is my first year with birds and so I haven't done any breeding yet. I haven't even tagged any of my birds yet so thanks for sharing your system for that too. The more ideas and examples I can get before I jump in and tag them, the better decisions I can make on how I want them marked and tracked. I'd really appreciate any info you or anyone else would be willing to share with my newbie self!

Send me your e-mail address in a private message and I will share what I have.

 

[MrsChicky55]

Send me your e-mail address in a private message and I will share what I have.

Sure thing, will do. But just FYI, there are a couple of people following this thread in the hopes of getting the same info too. If you have a way to share or are willing to share, they might appreciate the info as well.

 

[Rancher3535]

I tried to up load some info but could not get it to go. The one I sent you about spiral breeding and line breeding is really good and what most poultry breeders do with adaptations to their own needs.

 

[Fairview01]

That's a good point, I'd thought about tagging them first thing but hadn't thought about how to do that. How do you toe punch? Would it be horrible if I used some yarn until I figure out a better method? I do have some zip ties I could use temporarily too I suppose, but I'm not sure how small I can get them. When I bought my first chicks they had this little coated flexible wire that I liked, but I'm not sure what it is or where to get it.
You're breeding program seems pretty cooll! Actually it sounds really simple which I love. The breed I'm working with might be a little more complex. These silkies were crossbred with Frizzled cochins some F20 generations back, there are a lot of things I need to look for in getting a show quality bird. Black skin coloring, black comb, walnut comb, proper number of toes, proper spacing of toes, the color phenotype vs genotype and there are endless possibilities of that including laced or not. There are even several different types of feathers: silkie feathers, frizzled silkie feathers, sizzle or satin feathers, smooth frizzled feathers, and even birds that appear to be smooth feathered due to a Frizzle modifying gene even though the bird is actually a Frizzle. That's just the genes I can think of off the top of my head. How much info can you track with toe punches? I'm not that familiar with them but I seem to recall seeing something and being surprised at just how many options there were.

With all that to keep track perhaps something more than a #2 lead and big chief tablet would be more useful.

You can get toe punches from Amazon for cheap. I've read too many reviews and comments here about the punches not being clean holes and then healing over.

All my chicks go into the same brooder after they hatch. I use a single edge razor(I'm a barber so thats what I have available) and instead of toe punching I gently slice through the webbing where the punch would be. I then have a small bowl beside me full of powdered alum that I dip that foot in. The alum just draws the cut area up and stops any blood flow. I'm not worried about the blood loss. That's minimal but there always seem to be one litlle chick that becomes a pecker when he sees that blood and chases all the chicks going after that foot and keeps the cuts fresh and bleeding.

At their rate a growth if your not checking bands or zip ties every couple three days those first couple weeks they could get hurt.