Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[Mountain Momma]

A flock of dedicated layers are a hoot to watch Q up, or get in line, in the morning. I'll often go out and refresh water at laying time, just because I love the "laying hour". The rooster stand soberly, quietly by. He's a hoot to watch. The ladies line up. Up on the roost is a pullet. Why isn't she down on the floor, awaiting her turn? Why would any pullet be sitting up on the roost in mid morning anyhow?

Because she doesnt know why everyone is congregating in the coop.?

 

[Beekissed]

Fred says: Tell me if you would cull one, both, neither, and why you think so.

OK, there it is. Is everyone ready for the photos to judge?

First, let it be known I am not a breeder and have only had this breed once and didn't like it, so my judgements will be based on what I know about these birds and comparing them to the ones I have had and with other layer breeds I have had. My assessments are usually purely knee jerk in nature, done at a first glance, and I rarely ever talk it out in my head so please bear with me...I ramble. I'm a nurse, so I do head to toe assessments, per usual.

I don't like either of these birds.

I'd probably cull them both but #1 would probably be first to go. She's 8 mo. and a high production breed but she has the appearance of a bird with underdeveloped sexual characteristics for her breed~comb and wattles are too small, too pale for her prime time of lay. Her feathering is better than #2 and the coloring of her legs is more rich~ but this could indicate her love of the feeder as well, which is a big no-no when I want eggs but don't want to feed a hog. She's got good depth of chest but no butt, hips/legs are too narrowly spaced~toes are almost overlapping she's so close~ and I don't like her tail set..it's at the right angle but no depth to it. She has thicker, stronger bones~as indicated by her leg bones~ but her body tapers too soon.

Final assessment? She all boobs and no butt~but has pretty hair

, not much room for egg production in her body cavity, nor pelvic spacing to have a decent delivery and size...if she lays at all, she'll always have problems and sporadic performance.




Bird # 1

Bird #2 Between the two, she's your layer but I'd still have to cull her eventually~she won't be exceptional or lay for long. I like her comb size & color and length of neck & body~but not the width, I like her bright eye and action, feather quality is poor, her chest is flat but that could be my DP love talkin'...still, I like all my birds to be shaped like a Viking ship, be she DP or not. She's out of balance and proportion, has decent space between her legs but not much hip on her...she has a little too much taper for my liking. Her tail set is too high(though I like a perky tail, it doesn't have enough width of feather(depth) to pull it off) and though it has more depth to it than #1, it still doesn't have enough for me...maybe if that tail was lower it would look deeper? I doubt it. I don't like her stance.



Bird # 2

And that's all I have to say about that. Hey, you newbies, I'm just as nervous as you...I'm not a breeder guy, I just cull 'em as I see 'em.

Get it..cull 'em..? Oh, forget it. It was funny to me.

 

[Maven]

Fred, you have my FULL attention on this lesson - even more now than before!!

My BOs are all good sized, good looking gals for hatchery stock (I have 5 of that breed). But there is one in particular that the roo I posted pictures of has chased out of the coop every night this last week if she dares to go in and try to roost before he and the rest of the gals are settled.

I see no obvious faults to her with my untrained eye - she is built nice and sturdy, is a lively, active forager who often leads the rest further and further afield each day, she is deferred to by most of the rest of the flock.....but HE will chase her down the ramp and clear out of the run if she tries to roost before the rest of the flock is done in.

It will be interesting to see how this develops and how it might apply to my situation here!! I feel an epiphany a'comin'!!!!

 

[galanie]

A flock of dedicated layers are a hoot to watch Q up, or get in line, in the morning.  I'll often go out and refresh water at laying time, just because I love the "laying hour".  The rooster stand soberly, quietly by.  He's a hoot to watch.  The ladies line up.  Up on the roost is a pullet.  Why isn't she down on the floor, awaiting her turn?     Why would any pullet be sitting up on the roost in mid morning anyhow?

Depends. Do you want a layer flock and nothing else? LOL!!!

Had that picked out right away (and with lots of self back patting which is bad for my bones). But I like the build of #1 better. Of course said boy spurned #1. I have a #1 that all the roosters spurn. But she's got troubles that no picture would ever show. She also though happens to be one of my first hens that gets a "by." Few do. And only because I'm too soft with a few. Only a few. But I am.

Troubles with my "#1" is that she lays an egg with no shell often. She has a lot of problems with her plumbing and is picked on by the whole rest of the flock. She is though one that has the breast meat that my other from the same hatch does not have. I'll eventually cull her but it won't be a happy day here in my very own Chickenland.

 

[marty8587]

All this talk about duct tape makes me miss bailing wire!!! I guess Zip ties are partially responsible for its demise.

 

[NikkiMiChickie]

So that young cockerel is able to differentiate between a layer and a non-layer? No use is wasting his efforts on her if she's not even going to bother laying his fertilized egg later on?
So this young cockerel then is a promising rooster-to-be?
Wonder if she smells different? Lol Or if he can see color and also notices those bright legs and pale comb ...seriously though, she clearly acts different.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Hope you all have enjoyed this Pop Quiz and the 7 or 8 posts it took for me to "tell the tale". If you can re-read those 6 or 7 story posts? If you head is nodding in a knowing way? You're making progress as an observant flock keeper. If you still read those 6 or 7 story posts and are blinking like a deer caught in the headlights? Relax.

You'll get there. Developing an "eye" takes a long, long time and experience is the only genuine teacher. It takes an "eye" to keep birds as utilitarian as a silly, single purpose ISA Brown. It takes developed eye to read a dual purpose flock. It takes an eye to breed. 90% of this stuff just isn't in a book somewhere. I see folks quote the Martha Stewart type Book of the Month as if Moses himself brought it down from Sinai. Time. It all takes time. Plus, you've got to care. You have to want to see and understand the animal world and the behaviors and what they mean.

When I enter the bird's world? I'm nothing but a rookie. I've spent a half century coming to try to understand them. I feel like I've just begun. That's how you can do this for over half a century and still remain intrigued and passionate about it.

So, which bird do we cull? #1 or #2 or both? or neither?

 

[Fred's Hens]

So, what would you answer my wife? "How do you know?"

 

[galanie]

So that young cockerel is able to differentiate between a layer and a non-layer? No use is wasting his efforts on her if she's not even going to bother laying his fertilized egg later on?
So this young cockerel then is a promising rooster-to-be?
Wonder if she smells different? Lol Or if he can see color and also notices those bright legs and pale comb ...seriously though, she clearly acts different.

Ok as one who loves feather smell and does at time pick up and smell her chickens (and has a poor producer and just overall bad hen that should have been culled like at least last year), one like this does indeed smell different. Bet you didnt' see that coming, did you? LOL!!

 

[Beekissed]

Clearly I have been spending too much time with curvy DP birds...

Me too, Hon. I like me some fat girls. I've had layers off and on all my life, mostly Leghorns in my youth and RIRs as well...but I developed a certain taste for a certain shape and my eye always goes there. I think it's because when I cull for laying, those are the only gals left.