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

[delisha]

I really enjoy the additional focused educational twist this thread is taking. One thing I lack is the *how come* and *why* of Heritage breeds. I love my chickens and what I have done with them, but i would love to add more focus and carbon copies. I just can't seem to breed *like* and I want to know why. I really think this new twist will open my eyes to understanding that.

 

[Beekissed]

Fred, I like what you are proposing and it would be like having guest lecturers visiting our little country school...and would be an honor beyond compare. The attention span is short here, so long lectures would probably not fly but I think one breed on one day each would be perfect and not have the information drawn out and strung out on the thread.

I think some ground work by someone like you to explain the differences for each breed that these people will see in the original breed characteristics and their counterfeits from the hatchery. That will be the main struggle, I think, is for people to understand that this is what to strive for but don't get too expectant to find it from hatchery sources. I don't want them to be discouraged because they cannot afford good birds and have to work with substandard, but I do want them to know what is the ideal so they can cull for those that are closest to it in their hatchery stock.

The main problem nowadays~and I have the same problem~is that some of us haven't seen a true breed for so long that we've forgotten what it looked and acted like~ or that most have never seen a true breed at all.

I think we are entering the next step up in the evolution of this thread and everyone is excited to go further than first grade, so please, please continue. I could have never done this at all on my own and my experience in these things is horribly limited(I've mostly raised mutts all my life), so I am just humming with excitement over all this!

Sitting in the class, waiting for the lesson to begin. Brought an apple.

And popcorn.

 

[wsmith]

And don't forget to include American Dominiques in the class schedule......

 

[champer]

Watching the social order of chickens is one of my favorite pastimes. It helped keep me reasonably sane while working 20 years at the university.

There is a nice show in Hollister Jan 12-13 (Baldo Park)...just down the road from you. It is an opportunity to see some pretty nice birds.

Walt

Thanks for the heads up on the show! I used to go to the herding dog trials at Bolado Park.

 

[Beekissed]

And don't forget to include American Dominiques in the class schedule......

PLEASE! The Dominique used to be my grandma's favorite and those of my own when I was young....laid like a gumball machine for a good long running. Those I got from a hatchery were horrible layers~had starts and fits~ and died of heart attacks right off the roost in their second winter. Wish they were still like they used to be.

 

[wsmith]

PLEASE! The Dominique used to be my grandma's favorite and those of my own when I was young....laid like a gumball machine for a good long running. Those I got from a hatchery were horrible layers~had starts and fits~ and died of heart attacks right off the roost in their second winter. Wish they were still like they used to be.

That's one of the goals we are working towards. We have a nice rooster (he's my avatar), ad culled down to 12 Dom pullets, out of which only 5 or 6 will go into the breeding pen. I still have to figure out shich one is laying the large very light colored egg...... My daughter donated some old lipstick to the cause.......

 

[Fred's Hens]

I don't think "lecture" is right word. However, some space has to be granted to the presenter to present. LOL Kind of a wait until you see the signal, sort of deal. The, jump in with questions, comments. Then, allow the present some space to answer. It just would make things more coherent, that's all.

btw, NYREDS is a also long timer breeder of quality Dominique birds, as well as an APA judge. Just sayin'. You remember the hash marks on the sleeve guy.

 

[Fred's Hens]

I'm not inclined to be a hatchery basher, just a realist.

Here's a hatchery's idea of a selective breeding pen.








Now, here's a real breeder's idea of a breeding group.





OK, you tell me.

Both are gonna produce chickens, ignore that they are different breeds, but which resultant chicks would you rather have?

 

[wsmith]

I don't think "lecture" is right word. However, some space has to be granted to the presenter to present. LOL Kind of a wait until you see the signal, sort of deal. The, jump in with questions, comments. Then, allow the present some space to answer. It just would make things more coherent, that's all.

btw, NYREDS is a also long timer breeder of quality Dominique birds, as well as an APA judge. Just sayin'. You remember the hash marks on the sleeve guy.

My rooster and two of my pullets are out of his line, one generation removed..... They are WONDERFUL! The difference between them and the hatchery pullets is staggering. It doesn't really take a trained eye to see the difference.

 

[rowerjen]

I don't think "lecture" is right word. However, some space has to be granted to the presenter to present. LOL Kind of a wait until you see the signal, sort of deal. The, jump in with questions, comments. Then, allow the present some space to answer. It just would make things more coherent, that's all.

btw, NYREDS is a also long timer breeder of quality Dominique birds, as well as an APA judge. Just sayin'. You remember the hash marks on the sleeve guy.

Fred-
Thanks so much to you and all the OT's for yesterday's quiz. I really look forward to more chicken university! Back to lurking and learning...

Oh, and Walt, I'm a University administrator. Hear ya about chicken antics being a good antidote!