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

[al6517]

Quote: We have an auction of animals not far from me every Wednesday starting in the spring & my plan was to go and see about aquiring a few more hens after I get the new hoop coop done. And that is a great idea bee. I can get a hen to *practice* on. I have Walts or maybe it was Freds words ringing in my head telling me what to look at/for in hens to tell me what would be a good choice. Plus all the OT pics as well. Plus there is a chicken show coming up in a few months that I plan on attending so I can look at the different birds & maybe meet some owners to get some advice. I wont ever be showing hens but I want to soak up all the knowledge I can so my mutts are at least good quality for the purpose I want them for.


I think it's a good plan, hands on, and by doing it the way you described you'll garner more info from super experienced folks who realy truely are willing to help. You'll learn more in a day than you could read in a year.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Al, OK, here is where we are, for jumping out of the gate this spring.

We have 3 cockerels, 3 pens. 3 hens in each. I did my primary matching and we're good to go. I need to ID the chicks from those matchings.

Then, just to complicate thing even more, in March, I am going to re-match. I'll need to know:

By looking at what the chick which pen it came out of. I've got all this written down, of course. So, I need to ID the roosters, ID the hens and then, of course, ID all the chicks to and take that data back to my written breeding book.

Golly, I hope this make sense. It's clear in my mind, but, hey, as Uncle Si says on Duck Commanders.

 

[al6517]

Al, OK, here is where we are, for jumping out of the gate this spring.

We have 3 cockerels, 3 pens. 3 hens in each. I did my primary matching and we're good to go. I need to ID the chicks from those matchings.

Then, just to complicate thing even more, in March, I am going to re-match. I'll need to know:

By looking at what the chick which pen it came out of. I've got all this written down, of course. So, I need to ID the roosters, ID the hens and then, of course, ID all the chicks to and take that data back to my written breeding book.

Golly, I hope this make sense. It's clear in my mind, but, hey, as Uncle Si says on Duck Commanders.

Sure it makes sense and is how most pro's do it. I am going to assume you incubate, tell me about that, how you incubate, type of bator and rotation scedule. I have a plan for you.

 

[colburg]

How do you store your eggs? On the counter, in the fridge? How long for both?

Here is a favorite of mine on egg storage. An experiment done on 60 doz eggs. http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/1977-11-01/Fresh-Eggs.aspx

 

[Beekissed]

Which concludes, as always, you really can't improve on God's design for nature.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Al, fair questions. Two incubators, both 24 maximum capacity. With the three pens, I can fill an incubator in less than 6 days, which is my goal.

I'll stagger them, about 8-10 days apart. This is just to get out of the gate. 2 pens of Barred Rocks, 1 pen of Reds.

Then, later in spring. I'll swap the Barred Rock roosters, I'll just exchange them, leaving the hens alone.


I'm gonna do the opposite on the Reds. Don't have anymore than 3 decent hens, (even they aren't what they should be) and I'll swap out the rooster.

Our goal is right at 80 Reese Barred Rock chicks, over the season. We shut down on May 1st. Our Red goal is 40 chicks. I'd like to push that to 50 and believe it doable as they lay a little better than the BRs.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Later in the summer, the Reese Barred Rocks will go broody. I'll let them do their thing. Whatever they add naturally, that is just fine.

 

[al6517]

Al, fair questions. Two incubators, both 24 maximum capacity. With the three pens, I can fill an incubator in less than 6 days, which is my goal.

I'll stagger them, about 8-10 days apart. This is just to get out of the gate. 2 pens of Barred Rocks, 1 pen of Reds.

Then, later in spring. I'll swap the Barred Rock roosters, I'll just exchange them, leaving the hens alone.


I'm gonna do the opposite on the Reds. Don't have anymore than 3 decent hens, (even they aren't what they should be) and I'll swap out the rooster.

Our goal is right at 80 Reese Barred Rock chicks, over the season. We shut down on May 1st. Our Red goal is 40 chicks. I'd like to push that to 50 and believe it doable as they lay a little better than the BRs.

Well the good thing is you have those 2 smaller incubators and that will help eliminate the need for a more complecated egg tracking procedure. Just mark the eggs as normal with the date and breed, incubate as you have planned in the 10 day rotation, which is good.

Now we have to band and do the ID thing so you can eliminate the need for 70 bazillion seperate brooders. housing/brooding chicks in the same brooder at 10 day intervals is fine as long as the 3rd batch get's moved out prior to the 4th batch getting put in the brooder. Following me so far ??.
Toe punch and leg band all chicks straight out of the bator before putting them into the brooders, and try to think it through so you can devise as system that's easy to follow without a huge margin for error and after awhile you'll know right off whose who and what's next on the ladder. This will give you a leg up on the banding deal, these items are all you need to carry you through the procedure for a long long time. let me know if the link works.
http://www.cutlersupply.com/cart/ go to the leg band section.

Let's get this lined out first then we can disscuss the most effecient way to do your bird rotation to maximize time and results.

 

[Beekissed]

Not that I'm going to go this deep into the whole breeding regime real soon but I'm confused about the hole punch chart. What does it mean? What are the birds on the left and right of the midline, and what does the number and position of those hole punches signify....you can give me the short version and I can work out all the rest. It's like ear notching on hogs or sheep, I get that part, but does everyone use this system or do they devise their own?

 

[Fred's Hens]

Al,

10 colors. Cool. Spirals OK?

10 colors ought to do the job. Thinking I can cover all the parent stock and the chicks, according to parentage, with 10 colors.

They'll be no confusion in the incubator, because a batch would have 50% of Barred Rocks, pen 1, and 50% Reds. Staggered 'bator would have another 50% Red same/only pen and 50% Rocks from pen #2.

This should eliminate any and all confusion. Any time you see my thinking is whacko, don't be shy. I don't bruise easy.