Chickens in California

[June2012]

You're looking at three characteristics---egg production, meaty carcass and broodiness. Unfortunately, those three don't go together in one breed. You have to sacrifice one of those traits to get the other two. 

Great egg layers aren't going to be good broodies. A broody hen takes about 3 months off egg production. 
Great egg layers aren't going to have the meatiest carcasses. High production birds have been bred to churn out eggs on smaller amounts of feed, so their bodies are smaller. 

Larger, meatier birds aren't going to lay quite as well as egger breeds, but they'll put more meat in the pot when they're done. They also tend to be broodier. 

I know you say you only want one breed, but I'm not sure why. I keep different breeds for different purposes. You don't have to keep different breeds separate and you don't have to hatch mixed breed birds if you don't want to. Birds are much easier to manage their reproduction than mammals, there are no accidental pregnancies with birds  . Get some production birds for high volume egg laying, and some broody types to raise some babies for you. 

My Honey has a friend who raises SFH. I've not seen a carcass but they're pretty small birds from what I've seen, not so much in the meat department. 

If you've not eaten a dual purpose bird, I'd advise finding some carcass pics or videos on you-tube so you can have some idea what carcass size you're looking at. Even a meatier dual purpose hen is nothing at all like a grocery store chicken and lots of folks are sorely disappointed when they butcher. 

About 250 eggs a year is great for me! Is that too much to expect? (I don't mind a much smaller number if the eggs are larger. I eat organic chicken eggs and they're very, very small) My carcass expectations aren't too high either. Admittedly, I don't have any real experience yet, but still. I've also seen PLENTY of yt videos and my mother grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere. She knows what to expect as well. (Plus, I only eat organic products, so the chicken I eat isn't nearly as large compared to the other chickens!)

And my reason... I don't want to be mixing breeds together and not getting my wanted results. I really want minimum interference in their development. I will offer affection such as scratches to the breeders and some treats, but other than that, not much. If I were to have a pair of egg layers and the eggs were fertile, I would still have to move those eggs under a broody hen... I might seem lazy but I just don't have time. When they want to broody, I'd leave them be.

 

[June2012]

Go with this breed if you are fascinated!   They really are wonderful chickens, but so many people are unable to get past their looks... then again, there are a number of stories of how someone will happen to get unplanned/unwanted turken chick..... only to become a fan of the breed.   Check out the naked neck turken thread.

The birds from hatcheries are pretty good layers and many are reasonably heavy, many are heavier than say, the barred rocks from the same place.   I don't keep records so I could not tell you exactly how many eggs but they do lay a lot.   Many of them lay large/x large eggs  however,  keep in mind hatcheries are about quantity than quality, so there are always going to be some birds in any breed that lay a little less/smaller eggs or are smaller..  but then also there are some that might get really big or lay huge eggs.  a friend who hatches for other people- I use her services because I am very allergic to chicken dander,  has told me several times that the eggs from my birds are much bigger than the eggs from many different breeds others bring to her for hatching. 

btw- welcome and I'm in so Cal too...    the summers are always 110-120F with several months of solid 100+F days the naked necked birds always do much better than the non-naked necks.

You said something about your friend breeding Turkens, correct? If they're as meaty and lay jumbo eggs as you say, I would love to get in touch with her.

 

[June2012]

I don't know if it's alright to post in an older thread (despite being mine), but I don't want to start a new one when it's basically the same topic, so here I go!

Would a meat cockerel bred to an egg laying breed (while still going broody) meet my expectations? I feel that having a female that laid enough eggs for me, but produced meaty offspring, would work. Especially since the sire is a meat breed. I can see the chicks being less than their father because of the mother's genetics, but I eat organic chicken anyway. The size I am expecting is much smaller compared to the non-organic chickens at the store!!

 

[UrbanFarmOC]

I'll definitely be helping them with the heat!

Are the SFH good to eat? Do they lay well in the SoCal heat? (A number of eggs a year would be swell!) I'd love to know more about them, especially since you said they forage well. ^.^

One thing to understand is that a good layer and a good broody doesn't coexist together. Earlier, I should have phrased that my SFH is a great layer when she's not broody. She's currently one of 4 winter layers, out of 10 hens of laying age. Heat doesn't seem to bother her too much. It's the broodiness that interferes with her laying. For fun, we do keep egg-laying stats on our chickens. SFH started laying in late Feb 2015. Her average rate is 39.1% (laid 119 days out of 304 days). However, she went broody 3 times. We allowed her to brood and raise 2 batches of chicks, and broke her once.

Here are her specific stats since the started laying in Feb:

• Feb - 6/6 days
• March - 26/31
• Apr - 5/30 days (broody)
• May - 4/31 days (broody)
• June - 12/22 days (out of town and housesitters did not record, also short week of broodiness)
• July - 28/31
• Aug - 3/31 days (broody)
• Sept - 0/30 days (broody)
• Oct - 7/31 days (broody & molting)
• Nov - 7/31 days (molting)
• Dec - 21/31 days

I haven't tasted pure SFH meat. She's not the biggest hen, but she's not the smallest. Her build is taller and leaner looking. She's larger than my Ameraucana, EE and SF hens. I have had the meat of a SF x SFH, which I dubbed "Flowerolles," and it was delicious and rich, with plenty of meat. From the 5 Flowerolle offspring we've had, the mix is a broader chicken with very beautiful features and the surprise patterning of SFHs. All the male offspring have been taller than the SF rooster, and while their chest and shoulders appear larger than a SFH, they're still not as broad-chested as their papa, but their overall size is about the same, and I suspect they will grow bigger than their papa after 1 year (we're keeping one Flowerolle cockerel). All the Flowerolles have the foraging traits of the SFH mother and are more independent. During rains, they are always among the wettest chickens of the flock. They venture out to play and dig even when rain is falling a little harder, while their other flockmates shelter themselves from heavier rainfall. Yesterday, the SFH and all the Flowerolles were soaked through, while BR, Australorp, EE, Brahma, SS, EO (Basque) and Amer all remained quite dry.

Since I mentioned Australorps earlier, here are the stats to my Australorp, She's about 6 months older than my SFH and has gone broody once. Her rate is 49.5% (117/357 days, I was out of town in June and no records were kept during my absence):

• Jan - 0/31 days (molting)
• Feb - 17/28 days
• March - 24/31 days
• Apr - 23/30 days
• May - 28/31 days
• June - 4/22 days (broody and I was out of town)
• July - 0/31 days (broody)
• Aug - 17/31 days (broody)
• Sept - 23/30 days
• Oct - 19/31 days
• Nov - 22/30
• Dec - molting

My very best layer of 2015 is an EE, and she does ok in heat, but another EE panted at 85F! Thus, I didn't recommend an EE to you because they usually are a mixed bag, My best layer EE laid 230/357 days. Second place goes to my BR at 193/357 days. None of the EEs or BR has gone broody.

ETA: My GCM also laid really well, though she started in March, so I don't have a full year's of stats like the EE and BR. She laid 171/297 days, at 57.58%, 3% better than the BR

 

[June2012]

One thing to understand is that a good layer and a good broody doesn't coexist together. Earlier, I should have phrased that my SFH is a great layer when she's not broody. She's currently one of 4 winter layers, out of 10 hens of laying age. Heat doesn't seem to bother her too much. It's the broodiness that interferes with her laying. For fun, we do keep egg-laying stats on our chickens. SFH started laying in late Feb 2015. Her average rate is 39.1% (laid 119 days out of 304 days). However, she went broody 3 times. We allowed her to brood and raise 2 batches of chicks, and broke her once.

Here are her specific stats since the started laying in Feb:

• Feb - 6/6 days
• March - 26/31
• Apr - 5/30 days (broody)
• May - 4/31 days (broody)
• June - 12/22 days (out of town and housesitters did not record, also short week of broodiness)
• July - 28/31
• Aug - 3/31 days (broody)
• Sept - 0/30 days (broody)
• Oct - 7/31 days (broody & molting)
• Nov - 7/31 days (molting)
• Dec - 21/31 days

I haven't tasted pure SFH meat. She's not the biggest hen, but she's not the smallest. Her build is taller and leaner looking. She's larger than my Ameraucana, EE and SF hens. I have had the meat of a SF x SFH, which I dubbed "Flowerolles," and it was delicious and rich, with plenty of meat. From the 5 Flowerolle offspring we've had, the mix is a broader chicken with very beautiful features and the surprise patterning of SFHs. All the male offspring have been taller than the SF rooster, and while their chest and shoulders appear larger than a SFH, they're still not as broad-chested as their papa, but their overall size is about the same, and I suspect they will grow bigger than their papa after 1 year (we're keeping one Flowerolle cockerel). All the Flowerolles have the foraging traits of the SFH mother and are more independent. During rains, they are always among the wettest chickens of the flock. They venture out to play and dig even when rain is falling a little harder, while their other flockmates shelter themselves from heavier rainfall. Yesterday, the SFH and all the Flowerolles were soaked through, while BR, Australorp, EE, Brahma, SS, EO (Basque) and Amer all remained quite dry.

Since I mentioned Australorps earlier, here are the stats to my Australorp, She's about 6 months older than my SFH and has gone broody once. Her rate is 49.5% (117/357 days, I was out of town in June and no records were kept during my absence):

• Jan - 0/31 days (molting)
• Feb - 17/28 days
• March - 24/31 days
• Apr - 23/30 days
• May - 28/31 days
• June - 4/22 days (broody and I was out of town)
• July - 0/31 days (broody)
• Aug - 17/31 days (broody)
• Sept - 23/30 days
• Oct - 19/31 days
• Nov - 22/30
• Dec - molting

My very best layer of 2015 is an EE, and she does ok in heat, but another EE panted at 85F! Thus, I didn't recommend an EE to you because they usually are a mixed bag, My best layer EE laid 230/357 days. Second place goes to my BR at 193/357 days. None of the EEs or BR has gone broody.

ETA: My GCM also laid really well, though she started in March, so I don't have a full year's of stats like the EE and BR. She laid 171/297 days, at 57.58%, 3% better than the BR

I don't mind 200 eggs a year. More would be wonderful, but i really don't mind. I just want a part of the year to have eggs. I'll have egg laying hens and have a meaty cockerel provide me some good extras to butcher. (In goat breeding, usually bucks are the predominant breed in a cross, so I'm guessing the same for chickens. Is this right?)

 

[UrbanFarmOC]

I'm not sure what you mean. I only know a little about chickens and no other farm-type animal. Lol

I'm not super experienced in chicken-keeping, but in my short experience and in educating myself about them, I like having a multitude of different breeds and ages because this way I have diversification and ensure I'm never out of eggs. I'm also limited to the number of chickens I can have due to city ordinance and neighbors, but luckily my city allows more. Anyways, I picked mine based on these traits: docility, egg-laying ability, egg color, look/color, breed history and heat tolerance. With the exception of one of the EEs and a fat Euskal Oiloa (Basque) bully hen, I've been very happy with my chicken choices.

 

[June2012]

I'm not sure what you mean. I only know a little about chickens and no other farm-type animal. Lol

I'm not super experienced in chicken-keeping, but in my short experience and in educating myself about them, I like having a multitude of different breeds and ages because this way I have diversification and ensure I'm never out of eggs. I'm also limited to the number of chickens I can have due to city ordinance and neighbors, but luckily my city allows more. Anyways, I picked mine based on these traits: docility, egg-laying ability, egg color, look/color, breed history and heat tolerance. With the exception of one of the EEs and a fat Euskal Oiloa (Basque) bully hen, I've been very happy with my chicken choices.

Thank you so much for your advice! I do hope I can find some chickens that do go broody while being wonderful layers... *sigh* One day.

 

[UrbanFarmOC]

Maybe then 1-2 broodier breeds and the rest better egg-laying breed(s)? Unless you plan on keeping purebreds, you won't need to build them a separate coop or housing. Just a secure place in coop for broody mamas. It's just that all the time raising chicks take away from laying eggs. Anyway, there's obviously lots to ponder and lots of choices! Good luck!

 

[June2012]

Maybe then 1-2 broodier breeds and the rest better egg-laying breed(s)? Unless you plan on keeping purebreds, you won't need to build them a separate coop or housing. Just a secure place in coop for broody mamas. It's just that all the time raising chicks take away from laying eggs. Anyway, there's obviously lots to ponder and lots of choices! Good luck!

I do want purebreds, but it seems inevitable? I do know that crosses are wonderful when done right but I feel that I'd have too much confusion if I were to go under a full operation. I guess I'l just have to see where life takes me! Thanks for the advice, by the way. I'll keep it close to me.

 

[Kev]

One trick is to have females of different ages to ensure more/less consistent egg production. Example, mature hens typically molt in the fall with egg production paused... however pullets of laying age will start laying and should continue to lay while the older hens are molting. That does mean potentially having more chickens that you maybe originally planned for... but it is no different than the other suggestions for more than one breed, so.....

Really there is nothing wrong with sticking to one breed, if that is what you like.. stay with that. Ignore all those comments/suggestions to get more than one breed, unless that turns out to be something that fits your goal.

It is NOT inevitable to get more than breed.. the only time that is inevitable is if one insists on huge meat yield and a huge amount of eggs.. in that case, something like raising cornish x solely for butchering and either leghorns or sex links for solely egg production. Other than that, if you are aware and accept the fact dual purpose are basically a middle of deal thing with reduced meat yield(compared to cornish- do check out pictures of dual purpose chicken carcasses.. very different from store chicken) and reduced egg production(compared to leghorn/sex link) then you are good to go.. but you do need to be aware that generally, even in dual purpose breeds, you kind of have to go along with sort of choosing between "meatier/somewhat less eggs" or "much more eggs but much less meat".

Lastly for broodiness, no need to get a separate breed of hen for that either- there are plenty of dual purpose that will go broody. For example, naked neck hens can and do go broody and are usually excellent mothers.