Chickens In Ya Window

[scflock]

Alright then.

 

[Cockatrice6420]

Touche

Alrighty then

 

[scflock]

How am I going to poop on the blue one?

Yeah, that one

Alrighty then

You already said that

 

[Sally Sunshine]

so when I use all my ovations up when do I get some back?

 

[Sally Sunshine]

oh crap, I never bookmarked that thread!!!

 

[Cockatrice6420]

Yeah, that one
You already said that

No, I added a "y".

 

[Ravynscroft]

 

[Sally Sunshine]

I found it, posted on the other threads so everyone goes to caption too....

ok Y'all Sumi gal just posted my pic as the new caption contest, go win a GFM and make us all laugh with some fun with some captions for my Brahma image!!!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...tion-contest-11-02-2015-pic-by-sally-sunshine

 

[sideWing]

Since advice was asked for, here it is... if you don't want to hear it, just skip over, but it's here for any who do... please keep in mind this is opinion only but it is based on experiences, research, failures, successes, and advice from reputable sources... and I explained acronyms just in case anyone didn't catch what the meant yet...

For whichever breed/breeds you want to work with, learn everything you can about them first... if you want to breed to SOP (Standard of Perfection), get the book... don't get the ones on eBay, many of those are photocopies of the old standards and while those are still good it will be missing new breeds accepted after those were printed... go to the APA (American Poultry Association) website and they have either the cheaper black & white copy ($13) or the full color book ($59)... then look into reputable books specific to the breed, even some of the old books have great info too... learn how to tell good birds from not so good birds and what is something you can work with and what is not...

PQ (pet quality) is fine if you just want chickens of a particular type... when looking for quality stock to base off of, the best option is not to chase around SQ (show quality) exclusively... SQ is fine from known reputable breeders (but watch the prices) but in a lot of cases it gives a false sense of what you might get... SQ just means a particular bird won in a show... if it's at a State or higher level against a good representation of the breed (good number of entries) then it means something... but someone can take a bird to a county fair with no other competition and win by default as well... not saying all people do this, but it has happened... and just because they are SQ doesn't mean they will produce SQ offspring... and ethically you can't sell the offspring as SQ unless it has proven itself in a show...

Best ones to look for is BQ (breeder quality) stock and work from there... BQ is good foundation but still needs work... or could even be at SQ level, just hasn't been shown... also a person who states BQ rather than just spouting SQ is one I would feel is more honest than someone who swears all their birds and offspring are SQ... that's just not realistic... and there are no perfect birds... keeping good quality is not just pairing up a couple nice birds, it's a continuous line of breeding, selecting, culling and breeding some more...

If you can, always keep at least 2 roosters... hens are important, but the rooster supplies 50% of the DNA for all the offspring... and always keep your best and only sell off what you don't need...

For buying right now, if you can afford it and can quarantine properly and can plan them into your wintering over, I suggest doing it... Spring is the sellers market, Fall is the buyers market... now is when many breeders are making final cuts on some of the 'too good to be culls, but not quite good enough to keep over winter' stock... if you have good contacts that will give you a good deal for nice stock in Spring then wait it out... you'll have to weigh those pros and cons yourself... but come Spring, most breeders will be keeping the good ones and selling the lesser quality...

Oh, and learn the market for your area and get a working plan for an outlet of any and all excess from your breeding... whether it be processing yourself, an auction, selling on CL or giving them away for free...

Hope this helps...

Great advice Ravyn. The BQ instead of SQ is new to me and good to know.

 

[sideWing]

I hope you all had a great Halloween weekend! We had a nice time. I'm headed to DC tomorrow for business so I will try to hop on when I can this week. I still can't catch up on this thread.