Chronicles of Raising Meat Birds - Modern Broilers, Heritage and Hybrids

[aart]

Quick update... one of my older dogs is not doing well and I think we're at the end. He is taking a lot of my time this week. But I'm not complaining. <3

Just went thru this about a month ago.

 

[jolenesdad]

Just went thru this about a month ago.

Thank you. I decided today after posting this that it was time. Rapidly closing in on the window of no regrets, and, I couldn’t be left in an emergency situation desperately seeking resolution over the holidays. He was one of those dogs that never showed anything and the last few days had been hard.

when I got home, my other egg had hatched! Surprise surprise... it’s grey.

 

[Newyorkrita]

They are all looking really great!! Nice pictures as always. I see the Speckled hen has photo bombed a picture again ha-ha.

A pound a week gain sounds good to me but I don't really know anything much about meat birds.

I see from an e-mail that Ideal is having a sale on certain breeds so pullets for $1.60. I only see layers on that list though and no Delawares.

Deer Run Farms does have Delawares and they are running a sale Black Friday thru Cyber Monday. (11/29 to 12/02) 20% off on Spring Chicks and also on hatching eggs.

 

[Newyorkrita]

So sorry about your dog. It is always hard to let them go as such a part of the family.

Nice to have chicks hatching!!

 

[aart]

Thank you. I decided today after posting this that it was time. Rapidly closing in on the window of no regrets, and, I couldn’t be left in an emergency situation desperately seeking resolution over the holidays.

Same here, kinda, avoiding an emergency scenario.
My decision was to let him go before winter, after a couple years(and especially the last couple months) of increasingly difficult mobility. Was able to get someone to do it here, no travel to strange clinic, and buried in back field. Bitter Sweet.

We know from the minute we let them into our hearts,
that one day they will break them.
The joy we gain by loving them will, in time,
once again outweigh the sadness they can bring to our lives.

 

[Perris]

losing a canine friend is hard on the heart;

 

[Kiki]

Quick update... one of my older dogs is not doing well and I think we're at the end. He is taking a lot of my time this week. But I'm not complaining. <3

Delawares are gaining a half a pound a week, and the Imperials are gaining a pound!

10 Weeks
Imperial
Male - 7 lb 2 ounces
Female - 6 lb

Delaware
Male - 3 lb 8 ounces
Female - 2 lb 12 ounces

Everyone is doing well, there's still no real unruly boys. The Delawares are probably a little food aggressive, but just hog the spaces and are so voracious, the Imperials sit back. But... lets get real. They're clearly eating, that's MAJOR gain a week right there. Im going to add an entire extra trough of feeder space.

No losses to hawks this week. I think they're pretty smart as a group now.

Trying to decide where and what to order another round of delawares for, I really think I'd like to have 15+ pullets to setup a breeding program with, and thinking of going back to Dawnridge for a huge order to be able to get enough good pullets from is a little expensive. I could get a lot more eggs for the buck from Deer Ridge Farm, but, that's shipping eggs and low hatch rates, so... back to thinking maybe chicks are worth it? Hmmmm.

I put out a bale of alfalfa because they're wanting to stay under shelter a lot because of the hawks. In one photo you also can see the held back Robust Whites.

Have one more chick hatching today, and then three more next week from the Delaware/Robust White cross. The first one that hatched looks to have delaware coloring, but I can't totally tell, it's 2 days old. It does have color coming on the wings like my delaware chicks did.

Three weeks left, I guess this boy will be nearing 10+ pounds? Some of the girls should be 8-9 pounds at this rate? Thats huge for what i was expecting... I have never had a boy this big at this age I think, I've always taken them to be processed at 9 weeks and kept the smaller back for 12.

Haven’t taken many photos... I dropped my phone and am trying to nurse it until I take it in.

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Sorry to hear about your dog.

 

[RoosterML]

@jolenesdad i have a couple Delaware breaders I was going to look into myself. If your interested here’s both of them.

 

[jolenesdad]

Thank you all for such kind words about my dog. I’ve said goodbye to many animals, and, I have to say that I feel better about this one than most. I have no regrets about the timing, and feel so incredibly fortunate that we were able to say goodbye on our terms. He battled UTIs for the last many months and would wake up from bed and bark at the door every morning between 4:30 and 6:30. I’ve been having very weird phantom barks in my mind waking me up every morning, while all the other dogs are asleep. It’s confusing that early, and jolts me a little to remember he is not here.

point of my post.... look at this Delaware! His tail started poking out and he is covered in hearts. now I see them on his back, too. This is my favorite boy I’ve had marked for a while.

sure it’s a fault in his barring but I don’t care. He’s now sweet AND adorable. I’m keeping him around for sure.

 

[Mosey2003]

I'm sorry about your dog