Dixie Chicks

[Alaskan]

@Beer can I TRULY love looking at that photo!

It makes me remember all of that marketing stuff, about how some markets like chicken with white skin, and other markets like chicken with yellow skin... and then of course the SILKIE!

I should make that my desktop photo!

 

[Alaskan]

oh, beer can..

does that mean you have decided to only breed the Sussex and White Giants?

 

[Ravynscroft]

first eggs sure are exciting!

Thanks, and yes it is! Especially when it's such an awesome quality and color breed...

@Outpost JWB was it you that had 'night crowers' ? I solved my problem, four cockerels from big coop gone yesterday. They've been crowing all night long since just before Christmas .The two red sussex and two white giants in the small coop haven't made a peep all day! No crowing last night and none all day! None tonight so far...I always thought it was the 'alien chicken', silkie roo getting them going....problem solved. Giant, silkie, langshan, young wellie ee cross

That is awesome! Silkie looks fairly comparable in size too!

 

[vehve]

Beer, how old are the birds? Any difference in diet?

 

[hennible]

Wow you live in the dark Alaskan, we're getting almost 8 hours of light here.

 

[Beer can]

Silkie 40 weeks, giant and langshan 27 weeks, cross 22 weeks. Giant was huge but not much on breast, they don't fill out until they are older. Dressed for freezer; giant- 5lbs 10oz, langshan- 4lbs 9oz, wellie/ee- 3lbs 14oz, silkie- 3lbs 12oz. All fed the same. Not any significant growth, but further feeding wouldn't have added much, already in the negative I'm sure.
Hoping the giants dress out over ten lbs when fully grown, won't be butchering the two left, have to wait for capons next yr.

 

[Beer can]

oh, beer can..

does that mean you have decided to only breed the Sussex and White Giants?

Yup, giants breeding for size, sussex for fast growth.
Silkie giant cross, decided to go with giant over silkies, didn't want to build another coop to go the other way and can't spare a giant pullet. Hope he doesn't squish them. They are big, like the roo was, but only about half the size of the giant pullets.....

 

[vehve]

Our Sussexes grew pretty slowly, but I suppose it's a question of the lines too.

Finally got our heated waterers today, installed them in the rabbitry just now. Too nackered to install the chicken coop waterer, and I need to figure out how to connect it smartly there.

Today I've been shoveling snow for 4 hours. But finally you can see things in the dark too, it's so much nicer when the ground is white. We're up to 6h28min of light today.

 

[Alaskan]

Yep... over 6 hours of light I got it too!

 

[Beer can]

Our Sussexes grew pretty slowly, but I suppose it's a question of the lines too.

Not sure what I'll end up with yet, but they're supposed to be known for fast growth and great laying, something similar to good New Hampshire reds, good meat birds for a heritage breed.
I hope to hatch around 50 and number band them, keep track of fastest feathering, quickest growth and select only the best for breeding. Try to keep track of best layers also but that might be difficult, really don't want to use egg trap method.
I'm happy so far with these. Even though the giants are way bigger in size giants build frame first meat later. I weighed them at 11.5 weeks, giant cockerels were six pounds sussex five, to look at them you'd think the giants would have a lot more weight than them, muscle must weigh more than bones. The pullets were a pound lighter, both breeds.
When I get numbers on the ground I'll be charting weekly weights on the sussex. Giants will be the expensive ones, have to feed them to full maturity. They say the slowest growing lankiest ones end up being the largest. Hoping for 20 pound capons, I hear they can get that big. Reading up on showing giants they say they've never saw deductions for over the 13 pound weight, with 16-18 pound roosters being quit common.