Dual-Purpose Flock Owners UNITE!

[Natashka]

I love this thread! I'm now convinced to look into keeping Buckeyes. I currently don't have chickens.

Does anyone have any updates on their flocks? How far have you gotten on getting a sustainable flock? Has anyone gotten close to zero food costs? Yes, I do realize that's impossible, but I want to know how close anyone has gotten, while still keeping up decent production.

 

[phalenbeck]

I am starting Langshans for duel purpose flock. The surplus roosters were great eating, as were a bunch of production reds that came as packing peanuts. My Langshans have just hit sexual maturity, and seem to produce eggs fairly well. They are calm and friendly, and seem to stay closer than my layer mutts. Over the winter, and from now on broody silkeys will be tasked with raising Langshans till the population comes up with boys getting eaten. I will cull bad examples, but am looking more at size than breed standard. If this works the layers will gradually become soup till I have around 25 duel purpose Langshaans. At this number getting 50-60 dinner chickens a yearshould be no problem. Thus far the Langshans seem to not eat too much as adults, but as youths they were foing for a feed record. Later I may cross with a Deleware or something else to get hybred vigor that I seem to have in my mutt layers. The first choice is to breed a quality flock of Langshans for meat and eggs. Right now I have a start only with a fine rooster and only a couple hens, but soon as someone (usually silkeys) go broody the self sustaining duel purpose flock is on its way. These Langshans are the best friendly calm birds I have had in 5-6 years of raising birds.

 

[Pathfinders]

I love this thread! I'm now convinced to look into keeping Buckeyes. I currently don't have chickens.

Does anyone have any updates on their flocks? How far have you gotten on getting a sustainable flock? Has anyone gotten close to zero food costs? Yes, I do realize that's impossible, but I want to know how close anyone has gotten, while still keeping up decent production.

I honestly don't think you're going to get to zero food costs and still get eggs. Chickens today need a regular source of feed, you really can't expect them to free range and produce eggs regularly.

That being said, good quality range can make a real difference to the amount of feed you need to provide. More is needed in winter (in most areas) of course, as green plants are dead or dormant. But in summer, if the range area has a good balance of green, seed bearing plants, you can certainly reduce down much farther.

As well, situations where you do rotational pasture ranging, as Joel Salatin does, allow for the poultry to scratch apart manure and eat the grubs growing in it, as well as undigested grain.

 

[Natashka]

 I honestly don't think you're going to get to zero food costs and still get eggs. Chickens today need a regular source of feed, you really can't expect them to free range and produce eggs regularly.

That being said, good quality range can make a real difference to the amount of feed you need to provide. More is needed in winter (in most areas) of course, as green plants are dead or dormant. But in summer, if the range area has a good balance of green, seed bearing plants, you can certainly reduce down much farther.


As well, situations where you do rotational pasture ranging, as Joel Salatin does, allow for the poultry to scratch apart manure and eat the grubs growing in it, as well as undigested grain. 

After I posted this, I ran across a study that showed that free ranging birds only yield a 5% reduction in feed given, since they use up energy looking for food. I would think that you could plant things for your birds, such as berries, apple trees, as well as extra vegetables in your garden.

Our backyard is a field of wild grasses and plants. It's where I'd like to out the chickens, but I don't know if they'd avoid the plants they aren't supposed to eat. There are a lot of bugs back there, though.

 

[Beekissed]

I don't know where those figures come from, but a 5% reduction in food consumption is definitely not accurate for good forage conditions. It depends on the quality of the forage and how much energy is expended to glean it...and I can attest that my flocks save WAY more than 5% on feed with free ranging. This summer I was feeding 1 1/2 cups of feed per day to 14 large fowl...and they were too fat on that amount. Horribly fat, I came to found out, when I processed some of them.

The nutrition gleaned on good forage is so much more usable and higher in nutrients than grain based nutrition that less of these types of feed are required to get the same or higher caloric intake. A grasshopper can contain 60% protein and beetles contain the most protein of all...in good forage in meadow and woodland, the opportunities to gain good nutrients without too much energy expended is myriad. My chickens eat lizards, snakes and frogs also, not to mention the nutrients gained from forage of greens like clover, which is 15% protein and 70% digestible...which puts it right up there with my layer mash of 16%.

Quote:

 

[Natashka]

I don't know where those figures come from, but a 5% reduction in food consumption is definitely not accurate for good forage conditions.  It depends on the quality of the forage and how much energy is expended to glean it...and I can attest that my flocks save WAY more than 5% on feed with free ranging.  This summer I was feeding 1 1/2 cups of feed per day to 14 large fowl...and they were too fat on that amount.  Horribly fat, I came to found out, when I processed some of them. 

The nutrition gleaned on good forage is so much more usable and higher in nutrients than grain based nutrition that less of these types of feed are required to get the same or higher caloric intake.  A grasshopper can contain 60% protein and beetles contain the most protein of all...in good forage in meadow and woodland, the opportunities to gain good nutrients without too much energy expended is myriad.  My chickens eat lizards, snakes and frogs also, not to mention the nutrients gained from forage of greens like clover, which is 15% protein and 70% digestible...which puts it right up there with my layer mash of 16%. 

Thanks for the info. If I can find it again, I will post the link. It seemed low to me, but quality of forage makes sense in how much nutrition would be supplied.

 

[jermoatc]

I love this thread as this is what I would like to work towards too. Right now my DP breeds I have are BRs , WR, and Speckled Sussex. All good options I think but I haven't seen too many people comment on New Hamp Reds. Wondering if there are any opinions on them out there?

 

[Arielle]

I don't know where those figures come from, but a 5% reduction in food consumption is definitely not accurate for good forage conditions. It depends on the quality of the forage and how much energy is expended to glean it...and I can attest that my flocks save WAY more than 5% on feed with free ranging. This summer I was feeding 1 1/2 cups of feed per day to 14 large fowl...and they were too fat on that amount. Horribly fat, I came to found out, when I processed some of them.

The nutrition gleaned on good forage is so much more usable and higher in nutrients than grain based nutrition that less of these types of feed are required to get the same or higher caloric intake. A grasshopper can contain 60% protein and beetles contain the most protein of all...in good forage in meadow and woodland, the opportunities to gain good nutrients without too much energy expended is myriad. My chickens eat lizards, snakes and frogs also, not to mention the nutrients gained from forage of greens like clover, which is 15% protein and 70% digestible...which puts it right up there with my layer mash of 16%.

Quote: THanks Bee for the details on the bugs- kinda knew myself they spelled protein. I'm looking to improve the landscape this coming year more than we did this year. THis year was more trial and complete error. lol Live and learn right?

 

[Beekissed]

I love this thread as this is what I would like to work towards too. Right now my DP breeds I have are BRs , WR, and Speckled Sussex. All good options I think but I haven't seen too many people comment on New Hamp Reds. Wondering if there are any opinions on them out there?

Excellent birds...no real downside to them other than the hatchery stock are less meaty than the older, heritage stock lines will show. I have one old gal that is 5 yrs old and she lays most of the time, all year round. She'll take an occasional break and then get right back to laying. She has a light molt and a quick recovery, is thrifty on feed and naturally hardy...she also is my very best forager. The hatchery stock aren't as hardy and well feathered as heritage breeder stock will be but they are still a good breed to have. The hatchery hens won't have a dual purpose carcass but the roosters will, with the heritage stock still having a good DP genetic for meaty carcasses with just a little loss of egg production compared to the hatchery stock.

I've had NHs in various flocks and have always been extremely satisfied with their hard work on foraging, excellent laying, and sweet temperament. A good all around flock bird.

 

[Freeholder]

This is my kind of thread! Like most all of you, I keep livestock (dairy goats and chickens, and now a Jersey heifer calf) for their practical qualities. I want good quality animals, because I have to look at them, but they've got to earn their keep. I am just taking a break from butchering a goat who didn't give enough milk to justify feeding her, and the same criteria applies to the chickens. Right now I've got Golden-laced Wyandottes and Black Australorps, but I'm seriously considering switching to bantams, for several reasons.

For one thing, it's only my youngest daughter and I living here (she's mentally handicapped and will always live with me, so no growing up and going away to college to reduce the size of our household).

For another, I'd like to keep a few bantams as caged birds in the house to entertain DD, and would like to be able to rotate them in and out of the main flock (I'm thinking of using the house cage for raising chicks, and for broody hens -- DD would love that!).

Then there is the fact that I have several all-wire chicken tractors made from rabbit cages (bottoms removed, they work very well as long as the goats don't get out and walk on top of them, which did happen once!). The cages aren't tall enough to use as breeding pens for large fowl, but would work fine for bantams, giving me ready-made breeding pens. I can't free-range here, even with a good livestock guardian dog, the predator pressure is just too intense.

And, if I kept bantams, I could keep more birds, have more young ones to select from, and be able to cull more heavily.

Oh, and I'd like having a smaller carcass that was just a meal or two for the two of us. My frig is usually full of milk (right now it's full of home-made sauerkraut and milk), so there isn't a lot of room for leftovers.

So I think I've talked myself into bantams, LOL! I think I'll use RIR's, OEG (probably Ginger Reds, as I like the color of the hens, as well as the roosters -- a lot of the colors seem to have very bland-colored hens, and since part of the purpose is to entertain DD....), and Spangled Cornish. Maybe a little White Leghorn and New Hampshire if they have the same qualities as the LF versions. Should end up with colorful pea-comb dual-purpose birds!

Kathleen