Eat hen eggs

[Kitchenella]

We have a meat hen that we found wandering in a park near our home. She was young. I’m guessing maybe 6 months old. I was told she would be clumsy, stupid, and never lay eggs. She definitely is the first two but we love her anyway. It took quite awhile for our other 3 hens to accept her. . She is now full grown And one of the gang. Lately I’ve found some eggs in random places in the pen that are much lighter in color than our others. Our Rosie has trouble getting up into the coop where the other girls lay their eggs. I have to lift her in at night. Pile it be she is laying?

 

[tlcmurphy]

They can lay eggs, that’s how we get more meat birds!

 

[LTAY1946]

We have a meat hen that we found wandering in a park near our home. She was young. I’m guessing maybe 6 months old. I was told she would be clumsy, stupid, and never lay eggs. She definitely is the first two but we love her anyway. It took quite awhile for our other 3 hens to accept her. . She is now full grown And one of the gang. Lately I’ve found some eggs in random places in the pen that are much lighter in color than our others. Our Rosie has trouble getting up into the coop where the other girls lay their eggs. I have to lift her in at night. Pile it be she is laying?

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We are getting more and more eggs from our meat hens.... We didn't buy them for meat but for research and breeding. The plan is to use them with another breed that can breed naturally and see what develops. It would be nice to have an improved meat bird that can reproduce without needing to depend on a chicken factory. The specs given for our meat hens eggs size is small. Sadly to day some are jumbo double yokers that can't be incubated. Very few are small and as the hens age they are more normal in size. Three of the breeds we will use with our hens are White Jersey Giants, Dark Cornish, and White American Bresse. White Plymouth Rocks are the hen side of the meat birds and who knows what on the rooster side. That is a well guarded secret.

 

[LTAY1946]

We have some rooster meat birds too. Out of 25 we did lose 2 to heart attacks. We control intake and get them lots of exercise. They will eat grass when they get hungry enough. We started feeding a lower protein layer feed early and the extra calcium helped them build stronger bones to carry their weight. None have suffered a broken leg and those boys are as big as some turkeys from what people who see them tell me. With human intervention they will be bred to some of our White Giant hens. Genetics has been an interest of mine since Vo-Ag days in high school long ago. Now I can meddle like early poultry pioneers did when the Rocks, Reds, Leghorns, etc were created by backyard breeders over the centuries.

 

[Ridgerunner]

White Plymouth Rocks are the hen side of the meat birds and who knows what on the rooster side. That is a well guarded secret.

Not really a well guarded secret. Somewhere in the 1940's or 1950's a lady that owned a hatchery crossed a Cornish rooster with a White Rock hen to start the development of the Cornish Cross meat chicken. I don't know if it was a Dark Cornish like your hen or some other color. Through selective breeding the offspring have since been developed into today's meat birds. It's not a simple cross, it is a lot of selective breeding. And the reason they are called Cornish Cross is the original rooster was a Cornish.

 

[LTAY1946]

Not really a well guarded secret. Somewhere in the 1940's or 1950's a lady that owned a hatchery crossed a Cornish rooster with a White Rock hen to start the development of the Cornish Cross meat chicken. I don't know if it was a Dark Cornish like your hen or some other color. Through selective breeding the offspring have since been developed into today's meat birds. It's not a simple cross, it is a lot of selective breeding. And the reason they are called Cornish Cross is the original rooster was a Cornish.

Yes it was a most likely white cornish rooster. In the 50's there were white cornish that could be bought. Not now that I can find or anyone else that I know that has been looking. One major breeder no longer even offers Bantam White Cornish. I've seen it published that now "The exact make up of the Cornish Cross is a "Well guarded secret" as in intellectual property. Who ever owns that has every right to it. One major breeder where mine came from says that they buy eggs to hatch from multiple genetics companies. The behavior of the birds that I have have never been like a normal chicken as to the way the feed and behave. It's ironic that the adult roosters are as mean as 3 eyed snakes and the hens are as docile as any breed could be. It's going to be an interesting adventure on our place for a few years now. Our main pet now is a hen we name Scarlet as in Scarlet from the movie "Gone With the Wind". She thinks she owns this little plantation of ours. I started playing a little game with her before she got to be a 2 Ton Tilly. I'd pick her up to eye level and talk to her and then put her down. She would just stand there looking up and me as to say "Do it again." Now she gets one ride and than I rest. She free ranges during the day and found her way to the front door and want in to see what we do or how we live. Who knows what is in the little brain of hers. I just hope we have her for years to come.

 

[tlcmurphy]

I would love to see pics of your birds
I have a coworker whose Mom rescued a young bird that literally fell off the Perdue truck here in GA and she’s quite alarmed at the pullets’ growth rate. I may end up with a new girl…

 

[LTAY1946]

I would love to see pics of your birds
I have a coworker whose Mom rescued a young bird that literally fell off the Perdue truck here in GA and she’s quite alarmed at the pullets’ growth rate. I may end up with a new girl…

I wanted to go out and take a few of the big boys and girls but needed to charge the tablet and camera first.... Hopefully tomorrow with my wife's help. I tried using my phone with one of the girls in my lap while sitting on the Garden Tractor.... She was more interested in pecking the buttons on my shirt than posing. I was about 12 when my parents had White Rocks and listening to them talk about the new chickens that made fryers in 6 weeks instead of 16.... I have a friend that has broiler houses but I don't know who he grows for. All he does is provide labor and the building. 7 weeks and they go to market as 5 lb birds. Any longer and the mortality rate goes up. One thing I see is that these meat hens (and boys) do not like warm days. I have an area of heavy shade for them to wander around in and am providing plenty of water fountains. As for the lady birds don't expect them to play by the rules of laying. They lay when and where they want to any time of the day or night.

 

[Kitchenella]

I would love to see pics of your birds
I have a coworker whose Mom rescued a young bird that literally fell off the Perdue truck here in GA and she’s quite alarmed at the pullets’ growth rate. I may end up with a new girl…

 

[Kitchenella]

This is Rosie whan we first found her.