Eggs for food vs eggs for chicks...sound off please

[Beccazon]

. Have you ever even eaten a layer breed bird? It's an acquired taste.

Flexibility is always good. My isolation portion of the coop, created with a temporary wall, has a separate people door for me and pop door to separate run for the birds. I usually only use that space for brooding and integrating incubated chicks and for a broody hen.
Good, I'll look for it.

Layer breeds taste different? Or just aged birds who were used for laying purposes mainly? Hmmm...well I guess I will find out if I have the taste for them lol. But I can make anything work in stew or chili! Hehe spices n herbs can make a whole host of crazy flavors die down!

That is what I did with my duck area of the coop. It was my brooder area once I moved the babies to the coop. Now the ducks have it while we finish their own coop adjacent to the chicken coop. Once that coop is done, the roo jail would then be that original brooder area. But, if I should just pop my good boy back in with the gals when I rid the yard of these other two jerk birds, then that will be a mute idea lol.

As always, thank you aart!

 

[MsDarkAngelKisses]

re eating fertilized eggs, last yr a BYC member put some Walmart eggs in her incubator and one of them actually hatched! She named it Wally. So there's a good chance many people are eating fertile eggs without knowing it.
Back in the 1960's, fertile eggs were considered superior and you had to pay more for them! It was a selling point.
I think there's absolutely no difference.

Wow ! That's one lucky Walmart egg !

 

[aart]

Layer breeds taste different? Or just aged birds who were used for laying purposes mainly? Hmmm...well I guess I will find out if I have the taste for them lol. But I can make anything work in stew or chili! Hehe spices n herbs can make a whole host of crazy flavors die down!

Way different than a grocery bird or even a home raised Cornish Cross.
Bit stronger flavor but mostly it's the texture...it's more 'toothsome'...can be inedibley tough if you don't rest the cleaned carcass for 2-3 days before eating or freezing. The older the bird the longer I rest them. And I pressure cook them all except the young cockerels.

 

[Elsveta641]

I am curious to hear from those who have chickens they intend to or have used for eggs AND chicks. Mine have just started laying. Like just yesterday. I have 7 gals and 3 cockerels. The boys are in a separate pen.

I would like to try raising some chicks of our own after the hens are all in a pattern of laying steadily. I would like advice and wisdom as to what age is best for mating (all are 4 months now), what season is best for it, should I allow one or both nice roos at a time to rejoin the flock of hens for a time, if so how long? How long after mating should I allow for possible fertilized eggs? Is there a best time to remove roos when I want to go back to egg production solely for eating?

Please give info, ask me questions, I would like to research the thoughts and ideas and options prior to deciding I want to try for chicks.

Thanx guys!

I think it's best to wait until 1 or 2 years of age to breed a bird because if it has survived 2 years you know it is healthy and predator savvy etc. But as long as a bird is mature and healthy. There is no reason not to hatch its chicks imo

 

[Beccazon]

If anyone is following or interested, I let my Pride out to free-range with the pullets today to reintroduce him to the flock. He needed no help. He fell back in as if he had never left. Though the cockerels have only been segregated for about 2 1/2 weeks. Shortly thereafter he tried his hormones on Cooky, one of my RIRs...the one I believe to be my 2nd layer. She said no without much fight and walked away. Then the best thing happened...

I looked over a bit later because I heard a little feather ruffling. Pride is trying, allbeit awkwardly, to do his mating dance!! At least I assume that's what he is doing. A little leg lift and twitch with a one wing flare kinda thing. He is sticking closest to Cooky and Raven, the proven layer. (Do they know the layers?) anyhow, so proud of my Pride! I knew he would be the best one to keep and for now at least, he is earning my respect! He has asked Cooky 100 times now and she does not run from him or cower, but is not ready to respond yet and he is for the time being, accepting that. Before I separated the flock, he had just started the "rape" behavior he watched Lil Bit (the terrorist jerk cockerel) perform meanly and repeatedly. Thank goodness that didn't imprint on him!

 

[aart]

(Do they know the layers?)

The good ones do...can be rare in a young cockerel.

 

[Elsveta641]

If anyone is following or interested, I let my Pride out to free-range with the pullets today to reintroduce him to the flock. He needed no help. He fell back in as if he had never left. Though the cockerels have only been segregated for about 2 1/2 weeks. Shortly thereafter he tried his hormones on Cooky, one of my RIRs...the one I believe to be my 2nd layer. She said no without much fight and walked away. Then the best thing happened...

I looked over a bit later because I heard a little feather ruffling. Pride is trying, allbeit awkwardly, to do his mating dance!! At least I assume that's what he is doing. A little leg lift and twitch with a one wing flare kinda thing. He is sticking closest to Cooky and Raven, the proven layer. (Do they know the layers?) anyhow, so proud of my Pride! I knew he would be the best one to keep and for now at least, he is earning my respect! He has asked Cooky 100 times now and she does not run from him or cower, but is not ready to respond yet and he is for the time being, accepting that. Before I separated the flock, he had just started the "rape" behavior he watched Lil Bit (the terrorist jerk cockerel) perform meanly and repeatedly. Thank goodness that didn't imprint on him!

Dont ne too hard on the rapist chickens. Chicken society isn't the same as ours. When I got my rooster in my avatar, first thing he did was forcibly mount each hen and a cockrel lol. I was slightly disgusted as this behavior continued about a week. But after that time, the hens had fallen head over heels for him. They rejected every other rooster on the property (about 6 others at the time.) The new guy had a harem of no fewer than 57 hens hopelessly devoted to him. 2 died of grief within days of him being killed by another rooster. That was about a month ago and the hens are still hesitant to accept the other roosters, most of whom they've known their entire lives.

 

[aart]

Please, 'rape' is human thing....do not toss that word around lightly.

 

[Elsveta641]

Please, 'rape' is human thing....do not toss that word around lightly.

I'm a survivor, I can say it. Same rules as the n word.

 

[Beccazon]

Oh my gosh. I apologize to anyone offended. I am a survivor as well. Unwanted forced sex seemed longer than worth typing but is exactly the same connotation. I am aware chicken society is different but the point remains. And my apology is sincere.