Eight week evaluation of dual purpose birds

[Weetamoo93]

I have seven Partridge Plymouth Rocks, six pullets and one cockerel, that are the small beginnings of what I intend to be a dual purpose breeding project. Long term goals are a self sufficient system that provides all our eggs and meat.

My seven birds are from a big hatchery, so I'm sure there is room for improvement in future generations. Their eight week assessment is coming up and I've read thru the guidelines on the Livestock Conservancy website to get an idea on what to look for growth wise. I attached the chick assessment form that I planned to use, or a modified version of it. Is there anything else I should look for at eight weeks in dual purpose birds? I plan to follow up at sixteen weeks with a second assessment. None of these seven are planned for harvest, so this is to select the best among my pullets for breeding.

This is my first time performing such an evaluation and I'm very excited. One of my thoughts is that I cannot compare the cockerel to the pullets, but I have no other birds to compare him to. Within the next few years I hope to expand my flock another "family" of birds to expand my breeding pool.

 

[RiverOtter]

Congrats on the start of your project!
What I would do with both the pullets and the cockerel is measure them. When I evaluate my home breds, I measure across the breast, making a note of if the keel is prominent (I want a broad breast with an even keel), weight and maturity, which is based on feather and comb development and redness of comb. I'm looking for fast growing, fast maturing birds with large, meaty breasts. If I just did weight, one might be much heavier, but be all leg and bone.

I do it every 4 weeks, with future roosters chosen by the 16 week check (I'm not feeding meat birds longer than that, and any bird that outclassed the others at the 12 week test get preference) and the pullets by 20 - I like them looking almost ready to lay by then.

If you do this, even with no other cockerels to compare your boy too, you'll still be able to track his rate of growth, see where he needs improvement, and have that record to compare his sons to.

 

[Weetamoo93]

Thank you, @RiverOtter! When you say "measure", are you using a measuring tape, or just a score? The form I attached was scoring birds between 1 and 5 in each measurement.

One advantage I've found to having my birds from a big hatchery is the variety of shapes in the six pullets; I think it will help me better get a feel for ideal body characteristics as I evaluate them.

 

[Folly's place]

I'm about to evaluate my 21 white Chantecler chicks from Cackle, who are nine weeks old today, straight run. I will look up any guidelines on that site, and maybe call a long time breeder, but my one question still will be about 'chunky' vs. 'bigger frame' at these ages. Chanties are supposed to be long backed, deep, etc.
Sorry for butting in here.
Mary

 

[Weetamoo93]

By all means, butt in and join any learning!

Livestock Conservancy Chicken Resources Page where I got my info, including the form I included. I printed out the three chapters on selection.

 

[RiverOtter]

When you say "measure", are you using a measuring tape, or just a score? The form I attached was scoring birds between 1 and 5 in each measurement.

I'm afraid I can't open the link you posted without downloading it, but I use both.
First I "score" with my hands - I feel for birds who's breast is plump, firm and out to the keel. Then birds who score well, I use a tape and measure, if all other factors are equal.

It stops me from just keeping the prettiest ones.

 

[marshtackynut]

I would be mindful of how your fast or slow your breed grows. For instance I can evaluate my Crevecoeurs for some obvious faults at 8 weeks but to really see who is going to rise to the top, I can't do final evaluations until they are at least 20 weeks old. You throw the babies out with the bathwater culling too early. Even then, some are late bloomers when it comes to beards and crests. Males don't come into their full glory until they are two years old. However, with my Buckeyes, the birds I picked at 8 weeks were still the best at 16 weeks and beyond.

 

[RiverOtter]

I would be mindful of how your fast or slow your breed grows. For instance I can evaluate my Crevecoeurs for some obvious faults at 8 weeks but to really see who is going to rise to the top, I can't do final evaluations until they are at least 20 weeks old. You throw the babies out with the bathwater culling too early. Even then, some are late bloomers when it comes to beards and crests. Males don't come into their full glory until they are two years old. However, with my Buckeyes, the birds I picked at 8 weeks were still the best at 16 weeks and beyond.

In the Exhibition/SOP subforum, you are exactly right.
Here in the Meat Birds subforum, I'm not feeding them for 20 weeks, nor eating beards and crests. For meat, if I wanted to raise something for 2 years, I'd raise a steer, y'know? For meat you specifically select for rapid growth and maturity. For show, what they look like at 8 weeks doesn't matter. For meat, by 20 weeks they're already leftovers, unless they've already been selected for the breeding pen.

 

[Molpet]

I would be mindful of how your fast or slow your breed grows. For instance I can evaluate my Crevecoeurs for some obvious faults at 8 weeks but to really see who is going to rise to the top, I can't do final evaluations until they are at least 20 weeks old. You throw the babies out with the bathwater culling too early. Even then, some are late bloomers when it comes to beards and crests. Males don't come into their full glory until they are two years old. However, with my Buckeyes, the birds I picked at 8 weeks were still the best at 16 weeks and beyond.

The ones that look best at my usual harvest age are kept for further observation. Not looking for later maturity

 

[Folly's place]

My Chanties are ten weeks old today, and this weekend I need to do the weigh-ins, and evaluations. It's time!
Mary