Expanding and wanting to keep two breeds... questions galore!

[Storybook Farm]

There are four interesting solutions offered in this fine article: http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/breeding_the_home_flock/

I am thinking that his "Rolling Matings" would serve me well, since I'm working for production breeding. Seems easy and I'd avoid needing to mark (or band) anyone, yet keep bloodlines fresh. I'd probably work some for SOP for my breeds, too, but mostly we want good, healthy layers and young, meaty birds. Hence my choosing these two breeds.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

If you are going to be breeding toward the SOP then you will want to band your birds. As they grow you'd be evaluating the birds, writing down observations and keeping track of who is who via band number. With band numbers you can easily track lineage of each bird, maintain genetic diversity in a closed flock.

Single mating or trio mating is a good way to go. Your able to use the best birds only for breeding, make compensatory mating to correct faults and so on. Once you get a flock of standard bred birds you will want to be more serious about the SOP. It's just natural to be more invested once you actually have the birds. It doesn't take much to have a breeding pen. I've a grow out coop and pen that serves as a breeding pen early spring. In keeping two cock birds, the first pair or trio go into the breeding pen and start collecting eggs in three weeks. When all eggs for incubating are collected the other cock and chosen female(s) can go into the breeding pen and eggs collected right away for incubating second round.

I do suggest you pick one breed and go with that. Their is a lot to learn when breeding to SOP and you'll develop an eye for that breed your working with. Later if you want more color variation then getting another variety of that breed is much easier to work with as it's the same body type. AutralOrp are a completely different body type to Wyandotte or even it's parent stock of Orpington. It's what makes a breed unto itself. I'm biased toward Plymouth Rocks but Wyandotte and Orpington also come in many varieties for color variation.

 

[Storybook Farm]

At what age are chickens banded?

And, is it for record-keeping purposes that I see marks on eggs in incubators?

 

[TalkALittle]

I know one of the reasons someone might mark eggs before incubation is to keep track of which eggs from which hens don't hatch. If a high percentage of eggs collected from one pen don't hatch but eggs from second pen do then there may be a fertility problem with the rooster covering the hens in the first pen

 

[Ridgerunner]

You can mark or band chickens at any age. There are different ways to do it, wing bands, leg bands, toe punching. There are many different types of leg bands, some with numbers some just using color. Some plastic, some metal. A lot of us just use colored zip ties. With two separate legs to use and a few different colors you can come up with a lot of different identification systems. Green and yellow on one chicken is different from green and orange on another, for example. I use the left leg to identify year they were hatched and combinations on the right leg to identify different chickens in that year. If feather color is dramatically different I can use green and yellow on two different chickens hatched the same year if I wish. I can tell the difference in black feathers and red. You’d probably need a different color marking system since you are wanting to identify something different. Or use something different than colored leg bands or zip ties.

One of the huge problems with any leg bands is that the chicken’s legs continue to grow. If you band them before they are fully grown you need to regularly check to make sure the band is not getting too tight and endangering the chicken. I normally band mine around four months but have to cut that band off and replace it later. You just need to come up with a system that works for your unique situation.

One way to mark chicks temporarily is to use food coloring on the down. The problem with this is that they shed down and grow feathers so you often need to renew that food coloring. It’s a maintenance issue.

Different people mark eggs in incubators for different reasons. Some people put the date the egg was laid on it, maybe to help them decide which eggs have been stored how long so which do I incubate. Some people like to mark sources for whatever reasons. Some don’t mark at all. I put numbers or sometimes letters on mine using a Sharpie so I can tell which egg is in which stage of hatching. I know if an egg just pipped or if it pipped yesterday and is not progressing. Some people won’t use a Sharpie, thinking the ink will harm the chick inside, but use a pencil or something else instead. We are all unique and do things for our own reasons.

 

[aart]

I have used zip tie for bands and even segregated the incubator with hardware cloth 'baskets' so as to be able to band chicks upon removing them from incubator when hatching out different crosses.

I use a pencil to make notes on eggs before setting them and during candling.