Farming and Homesteading Heritage Poultry

[Yellow House Farm]

The goal is to keep for breeders hens that lay until late September or more before molting; this assumes that they were hatched in the early spring and came into lay at the appropriate time: "April chicks, September eggs."

If money is a question and/or extended production is a question, keep old school European birds. They forage better. They lay better. They eat less. So many people's goals would be more correctly served by a flock of Anconas, Leghorns, or Minorcas. There just good chickens, and they do what chickens are supposed to do.

If one has the infrastructure, on could keep three or four pairs of meat birds: Dorkings, Rocks, Wyandottes, Sussex, Orpingtons, etc....; run 'em like a rabbitry. Then keep a more substantial flock of Anconas, Leghorns, Hamburgs, what have you.

 

[cbnovick]

WEEVILS IN FEED??

What's everyone's opinion on feeding crumble with weevils in it?
I have never had an issue until we had a huge humidity spike here in AZ and discovered all 3 of my feed storage bins (1 chick starter, 1 gamebird breeder, 1 rolled oats) have weevils in them. The bins have lids on them though I doubt they are a tight seal...must have come in on some bag of feed at some point in the last 2-3 weeks. I hate to just throw out $60+ worth of feed...I searched through BYC threads already...don't want to freeze the feed to kill bugs...
My bias is that it may be okay to feed since the feed in the bins is dry with no evidence of mold/spoilage and looks and smells like normal grain should too.
Any advise/experience would be appreciated.
Cindy

 

[Back2Roots]

Quote:
Rhinoman, have you considered looking into Chanteclers? They are a Canadian Heritage breed. They are cold hardy, they are very good layers and are known for winter laying.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Rhinoman, if eggs are your primary goal and you live in NH, you might consider getting RC Anconas from us. They'll suit your needs and will cost less to maintain than Rocks or Reds while laying more eggs.. Consider attending the Deerfield Fair and then the New Hampshire Poultry Fanciers Association show at the Deerfield Fairgrounds the second Sunday in October. No matter what, once you have birds, where they go is your decision. If you have the proper set up and learn the art of selection, you can relatively quickly increase their productivity. If you get good birds but do not learn well the laws of selection, you'll have productivity for a generation or two, and then it will all start to go down hill. Buying good birds is no guarantee of future success; only the owner learning to select can assure this. The best way to start is to get birds that approximate as much as possible the Standard of Perfection. This does not assure production at top levels, but it ensures that the stage is set. Thence, one begins to select for production within the framework of proper breed type.

YHF, I'm curious as to what you consider a "proper" set up? Do you have pictures of your set up you could share?

These are Jamie Duckworth's Barred Rocks and he has good luck laying and never heard him talk
about broodiness. Some strains you get do have this. If that happens they are not worth keeping and need to locate a better
blood line. Not many good barred rock large fowl lines out there. Have had a hard time locating good stains for people in the past three
years but they are improving.

Profits from Standard Breed Heritage Chickens is not there. Mr. Fox at Ideal Hatchery in Texas has good layers in his production Barred Rocks. Our Heritage Rocks you are lucky to get 160 to 180 eggs out of a pullet. Then they decrease by about 20 percent production as hens grow older each year. The production birds are good for one year then harvest them get you some more and you have a shot of making a few dollars with them. They are the same as Rhode Island Reds. Go with the production line from him and don't fool with our beloved R I Red large fowl for profit. Its strictly a Preservation and try to keep them from dying off effort with us. Hope this helps. I should have some idea. I was National Secretary of the Plymouth Rock Fanciers Club for four years and that is what I told people who wanted to make money off of our Rocks. Just is none.

This statement kind of surprises me Bob. Isn't part of the heritage, "farming and homesteading" thing having chickens that can reproduce and raise their own chicks? I think life would be so much easier if I never bought an incubator. If I had birds that would reliably go broody, I'd let them have the job. Makes for a lot more work for me! Of course, I don't value a bird that goes broody, raises her clutch, abandons them at 3 weeks and starts all over! That is a bird I wouldn't want.

WEEVILS IN FEED??

What's everyone's opinion on feeding crumble with weevils in it?
I have never had an issue until we had a huge humidity spike here in AZ and discovered all 3 of my feed storage bins (1 chick starter, 1 gamebird breeder, 1 rolled oats) have weevils in them. The bins have lids on them though I doubt they are a tight seal...must have come in on some bag of feed at some point in the last 2-3 weeks. I hate to just throw out $60+ worth of feed...I searched through BYC threads already...don't want to freeze the feed to kill bugs...
My bias is that it may be okay to feed since the feed in the bins is dry with no evidence of mold/spoilage and looks and smells like normal grain should too.
Any advise/experience would be appreciated.
Cindy

If I have weevils in my feed, I feed them out. I ferment my feed and they drown in the mix. However, if the weevils are so bad that my grain looks like the insides are all on the outside it goes back to the feed store!

 

[capayvalleychick]

What's everyone's opinion on feeding crumble with weevils in it?

I got a discount on my last pick up of feed, because it had weevils in it. I'm feeding it to the chickens. I figure chickens eat bugs, so why not?

Isn't part of the heritage, "farming and homesteading" thing having chickens that can reproduce and raise their own chicks? ... If I had birds that would reliably go broody, I'd let them have the job. Makes for a lot more work for me!

I agree!

 

[colburg]

Go Galt!
<darn, can you tell we just watched Atlas Shrugged last night??>

Like anything else, the book is always better. There's tons of stuff, tons and tons of stuff, missing in the movie. Atcually, the movie series would need to be about 30 2-3 hour episodes to capture most of everything that's in the book.

If you haven't already...read the book.

colburg

 

[colburg]

Quote: Here's a study done on storing eggs. Turns out the best way they found, was storing them in the fridge. 6-7 months and they were still edible, they had lost some flavor and texture, but were edible.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/fresh-eggs.aspx#axzz2dTQyKCAL

 

[Robert Blosl]

Lets say we go with Mr. Duckworth's strain which has three different strains crossed in over a ten year period and he has breed them to the standard for six years to improve the type but most of all look at the tails on these males. Most strains of Barred Rocks males tails blow up and looks like someone put a fire cracker in them. Why this happens is still a mystery to me.
To improve my old strain of White Rocks to improve feather quality and to increase egg production to 200 eggs per pullet year it took me five years to do this Broodiness is a trait of the Cochin gene and that's what I had that made my females have bunny tails and poor feather quality. So if you want egg production and or hens that will go broody to raise their young to they are three months old you got to decide what side of the white line you want to breed for. You cant have both. I did have some of my high laying hens go broody and they did a great job as mothers. I used them for my call duck eggs and man they where fantastic sitters. I am gong to the silkie bantam and Buff Brahma route for sitting hens. Of course if I have a good Rhode Island Red Bantam go broody I cant do anything about it I will let her sit and raise her chicks and then show her the next year as a hen. Her feathers will shin like no other Red Bantam hen in the show. Its the hormones in the broody hen that puts a luster on their molted feathers.

I think in the winter in extreme cold climates you will have a reduction of egg production. I am sure the folks in Minn and Wisconsin in have the same problems.

Keep looking and try what you find best for your needs

In regards to Kathy in Mo Delaware and broodiness its such a young new experiment breed remember it was just three years ago she contacted me looking for barred rocks and new Hampshire's to make this cross. We found them and she put the crosses together. Her goal was to try to get better color on these birds as well as type and she sure has done a bang up job doing it. Will you be able to breed out broadness yes but then you may mess up your type and color in the process and maybe not. To early to tell but she sure has done something no one has done in many years with this breed.

 

[catdaddyfro]

Broodiness is the part in the ALBCs definition of "heritage" breeds that makes for self-sustaining breeds. They can be the best foragers, flock defenders, smartest alert birds out there if they can't reproduce without the intervention or man made machines they cannot or will not be able to be self sustaining. Why would one try to bred it out they sell those non setters everday at TSC it would be easier and many steps ahead of the ball game if that was the biggest problem one had in breeding up their stock. I don't get why you would want to breed away from that. Must be more show stuff glad I'm not a showman my idea of a "real" chicken and show chickens is getting further and further removed from each other the more I read ya'll "expert" breeders. Not all ya'll just a certain couple or few.



Here's one for ya'll my NH pullets I hatched from XWpoultry farms eggs are now starting up production I have gotten 4 eggs in 5 days and today I finally got the proof of which one it is(caught her in the act). Pretty sure its a lone hen doing it the eggs are uniformly the same in color shape and size and have only seen the 1 out of the 7 singing and trying to escape evertime I open the gate shes searching for a nesting area as she is not trained to go to the nest box yet (some do this)
Now guess what she is darkest red("brown" as some call them on here and another infamous site) out of the group but you know what I will keep the girl because I'd say in the breeding world of poultry that early maturity should often time trump shade color any day. Now if she was white or black or barred and not supposed to be then, no, but just about 3-4 shades darker red than chestnut(which I think a lot of folks lean more toward the buff colors as being) I think last time I checked a chestnut is in the brown category where as buff should be in yellow/gold. J/S

Jeff

 

[AletaG]

The goal is to keep for breeders hens that lay until late September or more before molting; this assumes that they were hatched in the early spring and came into lay at the appropriate time: "April chicks, September eggs."
If money is a question and/or extended production is a question, keep old school European birds. They forage better. They lay better. They eat less. So many people's goals would be more correctly served by a flock of Anconas, Leghorns, or Minorcas. There just good chickens, and they do what chickens are supposed to do.
If one has the infrastructure, on could keep three or four pairs of meat birds: Dorkings, Rocks, Wyandottes, Sussex, Orpingtons, etc....; run 'em like a rabbitry. Then keep a more substantial flock of Anconas, Leghorns, Hamburgs, what have you.

Good advice. My husband is pushing for most of our laying flock to be Icees... they eat almost no feed, just forage like crazy, and smart. There's also less risk of losing "type" with breeding mistakes, since there isn't really a type. I will breed my HRIR to standard, but within that standard, I would def. favor good mothers, long season laying, early maturity, etc. That only makes sense, doesn't it? Just like "keeper" males should never give me or my kids the hairy eyeball, let alone attack a human. But one that did his nails while a falcon swooped in, would be on the dinner table too.
BTW, my operation is tiny. I'm on only a quarter acre, so I have to push the envelope of the possible, and our budget is tiny, too. My whole point was, what one is trying to accomplish with your flock will affect your input (time, money, etc.). For me, and others who have small spaces (it is "backyard chickens" after all) we have different choices to make than a larger breeder/meat raising/egg production set up.
It's why, after drooling longingly at Kathy's Dels, I decided the breed would be better off without my input! I know you can get keepers of good HRIR raising 20 chicks, whereas with those Dels, with my lack of space and experience, I could possibly raise 30, and still not end up with keepers, let alone any to share with others. Anyway. If you have a set up like mine, you have to make other choices. That's what I've got to work with.