Farming and Homesteading Heritage Poultry

[Extra Java]

Hi AletaG,

The farthest I've purchased from is VA and the most North has been MN.
Yes, I'm in sunny SoCal. : ) Where I live, it snows *maybe* once a year... 20 minutes from me, it snows much, much more. 30 minutes from me (other direction) is the beach...surfs up!

I haven't sold yet, I have a website but I haven't added it to my signature because I won't really be ready until Spring 2014.

Looking forward to having Jim Adkins over in March to set me straight!

 

[AletaG]

Hi AletaG,
Looking forward to having Jim Adkins over in March to set me straight!

Man, you crack me up. Me, if I got a visit from Walt or Bob, or Ron, I'd be rollin' out red carpets and preparing the very best champagne... or in Bob's case, glue? Valium? burnt rubber?
Have fun!

 

[Extra Java]

Glue?...GREAT idea!

 

[catdaddyfro]

I guess I am just old fashion I breed by the APA standard of perfection not a definition of some organization.

People can choose which direction they want to go. That's why one old timers gave me the best advice I ever got. Go Slow, Go Small and go down the middle of the road. I want feather quality on my birds, then type then egg producing using the fit of the fittest principle to select them. That's how you get stuning large fowl and the kind that win Champion Large Fowl at the shows.

I have had enough bunny tails when I started on my Rocks never again. Cant win with them at a show.

But who shows chickens much anymore anyway most people want chickens for private use and for pets.

Will still plug away the old fashion way. Will also have a few bloodies even if I don't want them and will let them set and raise some young for

delete

 

[finnfur]

delete

OH No ! - You didn't get bad again did ya Jeff ?

 

[catdaddyfro]

OH No ! - You didn't get bad again did ya Jeff ?

Had my tounge tied in the middle and my hands flapping at both ends

I got to learn to keep my fingers under my knees sometimes LOL

All I can say is sometimes I just don't agree LOL


Jeff

 

[Arielle]

Quote: I l ike to hear diferent opinions. THe world was once flat . . . . .

 

[catdaddyfro]

I l ike to hear diferent opinions. THe world was once flat . . . . .

LOL yeah but I have an awesome knack(tendency) to piss folk off in my arguing, can't help myself evidently. LOL My Granny always said 'if you don't have anything nice to say then keep it to yourself', I been practicing this advice for years and years but still haven't mastered that one yet LOL

Jeff

 

[3riverschick]

Quote: Ok,
I will take a stab at this. If you want your hens to lay best during the winter you need to have two things. A March-hatched female and sprouted oats. Sussex are historically bred to be an excellent winter-laying breed This is because they are an English breed and in England, the 1st big Holiday of the year is Derby Day. Fattened poultry were/are a huge feast item on Derby Day. So one reason the Sussex became such a fine winter layer was to lay eggs and raise chicks early in the year so they would be fattened and ready for the Derby Day market. Sussex are raised all year round in England, but the best winter layers are March-hatched birds.
On to part 2. If you want to bring your females into lay you need to feed them sprouted oats. Not just any sprouted oat. You need to sprout forage oats ( like the kind they plant in pastures for livestock to forage on or in feed plots for deer to eat. ( Plotspike is my fav brand {Tractor Supply Company}). Not Feed oats like they give horses to eat in the barns. Sprouted oats are interesting. From 1 thru 3 days old they are considered Grain Feed. They are fed as part of the daily ration for the birds. On the 4th day, a nutritional change takes place in the oat sprout and they become Green Feed. Now they are fed as a supplement to the daily ration. Feed spouts 4-7 days old. There is no advantage to growing them older than 7 days. They do not become more nutritious after 7 days old. After the sprouts are 7 days old, I do not feed them because there is a larger chance they might go bad. The spouts should feel and smell fresh. If they look or feel slimy or off-color/off-smell, throw them out and start again.
It is this Green Feed which helps bring your hens into lay. It also helps the male create more robust sperm so the chicks he fathers are more robust. Each adult bird should get one cubic inch of green feed sprouted oats per day. There are a bunch of methods for sprouting them. All easy. See pages 24 thru 29 of this thread for all kinds of sprouting methods:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/425134/anybody-raise-sprouts-to-feed-the-chickens/230
. Forage oats have been proven thru scientific studies to be the absolute best seed to spout for poultry for these purposes.
I keep my birds under lights 24/7 in the winter from first freeze to last freeze ( beg. of Nov. to mid-March). I have a 4'x6'x4'high coop and use an 85 watt bulb in the rafters. This keeps the cocks comb from freezing. I do not worry about lengthening or shortening days, they just get light 24/7. Now I have read this is not normal and the night time is a good thing. But I would rather have unfrozen combs than a hassle with augmenting the daylight.
Best,
Karen
Waterford English Light Sussex
in western PA, USA

 

[Zanna]

Ok,
I will take a stab at this. If you want your hens to lay best during the winter you need to have two things. A March-hatched female and sprouted oats. Sussex are historically bred to be an excellent winter-laying breed This is because they are an English breed and in England, the 1st big Holiday of the year is Derby Day. Fattened poultry were/are a huge feast item on Derby Day. So one reason the Sussex became such a fine winter layer was to lay eggs and raise chicks early in the year so they would be fattened and ready for the Derby Day market. Sussex are raised all year round in England, but the best winter layers are March-hatched birds.
On to part 2. If you want to bring your females into lay you need to feed them sprouted oats. Not just any sprouted oat. You need to sprout forage oats ( like the kind they plant in pastures for livestock to forage on or in feed plots for deer to eat. ( Plotspike is my fav brand {Tractor Supply Company}). Not Feed oats like they give horses to eat in the barns. Sprouted oats are interesting. From 1 thru 3 days old they are considered Grain Feed. They are fed as part of the daily ration for the birds. On the 4th day, a nutritional change takes place in the oat sprout and they become Green Feed. Now they are fed as a supplement to the daily ration. Feed spouts 4-7 days old. There is no advantage to growing them older than 7 days. They do not become more nutritious after 7 days old. After the sprouts are 7 days old, I do not feed them because there is a larger chance they might go bad. The spouts should feel and smell fresh. If they look or feel slimy or off-color/off-smell, throw them out and start again.
It is this Green Feed which helps bring your hens into lay. It also helps the male create more robust sperm so the chicks he fathers are more robust. Each adult bird should get one cubic inch of green feed sprouted oats per day. There are a bunch of methods for sprouting them. All easy. See pages 24 thru 29 of this thread for all kinds of sprouting methods:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/425134/anybody-raise-sprouts-to-feed-the-chickens/230
. Forage oats have been proven thru scientific studies to be the absolute best seed to spout for poultry for these purposes.
I keep my birds under lights 24/7 in the winter from first freeze to last freeze ( beg. of Nov. to mid-March). I have a 4'x6'x4'high coop and use an 85 watt bulb in the rafters. This keeps the cocks comb from freezing. I do not worry about lengthening or shortening days, they just get light 24/7. Now I have read this is not normal and the night time is a good thing. But I would rather have unfrozen combs than a hassle with augmenting the daylight.
Best,
Karen
Waterford English Light Sussex
in western PA, USA

I feed oats I sprout that I get directly out of the combine from a local farmers field. I have done some research and can not find anything about what are forage oats other than they are the regular oats planted to feed either for forage or dried or for next years crop. Am I missing something?? I know you have done a lot of research on this!