Farming and Homesteading Heritage Poultry

[Zanna]

I read through the Plymouth Rock thread over the past week or so. They had me but now I'm about to spit the hook. I'm a bit confused. Will Heritage Rocks lay through my New Hampshire winter?

Right now I have 3 Light Brahmas, 3 Dark Brahmas, 5 Black Australorps, 5 Red Star, 1 White Rock, 3 Gold laced Wyandotte's (Mistake Rooster), 1 Buff Rock roo (Meant to order female chick), 1 Jersey Giant roo and One White Crested Polish roo (surprice [female] chick) all from MM. The chickens are a project for me and my six children (ages 15 to 15 mo) to do together. I'm interested in the Heritage breeds, specifically the Rocks. I want an old style flock with chickens that will raise there own young. I think breeding to improve a heritage breed is a great project for my [homeschooled] children (and realize it's lifelong commitment). They can learn about genetics they'll have to solve real world math problems and real world ethical issues. The children have already agreed to eat most of the birds we have now (no way will they allow me to kill Puff [the polish], and there’s a few others). Although I have one big coup I have an old dog run that I can keep spare roos in.

Here’s the thing: there’s no way I’m feeding 20 or so chickens through the winter and BUYING eggs! Is there a Rock breed/line that lay through winter? Is there any Heritage breed that’ll lay through winter? I love RIR's, my wife like Buff Plymouth rocks, she thinks the hatchery roo we have is our prettiest chicken. My 6 year old daughter would like it if we breed Gold Laced Wyandotte's but I'm led to believed they are not good producers. So what if any heritage breed/breeds will lay through winter. I am aware that egg production will drop off we only need eggs for the family?

\

My Delawares lay through the winter and even lay during molt. They do tend to be broody though so spring/summer can be slow in the egg department. I have heard others say that their lines of Dels. never go broody. Starting with a new re-created line from Kathyinmo here on BYC and they apparently go broody as well.

 

[Robert Blosl]

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.

 

[Rhinoman]

My Delawares lay through the winter and even lay during molt. They do tend to be broody though so spring/summer can be slow in the egg department. I have heard others say that their lines of Dels. never go broody. Starting with a new re-created line from Kathyinmo here on BYC and they apparently go broody as well.

I was getting this impression about Kathyinmo's Delawares: that they will lay through winter. Am I right?



Bob, me Robert too. Anyway, I've read so many of your post in the heritage threads; you are an amazing wealth of information. I don't want/need any profit, just want to start with something that is doing some winter laying. I'd love to get into something that lays fairly steady year around. I'm saying the birds don't have to lay prolifically any time of year just steadily.

I've built a ridiculous Fort Knox coop and am in it for about $5000 so no profit will never occur. I feed them fermented feed and free range them all day. I just want yummy healthy eggs all year.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

AletaG, I'm assuming you don't have a lot of chickens. The description of your feeding program is not one that describes a logical "project" for a sizable operation and probably not even one for a well developed breeding program. It's certainly not one that can be used to maintain layers/breeder fowl and raise out 50 chicks.

Will Heritage Rocks lay through my New Hampshire winter? They should, in theory, are you willing to make them? This one of the reasons for which breeders use selection.

Right now I have 3 Light Brahmas, 3 Dark Brahmas, 5 Black Australorps, 5 Red Star, 1 White Rock, 3 Gold laced Wyandotte's (Mistake Rooster), 1 Buff Rock roo (Meant to order female chick), 1 Jersey Giant roo and One White Crested Polish roo (surprice [female] chick) all from MM. The chickens are a project for me and my six children (ages 15 to 15 mo) to do together. I'm interested in the Heritage breeds, specifically the Rocks. I want an old style flock with chickens that will raise there own young. I think breeding to improve a heritage breed is a great project for my [homeschooled] children (and realize it's lifelong commitment). They can learn about genetics they'll have to solve real world math problems and real world ethical issues. The children have already agreed to eat most of the birds we have now (no way will they allow me to kill Puff [the polish], and there’s a few others). Although I have one big coup I have an old dog run that I can keep spare roos in.

Here’s the thing: there’s no way I’m feeding 20 or so chickens through the winter and BUYING eggs! Is there a Rock breed/line that lay through winter? Is there any Heritage breed that’ll lay through winter? I love RIR's, my wife like Buff Plymouth rocks, she thinks the hatchery roo we have is our prettiest chicken. My 6 year old daughter would like it if we breed Gold Laced Wyandotte's but I'm led to believed they are not good producers. So what if any heritage breed/breeds will lay through winter. I am aware that egg production will drop off we only need eggs for the family?

There are some great birds to be had, but you have to know what game you want to play. RIRs? Great! Buff Rocks? Great. There are awesome sources for both, but there's a way to do things if you want strong results; like any game, you have to play by the rules. If you have one coop and one old dog pen, you can figure something out. If you're going to try to have a proper breeding project and maintain pet birds in that type of infrastructure, it won't work.

\Originally Posted by Rhinoman



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.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: I went to a farmers market in a nearby town and I looked over all the produce before spending my few dollars on food items. ( I had a son looking on, so this was a money management lesson! )

I did look at the prices for the organically grown chicken, all nicely vacuum packed and kept on ice properly. And was totally shocked by the prices and thinking this guy must have a good market. THe price was about $8/ pound. At that point I reassessed my culls and I am putting them in my own freezer or canning because I am NOT selling them at $7 a bird anymore.

At $4 a dozen I have maxed out the market in my area. ANd perhaps the person selling eggs at the farmers market quit because she couldn't get the prices necessary to pay the feed bill and the $240 annual dues to sell at this farmers market. I don't see how this fee is justified when it is located on the commons of the town, just as it should be for the common good of the locals

On another note, the nutritional value of the homegrown birds should not be overlooked. YEs the commercial chicken can be had for $1.50 a pound on sale,and a turkey for 90 cents a pound at the holidays, but the lack of feeding on what nature intended make that product only a protein source and little more. THe lack of vitamins and micronutrients packed into the meat and fat of that animal is what is priceless. I look at the eggs as I crack them for omlets and baking and gage who the good foragers are: who has the darkest yolks, the thickest yolks. THose will be the birds staying on. THey are the ones eating down the grass making the eggs for me more nutritious AND decreasing the feed bill. Win-win.

My chickens get every scrap of food we don't use. SOme is held for dogs and cats. THen my birds, then to the compost which the birds scratch thru, too! lol THe turkey poults travel the most distance in a day, hitting every area of the farm running thru every other flock causing a moment of boistrous teenage chaos, but they are really looking around for food that was missed by others, dropped by horses or forgotten by sheep , or hopping around the garden or field. SOmehow they manage to survive encounters with horses feet. THat is a miracle. OVerall most of my birds can utilize more food than just what is in their feed hopper.

 

[Arielle]

Hatch chicks so your pullets hit point of lay in the months your mature hens take off.
Stockpile eggs for slow months. Work with nature, don't fight it.

While I would like to know if there is a bird that can mee the needs as requested, I too have learned to freeze eggs and pickle eggs during the peak production for the slow months. But I always stress during the slow time as young hens are not always on time, and cusotmers want what they want when they want it. OFten this is when I buy eggs for my family to keep customers happy. I've reached a point it aint makin' me happy.

More lessons learned.

 

[Fred's Hens]

At $4 a dozen I have maxed out the market in my area. ANd perhaps the person selling eggs at the farmers market quit because she couldn't get the prices necessary to pay the feed bill and the $240 annual dues to sell at this farmers market. I don't see how this fee is justified when it is located on the commons of the town, just as it should be for the common good of the locals

Yeeeeup. Which is why we do not market our produce at the town markets anymore. The purpose is civic good will and promotion of foot traffic, etc. Yet, such high rental fees simply cannot be sustained. There simply isn't the margins in produce to pay the fuel to truck to town and then pay as much in lot rent as the margins made. We won't do it anymore.

Grew up on a "truck farm". That expression is dead because that method of marketing is also gone by the way side, at least for us. Folks can come here to the source, right at the farm and buy. Sorry for the rant, but it is a touchy subject. LOL

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Recently theire have been discussions on the Mass thread about the sudden drop in egg production this year. Earlier than usual. My primary coop is under lights and the girls have reduced laying considerably.

1. As for future layers, I wondered what the opinonions are on identifying those that continue to lay and if they are worth holding for breeding?

2. Regarding the hens that are the "favorites" what is the value of keeping such a hen? Does she have a production value more than a hen that is perfectly feathered??

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Yup, it's just math--eat your birds, but don't compare your birds to supermarket product or prices. They are disparate. One does not save money, but one's food is worth much more than their arsenic filled malarkey. I grew up doing this, and we've done it for the last decade--it's not about saving money; it's about filling your body with goodness. Industry isn't stupid. They have discovered how to do it in the least expensive manner, and there's absolutely no getting around that. Why should there be? They're brilliant people who have achieved their goal through science and effort. I just don't want to touch their goal with a 10' pole.

Compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges. When you're checking the price on your food, go to the health food store, go to the farmers market; there you'll find something to think about.

Still, even if in a couple of areas you save money, to do so you have worked in extremis such that the value of your labor is shocking, yet it is the artistry of living well.

 

[cybercat]

I read through the Plymouth Rock thread over the past week or so. They had me but now I'm about to spit the hook. I'm a bit confused. Will Heritage Rocks lay through my New Hampshire winter?

Right now I have 3 Light Brahmas, 3 Dark Brahmas, 5 Black Australorps, 5 Red Star, 1 White Rock, 3 Gold laced Wyandotte's (Mistake Rooster), 1 Buff Rock roo (Meant to order female chick), 1 Jersey Giant roo and One White Crested Polish roo (surprice [female] chick) all from MM. The chickens are a project for me and my six children (ages 15 to 15 mo) to do together. I'm interested in the Heritage breeds, specifically the Rocks. I want an old style flock with chickens that will raise there own young. I think breeding to improve a heritage breed is a great project for my [homeschooled] children (and realize it's lifelong commitment). They can learn about genetics they'll have to solve real world math problems and real world ethical issues. The children have already agreed to eat most of the birds we have now (no way will they allow me to kill Puff [the polish], and there’s a few others). Although I have one big coup I have an old dog run that I can keep spare roos in.

Here’s the thing: there’s no way I’m feeding 20 or so chickens through the winter and BUYING eggs! Is there a Rock breed/line that lay through winter? Is there any Heritage breed that’ll lay through winter? I love RIR's, my wife like Buff Plymouth rocks, she thinks the hatchery roo we have is our prettiest chicken. My 6 year old daughter would like it if we breed Gold Laced Wyandotte's but I'm led to believed they are not good producers. So what if any heritage breed/breeds will lay through winter. I am aware that egg production will drop off we only need eggs for the family?

\

I find the best way to get a good amount of eggs threw winter is to have pullets each Spring. This is where breeding your own comes in handy and cut cost in buying chicks each year. By winter they are laying while my older girls take there time coming back into lay from molting.