Farming and Homesteading Heritage Poultry

[Fentress]

I have 2 K's and 6 P's, Barred Rock, to start my first breeding season with. Just finished moving 1K & 3 P's into their own separate little pasture. My flock will constitute my second breeding pen since I can tell the BR eggs from the other hens. The move went ok, took them off the roost before dawn, and crated them up, but I just don't like handling chickens. I don't mind it, it's them that get upset, they scream, the flock screams, it's a real downer.

 

[finnfur]

What a hen - couple like that and I could shut down my brooder which is my least favorite part of raising chicks.

 

[southernmomma]

My chosen F1 breeders came to POL this past week, just a few days before their 6 mo. of age. I'm pretty psyched about that as my last standard bred pullets didn't come into POL until 8 mo. of age. This is one of the traits for which I'm breeding, so I'm tickled pink.

Even one of the pullets out of the hen that had that late maturity was seen being bred by the male today and I could have sworn she wasn't quite ready, so any day now she'll be on that nest if not already. She's the only one I didn't get to check vents on last night as she's pretty flighty and made the great escape out of the coop...she's an F1 also but I hadn't planned on breeding her just yet. I think I'm going to see what she does her first laying year before adding her to the pens as her mother has performed pretty badly her first laying year and has poor feathering. The mother will be used as a broody this year as she went broody twice last year and I'm hoping she does so again, as that's the only reason she's still in the flock matrix..she only has 3 finger capacity and 2 finger width.

My two chosen both have 5 finger capacity and 3 finger width between their pelvic bones...and I have wide fingers, so that's a good strong measurement. The male has 2 finger capacity and 1 finger width.

Hope to record some real data next week of weights at time of POL, measurements of accurate pelvic bone thickness and prepotency testing of the skulls of these breeding females, as well as the male. I'd really like to use Hogan's charts to get some idea of what to expect from them and then see if his method pans out for their first year of lay, and their fertility and ability to pass along these traits as well.

Need to order bands this week also and get started on the breeding pens next week. Have already penned up the male and will start feeding him chicken meal supplement along with his regular ration.

When you refer to capacity and width are you talking about the space between the pelvic bones and the size of the bones themselves? I want to know

M

 

[Beekissed]

Capacity is referring to abdominal capacity and Mr. Hogan measures that as the width from the end of the keel bone to the pelvic bones and does it with his hand/fingers at the horizontal position. This is to measure the capacity for the chicken to consume and digest food enough to support laying, while also having enough room for a certain number of eggs to be in production.

Pelvic width is the measurement between the pelvic bones themselves and is also measured with fingers, but they are laid vertically through the pelvic bones and are also referred to in finger widths. He also measures the thickness of the pelvic bones themselves by pinching the end of the pelvic bones between finger and thumb to ascertain the measurement of the thickness of bone and accompanying meat/fat/gristle to be found there.

Here's an online archive of the book and you can turn the pages just as if you had the book...the pics are black and white and a little fuzzy, but the book is written and published in the early 1900s so that's to be expected. They aren't much more clear with the book right in front of you. You can magnify the page to be able to read the text, though, so that's good.

https://archive.org/stream/callhenscience00hogarich#page/28/mode/2up

 

[chickadoodles]

I've been fortunate to have several hens who just want to be great mothers. They willingly adopt chick I give them or steal chicks from other hens when they tire of their responsibility.

Mandy chose to adopt chicks I gave her from the incubator when her clutch hatched and then stole chicks from a hen whose clutch hatched about the same time. She took them everywhere teaching them to forage...at one point she had 35 chicks including a few bantam chicks...

I enjoyed the story of your hen a bunch. What an amazing hen!

 

[DesertChic]

I've been fortunate to have several hens who just want to be great mothers. They willingly adopt chick I give them or steal chicks from other hens when they tire of their responsibility.

Mandy chose to adopt chicks I gave her from the incubator when her clutch hatched and then stole chicks from a hen whose clutch hatched about the same time. She took them everywhere teaching them to forage...at one point she had 35 chicks including a few bantam chicks...

I LOVE these pics! It's just so beautiful to see a momma hen taking care of her babies. I could lose hours just watching them.

 

[Lacy Blues]

I have 2 K's and 6 P's, Barred Rock, to start my first breeding season with. Just finished moving 1K & 3 P's into their own separate little pasture. My flock will constitute my second breeding pen since I can tell the BR eggs from the other hens. The move went ok, took them off the roost before dawn, and crated them up, but I just don't like handling chickens. I don't mind it, it's them that get upset, they scream, the flock screams, it's a real downer.

You need to handle them more.

In the evenings, when you go out to close up, take a few extra minutes and just start by touching each one while its light enough that they can see you but dark enough that they'll stay put. Just stroke their backs a few times and as this becomes acceptable, touch them with two hands. Next step: make like you're going to pick them up but don't. Next step: pick them up and put them right back.

You get the idea. Get them used to you and used to being handled in stages.

 

[Fentress]

You need to handle them more.

In the evenings, when you go out to close up, take a few extra minutes and just start by touching each one while its light enough that they can see you but dark enough that they'll stay put. Just stroke their backs a few times and as this becomes acceptable, touch them with two hands. Next step: make like you're going to pick them up but don't. Next step: pick them up and put them right back.

You get the idea. Get them used to you and used to being handled in stages.

I'll try that. It is something that needs to improve and is holding me back from taking another step forward, that would include checking vents, Hogan method, etc. They free range all day and I need for them to be alert and on edge. Have not had a successful hawk attack in over a year (knock on wood). The standard bred BR are little more docile than the hatchery birds. I actually bent over and picked up a K during the day last summer and put a band on his leg. Of course, I had been baiting him with cracked corn for two weeks. thanks for the help, I will give it a shot.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm with you on that. I don't often pick up my free rangers in the day time and I don't like them stooping or freezing for an attempted pick up. I usually only handle them at night and as they age, they get used to the infrequent examinations and tend to have less freak out. The WRs get easier as they age because they are just big gals and big gals don't seem to fight as much as the little wiry birds...they have more weight to throw around, so they tire out quicker.

 

[RiddleMe]

There are really good judges and then some not so good. This is life. Half of all doctors were in the bottom half of their class too. Every judge is supposed to have a CURRENT Standard in their possession when they judge and if they are judging a breed that they do not know they should be looking it up. If they don't make sure that the club doesn't hire them again. If they are incompetent their are remedies. The easiest most efficient way is to educate judges to your breed. It is done all the time by some of the breed clubs.

The APA will be including a production section in the next Standard. The APA supplies the information but it is up to the breeders to implement this. There is no way that the APA can enforce these production guidelines other than making sure the birds are physically capable of good performance. Keep in mind that the hybrid does the best job laying and the best job for meat but the meat bird's can't reproduce like birds and the egg layers burn out quickly. None of the hybrid birds are meant for the long haul like the old breeds in addition some are ornamental and have no practical purpose.

Walt

Not exactly a homesteading question, but I am hoping to take some birds to my first show this fall, White Chanteclers and a non-recognized breed. For the non-recognized breed, there are accepted LF UK and German standards, a draft LF standard by the breed club, and the accepted ABA standard for bantams. I was thinking about printing one up and affixing to the cage for the judge to reference as I'm only taking them for feedback and figured without a standard to reference, they can really only judge condition. But I wasn't sure if this was allowed... Also, which standard would you recommend?

From a homesteading perspective, I am really enjoying these Chanteclers. Good sized birds, big eggs, and the chicks hatch fast and clean. I haven't butchered any yet, I only started with two decent pairs and am trying to build up a flock, but I can tell by feeling them they will make a nice carcass. So far so good.