Farming and Homesteading Heritage Poultry

[Matthew3590]

are silky chickens ornamental fowl? I know they are good at being broodies but are is there egg production good?

 

[punky rooster]

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To be honest, IMO, pretty much all bantams are Ornamental. You should go to the Silkie thread for egg laying experience...

 

[punky rooster]

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Wow. Impressive!

 

[skylinepoultry]

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Wow. Impressive!

Its so beautiful at the Minnonite community. Bought a bunch of veggies today. Best friuts and veggies. They sell heritage breed poultry last Saturday of the month.

 

[Patience]

Whew! I can't believe I read the whole thread!

I want to thank all of you for sharing so much expertise, passion, and humor. This thread is a real treasure. Of course I have some questions. I will apologize in advance since I am just starting to learn about raising heritage chickens and I'm sure my questions will be silly

Do those of you with experience in line breeding and breeding to the SOP think it is possible to develop a really good line with a small flock? Maybe 4-11 hens and one roo? Are there any specific tips that you would offer other than starting out with the best stock you can afford?

I was really intrigued by the idea of not culling until well into maturity; this just makes so much sense to me in terms of really being able to see what you have, both good and bad. How old do you think is old enough to really judge a bird? 2 years?

This is probably the humdinger stupid question, but in a flock that is more on the free-range, low-management side, how do you keep track of which chicks came from which hen? Or is it recommended to isolate hens for breeding? Or would you just cull as you went on the assumption that you would still be able to make good selections even if you didn't exactly know how you ended up with them?

This is slightly off topic, but someone upthread mentioned the dent corn his family had grown for fodder and I wondered if this might not be close: http://sustainableseedco.com/Truckers-Favorite-White-Corn-Seeds.html it's a seed that I was looking at.

Again, thank you all so much!

 

[skylinepoultry]

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I could go forever on the topic of culling. There's so many factors that can be involved. A young sick bird could develope slower but still hold good genes you need but you'd never see it because of the stunt in its growth. This in return gives you mutations you don't want. Or do they? That's another story,lol. Eviroment,stress for example. The biggie is the time of the year you hatch your eggs. The cooler the weather the better. Chicks will grow faster. Eat better. Feather out quicker. Makes more for a vigorous chick. Hotter weather affects the diet and feather growth is slower. Learn from other peoples mistakes and make the best out of your situation. I'm no expert but I do listen and study my self experiences. I consider poultry raising to be a true art. There's many years of peoples endeavers we can learn from. I'm a true believer that the older the bird the better your chances of culling the best is more successful. Patience is key. Some genes can hide a generation and pop back out on another. Its still a good idea to have a good variety of lines for good blood. Breeds can go concrete if you line breed them long enough. This can develope into nerve problems, plumage defects, bone growth etc. You can only go so far before something goes wrong. These are my own personal opinions.. Everyone has their own methods.

 

[kathyinmo]

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Wow. Impressive!

Its so beautiful at the Minnonite community. Bought a bunch of veggies today. Best friuts and veggies. They sell heritage breed poultry last Saturday of the month.

We have a Mennonite community, as well as an Amish community near here. They do have great produce, for sure. Unfortunately, here, their poultry are mostly sex links and cross breeds. I have yet to see any pure breeds from them.

 

[Patience]

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I could go forever on the topic of culling. There's so many factors that can be involved. A young sick bird could develope slower but still hold good genes you need but you'd never see it because of the stunt in its growth. This in return gives you mutations you don't want. Or do they? That's another story,lol. Eviroment,stress for example. The biggie is the time of the year you hatch your eggs. The cooler the weather the better. Chicks will grow faster. Eat better. Feather out quicker. Makes more for a vigorous chick. Hotter weather affects the diet and feather growth is slower. Learn from other peoples mistakes and make the best out of your situation. I'm no expert but I do listen and study my self experiences. I consider poultry raising to be a true art. There's many years of peoples endeavers we can learn from. I'm a true believer that the older the bird the better your chances of culling the best is more successful. Patience is key. Some genes can hide a generation and pop back out on another. Its still a good idea to have a good variety of lines for good blood. Breeds can go concrete if you line breed them long enough. This can develope into nerve problems, plumage defects, bone growth etc. You can only go so far before something goes wrong. These are my own personal opinions.. Everyone has their own methods.

Awesome reply, skylinepoultry. Thank you! You've given me a lot to think about, especially as regards to the weather and how that can impact development. I'm still reading lots on line breeding but I gather great care should be taken and it is best when used on excellent stock. I guess maybe this one wasn't such a silly question after all

 

[hudsonnascarfan]

this is the kind of link i have been looking for something for a homestead that is a dp bird that can hold its own and keep your flock going for me i dont mind if my birds arent ready to eat in 6 to 8 weeks or even 6 to 8 months i want something that i can get eggs from or if we want to have a few chicken meals a month we can have them i dont have a lot of land its only 2.2 acres but we are trying to build up a flock of dp chickens im trying to keep it to around 4 or 5 breeds that way i can use some portable pens for breeding we are still clearing out the area for our pig pen and our garden but for now we are raiseing chickens we havent got that many but for now we only have 1 coop thats 8x12 next year we are planning on a 2nd coop and makeing our run 12x50 and hopeing to maybe use some portable tractors for breeding pens the area we are in we dont dare to free range the chickens due to seeing foxes and coons all the time but we are enjoying trying to raise some of our own foods and are hopeing that within the next few years we might be doing alot more of our own foods

 

[skylinepoultry]

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Check out this thread and see if this is the breed for you. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=510045