Reading that really makes me wonder how many Phoenix are out there that are homozygous for the mt gene, and if those do better at poultry shows? I wish GHF were able to be shown. I really used to enjoy showing birds when I was younger. I would still enjoy it now!!
Not at all. They would rather I don't bother them, but I have never had them so much as flare at me. And when I do manage to catch them, they may give a single, annoyed growl, but then they just put up with being looked at.
Okay. I just wasn't sure because I know a few things can cause the wasting and wasn't sure if you had an idea on if it was genetics or something else.
My mom just calls him RustyI justified t really like the look of him, and the dense feathering. There is such a variety in Red Pyle from chicken breed to chicken breed, some with super distinct markings, other marked in coloration like a Red Shouldered Yokahamas with just a couple of patches but still considered Red Pyle. I wish they had picked a different name for the pattern than Red Pyle, though!A name like Scarlet Scimitar or something flashy like that!
I hate tracking waiting lists and getting prepaid orders, but it may be better than what I did this year. I had several people that expressed interest in chicks, then when I could see I was going to have a good hatch, I contacted them about payment and ---- nothing.
It really is better in the long run to select for hardiness; everything follows on the heels of that. Nursing along sickly birds and then breeding them ends up being deleterious to the whole flock. I think you are on the right track doing that, and I wish more people would do the same.
Do you ever consider selling hatching eggs? Or is that just not worth the hassle to you?
For years, I avoided vaccinating for Marek's and still many breeders I know do not - in the hope of developing resistance. I'm not convinced I was making progress and customers were losing birds to it, and I knew how to prevent that, so now I vaccinate. It has cut mortality among my breeders. Perhaps I am allowing for weaker birds to prosper, but true genetic resistance to Marek's is a way off I believe.
When I raised canaries, it was like that every single year; right at February there would be this rash of orders for hens, and the people would not buy them earlier than that. I always came up short for hens, since I didn't want to over winter that many, because we used to go on longer trips for a week or so, and its hard to find someone to take care of birds properly, whether indoor or outdoor birds. I would always come back with this dread in the pit of my stomach. it was really stresssful, people do not know what a healthy vs unhealthy bird looks like, or they forget to go give them water, or didn't know how to check for shelled seed. I ended up going to straight pellets on the indoor birds, no seeds, because of that shelling problem. it is the same with chickens. I bet when you walk in and see chickens, you can tell right away who is healthy, who is struggling, but most people have not a clue. They think a fluffy bird hunched in a corner is " cute" because it is fluffed up.
I have shipped eggs, using several methods, and the results were highly variable, but more bad than good. I lose some chick shipments also, but not nearly as many. I try to price the eggs and chicks to reflect my efforts to pack/hatch and ship, and chicks work out to be a much better deal if you really want a breeding group of something. My lines of GHF are sexable at hatch, so I can be sure you get a balanced group that will make nice breeders and have some extra males to allow you to choose which to breed with.
Okay. I tend towards eggs just because it's usually safer because of mareks. But you do have a go point about breeding group size being easier with buying chicks
I think I hit gold with these Alsdorf birds. My original male turned mean, but I think I caused that by treating him with too much deference. NONE of his descendants have show any tendencies to fight with me or each other. I try to raise the males together from a young age, so they don't get a rival dumped into the pen suddenly.
