Help me decide which chickens to keep and get next - breeding for rainbow eggs.

[mermaid_of_the_farm]

I wouldn't be the right person to ask since I don't breed chickens professionally but there are people who will gladly help

Okay, thanks for your input nonetheless! I have thought about welsummers so I'll take this as a sign to make that my next addition. That and some kind of Maran haha.

 

[redinator]

Ooo, okay. I am interested in raising my own too. I have 4 males - 1 welbar and 3 EE. If you had to choose one which would it be? Or should I cull them all and get a welsummer roo? Or maybe having two roosters could work? I think welsummers have beautiful eggs and have been thinking about adding them. Is it possible to eventually get a welsummer through a welbar x ccl? Thank you!

I would test breed each male in small batches with a few hens. They could easily have poor genetics or be infertile.

I haven't gotten to that point yet myself, but plan to next spring once my oldest chickens reach a year or older.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

To cull does not necessarily mean to kill, no. It means to remove from the flock. You could give away what you don't need or try selling. However, be advised that cockerels/ roosters are not highly desireable and you need to consider carefully why someone might want them. To eat? For bait? For cockfighting? Are you okay with those possibilities? The odds of them going to be someone's beloved pet are slim to none, just so you know, and you need to have a plan for them if you do any hatching.

 

[Tstraub]

Hatching hundreds of eggs!! Wow! Cull doesn't always mean kill, correct? What do they do with all those grow outs?

This is so fascinating and I wonder if there's a beginner, low-level way to start. As in, I have one incubator and don't plan on getting more just yet. I could maybe hatch around 25?

Also, I am getting strong Maran and Welsummer vibes. Is there a reputable breeder with those breeds? I live in WA.

Thank you!

Cull means to remove them from the breeding program. Cockerels that aren’t good enough to breed are usually grown out to butcher weight and sent to freezer camp.

Pullets that aren’t worthy of breeding but also don’t have any faults that compromise their health can be kept as breakfast egg layers, sold to as breakfast egg layers, put to work as broody hens, or butchered.

I have been breeding some mixed breeds just for fun and learning for a couple years. I’m only just getting started with a flock of American Bresse so I have been reading and listening to podcasts about breeding but don’t have much experience with SOP breeding.

I pan to hatch as many eggs as I can from my foundation birds and grow the chicks out in chicken tractors. Only the best of the grow outs will move up to the breeding pin. The idea is to always breed for improvement. If it’s not better than its parent it doesn’t get breed because that would move you in the wrong direction.

I’m definitely no expert on the matter but I’m trying for SOP. The way I understand it most serious breeders except about 10% of their chicks to be good enough to use as breeders. If you don’t cull heavy you won’t make any meaningful improvements to your bloodline.

 

[mermaid_of_the_farm]

I would test breed each male in small batches with a few hens. They could easily have poor genetics or be infertile.

I haven't gotten to that point yet myself, but plan to next spring once my oldest chickens reach a year or older.

My oldest roo is 8 months and I recently hatched 3 of his eggs from my EEs. As fertility goes, I guess he's good? He is just an EE though so idk if he's worth keeping if I get serious about breeding. I do want to try to fix the shredder in my lav orpies so maybe I should look into getting a black orpington.

So many project ideas - I'm already starting to feel overwhelmed

 

[mermaid_of_the_farm]

To cull does not necessarily mean to kill, no. It means to remove from the flock. You could give away what you don't need or try selling. However, be advised that cockerels/ roosters are not highly desireable and you need to consider carefully why someone might want them. To eat? For bait? For cockfighting? Are you okay with those possibilities? The odds of them going to be someone's beloved pet are slim to none, just so you know, and you need to have a plan for them if you do any hatching.

I recently hatched 3 to test out an incubator I got and just to try it as a fun project with the kids - and it worked! But 2 of the 3 are males and I don't have a plan I'm trying to justify keeping them but really I can't. My neighbor has a friend that grows out cockerels for eating which I think would be a good plan but I am way too soft and emotionally attached. My first babies that I've hatched and all. BUT I refuse to be a hoarder and don't wish for unnecessary roos. It's just a challenge I have to overcome. I'd rather know a friend of a friend is making good use of them then worrying about ill-intentioned strangers.

This is definitely a good point to consider, thank you friend.

 

[mermaid_of_the_farm]

Cull means to remove them from the breeding program. Cockerels that aren’t good enough to breed are usually grown out to butcher weight and sent to freezer camp.

Pullets that aren’t worthy of breeding but also don’t have any faults that compromise their health can be kept as breakfast egg layers, sold to as breakfast egg layers, put to work as broody hens, or butchered.

I have been breeding some mixed breeds just for fun and learning for a couple years. I’m only just getting started with a flock of American Bresse so I have been reading and listening to podcasts about breeding but don’t have much experience with SOP breeding.

I pan to hatch as many eggs as I can from my foundation birds and grow the chicks out in chicken tractors. Only the best of the grow outs will move up to the breeding pin. The idea is to always breed for improvement. If it’s not better than its parent it doesn’t get breed because that would move you in the wrong direction.

I’m definitely no expert on the matter but I’m trying for SOP. The way I understand it most serious breeders except about 10% of their chicks to be good enough to use as breeders. If you don’t cull heavy you won’t make any meaningful improvements to your bloodline.

The cull heavy part sounds like it might be the most critical part of breeding for SOP. I have yet to cull anything but I am mustering up my courage to do so soon. I'm hoping that it gets easier!

Are any of those podcasts on spotify?
Thank you!

 

[redinator]

I recently hatched 3 to test out an incubator I got and just to try it as a fun project with the kids - and it worked! But 2 of the 3 are males and I don't have a plan I'm trying to justify keeping them but really I can't. My neighbor has a friend that grows out cockerels for eating which I think would be a good plan but I am way too soft and emotionally attached. My first babies that I've hatched and all. BUT I refuse to be a hoarder and don't wish for unnecessary roos. It's just a challenge I have to overcome. I'd rather know a friend of a friend is making good use of them then worrying about ill-intentioned strangers.

This is definitely a good point to consider, thank you friend.

You could ask the neighbor/friend to help with your first few culls in case things don't go to plan. I did this and it helped tremendously. We skinned the bird and once the feathers were off the rest wasn't much different from preparing a turkey for Thanksgiving. He only stepped in when I go to close to 'things you don't want spoiling the meat'. If you're uncomfortable with eating your own birds you could possibly donate the meat to a soup kitchen or some similar organization.

For me this was the biggest hurdle to overcome and I'd suggest figuring out how you'd handle the excess cockerels before making any further plans to hatch/breed any significant numbers of chicks. If not you'll soon be overrun with too many cockerels. I have links to some youTube videos on the process if you're interested.

 

[Tstraub]

The cull heavy part sounds like it might be the most critical part of breeding for SOP. I have yet to cull anything but I am mustering up my courage to do so soon. I'm hoping that it gets easier!

Are any of those podcasts on spotify?
Thank you!

I grew up fishing for keep so the act of taking a life for food was part of my life from as far back as I remember. I originally thought I might feel differently about an animal that I raised but honestly when the time came it wasn’t nearly as difficult as I had made it to be in my head

The way I look at it is there is always approximately the same number of male chickens as female hatched it’s just how chickens work. For every sexed pullet I would buy there was an unwanted male chick hatched and very likely killed on day one of his life. If I hatch my own chicks I can control what happens to those unwanted male chickens. I provide them with as good of life as I can, then a quick death and used them to feed my family.

As far as podcasts Spotify is where I get them here is a list of a few of my favorites, if you listen to them I’m sure Spotify will suggest a few more as well

Poultry keeper’s podcast.This one is my favorite very good balance of information and entertainment

Poultry Nerds is a close second for me it poultry keepers and poultry nerds sometimes share hosts

Bred to perfection is very informative but can be a bit dry and it feels like every episode has very similar information so it gets repetitive. It is definitely for serious breeders not geared to the pet side of things. Also a lot of advertising for his paid program

Coffee with the chicken ladies is more of an entertainment show about pet chickens and egg recipes. It’s worth a listen if you just want very general chicken knowledge and entertainment

 

[mermaid_of_the_farm]

I grew up fishing for keep so the act of taking a life for food was part of my life from as far back as I remember. I originally thought I might feel differently about an animal that I raised but honestly when the time came it wasn’t nearly as difficult as I had made it to be in my head

The way I look at it is there is always approximately the same number of male chickens as female hatched it’s just how chickens work. For every sexed pullet I would buy there was an unwanted male chick hatched and very likely killed on day one of his life. If I hatch my own chicks I can control what happens to those unwanted male chickens. I provide them with as good of life as I can, then a quick death and used them to feed my family.

As far as podcasts Spotify is where I get them here is a list of a few of my favorites, if you listen to them I’m sure Spotify will suggest a few more as well

Poultry keeper’s podcast.This one is my favorite very good balance of information and entertainment

Poultry Nerds is a close second for me it poultry keepers and poultry nerds sometimes share hosts

Bred to perfection is very informative but can be a bit dry and it feels like every episode has very similar information so it gets repetitive. It is definitely for serious breeders not geared to the pet side of things. Also a lot of advertising for his paid program

Coffee with the chicken ladies is more of an entertainment show about pet chickens and egg recipes. It’s worth a listen if you just want very general chicken knowledge and entertainment

Oh very good! I never thought about podcasts for chicken keeping so this is very helpful. Thank you so much for the guidance and list of podcasts. I'm looking forward to giving them a listen.