Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[gjensen]

I hear that the NHs that Jeremy is producing are laying well into the winter.

 

[Beekissed]

I hear that the NHs that Jeremy is producing are laying well into the winter.

And that's one of my fave breeds! One of my very best all time layers and foragers is a NH...ancient and of mutt genetics but still a laying machine and overall great bird. I've seen his birds on here and they are beyond descriptions for beauty and form!

 

[hellbender]

Agreed. Given my circumstances, I am limited. It is best that I keep my focus narrow.

Now, if I was in good health (I am not), my resources were unlimited, and I had the space . . . .Add time in, and I could do as many as I chose.

It is important to know your limitations, and my limitations are growing. I hope to be able to continue to make progress with my project. I hope to get back to my first love at some point.

Everyone is different to. A lot of variables.

It is human nature to get carried away. The catch is knowing what you can do well. For many that is one. There are examples of some doing very well with many though.

So I still agree with the theory knowing there are exceptions.

When I was in better shape I did better with more than one project than I did with one (at work). Eventually my employers figured that out. Instead of a $10m project here, I would often get a $5m here and there and everywhere. I performed better with the brain always moving, and the hustle kept me motivated. I liked it better like that. Mostly it was better to put one man over one project. I would get mine in multiples. My resources were vast though. They gave me whatever I wanted and when I wanted it. Personally, my story is much different.

My family and I have been breeding Turkens and Australorps for decades but strictly for production and have managed to do so with considerable success if I may say so.

I have recently considered taking one of my breeds and using an extra building and acreage I have on hand, and begin to try to breed to the SOP. Still haven't decided which of my two breeds to chose but I'm leaning strongly toward the Turken/Naked Necks. There seems to be enough people working with Australorps so the challenge of Turkens is very strong.

Thanks for reading...Any help will be appreciated. I suppose the first thing I need to do is acquire a copy of the Breed Standards, visit a few shows (never been to one) and just get the feel of things.

This is not something that I have just jumped into....been considering it for some time...the hardest part is trying to figure out which of my breeds I want to concentrate on. I appreciate both breeds and actually thought of going with another breed that I really like but realize that might complicate things...

RON

 

[lawatt]

i have two silver-pencilled plymouth rocks who had stopped laying due to broodiness (twice each this summer!) and then molting, who both just started up again in the past week or two, with no additional light -- so they seem to be living up to their reputation as winter layers!

 

[gjensen]

And that's one of my fave breeds! One of my very best all time layers and foragers is a NH...ancient and of mutt genetics but still a laying machine and overall great bird. I've seen his birds on here and they are beyond descriptions for beauty and form!

NHs are by far my favorite breed.

Bee, you would like the way they grow out to. They are not take a year to find out what kind of bird you have.

They are not just fast to mature, but quick to flesh out. I like the way they grow out. Jeremy shared some with me to try out, and I was very impressed.

 

[Beekissed]

NHs are by far my favorite breed.

Bee, you would like the way they grow out to. They are not take a year to find out what kind of bird you have.

They are not just fast to mature, but quick to flesh out. I like the way they grow out. Jeremy shared some with me to try out, and I was very impressed.

They've consistently hit my top three fave breeds down through the years and that's even with just hatchery genetics so I can only imagine how well they perform as a heritage line. I've seen his birds on here and have been greatly impressed with their size, beauty and conformation....just a work of art, they are.

A place to start, most definitely. My heart is lost to WRs but NHs can soothe that ache if need be.

 

[gjensen]

My family and I have been breeding Turkens and Australorps for decades but strictly for production and have managed to do so with considerable success if I may say so.

I have recently considered taking one of my breeds and using an extra building and acreage I have on hand, and begin to try to breed to the SOP. Still haven't decided which of my two breeds to chose but I'm leaning strongly toward the Turken/Naked Necks. There seems to be enough people working with Australorps so the challenge of Turkens is very strong.

Thanks for reading...Any help will be appreciated. I suppose the first thing I need to do is acquire a copy of the Breed Standards, visit a few shows (never been to one) and just get the feel of things.

This is not something that I have just jumped into....been considering it for some time...the hardest part is trying to figure out which of my breeds I want to concentrate on. I appreciate both breeds and actually thought of going with another breed that I really like but realize that might complicate things...

RON

Ron, my background and interest is similar to yours. What little experience I have is concerning production. Somewhere along the line I decided that I wanted more. Which now means both.

I think the biggest part is deciding what interests you the most. It seams the best breeders have remained enthusiastic about their breed (s) and enjoy what they do. The more we enjoy it, the more we want to do it.

I think that either of those projects would be a fascinating project.

I do not see how you can do it without a Standard outside of production alone.

 

[gjensen]

They've consistently hit my top three fave breeds down through the years and that's even with just hatchery genetics so I can only imagine how well they perform as a heritage line. I've seen his birds on here and have been greatly impressed with their size, beauty and conformation....just a work of art, they are.

A place to start, most definitely. My heart is lost to WRs but NHs can soothe that ache if need be.

He has nice white Rocks to. LOL.

Maybe you can get a little batch of each.

 

[3riverschick]

Ah, here it is. What to do to achieve positive consequences when working with a very small gene pool.
In-breeding; what it is, and what it does.
House, Charles Arthur.
Pages 50 and 51 .
http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924003201609;view=2up;seq=54
REMOVING A FALLACY.
Some seem to think that the mere following of the practice
of in-breeding will bring success. Let me once and for
all disabuse their minds of this fallacy. In-breeding of itself
will not create good birds or animals from inferior stock,
except by long continued and careful selection. To success-
fully in-breed you must have good stock, because in-breeding
will stamp bad points, as well as good ones, upon a strain.
Commence with the best of stock; select year by year care-
fully and thoughtfully, and you cannot go wrong. When I
say the best of stock, I do not necessarily mean winners,
but well-bred breeding stock.
Foolish in-breeding, that is in-breeding without dis-
crimination, will yield more evil results than good. In-
breeding only perpetuates and increases what is already in
existence, so it is essential that the right qualities be present
in the original stock. If we have in the stock all the points
desired, even if no one bird or animal combines them
all, but spread all over the stock, some in the sires, some
in the dams, it is only a question of time until we can com-
bine them all in one unit and produce the perfect article—
but this can be done solely by close in-breeding and judicious
selection for several generations.
Good pedigree stock costs money, but is worth the price
paid", no matter how high, provided you get the real article,
and continue the same line of breeding. You thereby start
in the front rank, and you can stay there by using a
reasonable amount of judgment in selecting and mating your
breeding pens. I wish to repeat what I have often said: The
poorest specimens from a flock that averages high are worth
more as breeders than are the few choice ones from a flock
that is of low average. There is only one way to produce
a flock of high average. That result has never yet been
accomplished, and never will be by direct crossing of strains.
It can only be done by concentrating family characteristics
BROTHER TO SISTER.
Reverting to the mating of brother and sister which has
been mentioned, it may be said that to mate brother and
sister will lead to a revival of the characters of the original
parents, and does not tend to advance. The argument is
scarcely a sound one. For instance, we have a high-class
dam which is good all round, and we find that her progeny
are decidedly disappointing, then the course to pursue is to
mate together her own progeny (full brothers and sisters).
This will probably lead to the production of some specimens
as good as the original dam. The best male among these
should then be mated with his grandmother (the original
dam), which will lead to the production of a good percentage
of specimens of the desired type, and will also tend to fix it.
Speaking in a general manner, the mating of brother and
sister leads to the reproduction of the types of their parents.
In mating mother with son we create a preponderance of the
mother's type, and when we mate father and daughter we
produce a preponderance of the former's type. The breeder
has to make up his mind what type he wishes to reproduce
and mate his stock accordingly.
================================

 

[BGMatt]

Key to winter laying is pullets that come into lay in sept or so right before the days start getting shorter. Or just use lights. Poultry keepers have known that lights are important for consistent laying for well over a century now. Why make life harder on yourself?