Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[Beekissed]

UGHHHHHHHH there was snow in the coop!! Nice fine layer on the floor. It's all coming in through the top due to the gale force winds. I feel bad but I am at a loss as to what to do. The entire coop roof doesn't set flush. We did that on purpose to allow for ventilation. This obviously isn't a normal occurrence in the weather so normally it wouldn't be an issue. Any ideas?

I get snow in my coop on occasion and the bedding absorbs it just fine. I wouldn't worry. Just throw down some dry bedding after the storm and it should be fine.

Maybe a storm flap on that gap in the future for just such occasions as this?

 

[hellbender]

UGHHHHHHHH there was snow in the coop!! Nice fine layer on the floor. It's all coming in through the top due to the gale force winds. I feel bad but I am at a loss as to what to do. The entire coop roof doesn't set flush. We did that on purpose to allow for ventilation. This obviously isn't a normal occurrence in the weather so normally it wouldn't be an issue. Any ideas?

Is there any way you can tack up pieces of tarp with furring strips on a temp. basis. Then put down new bedding over the wet...until you can get the whole thing changed out...just a thought.

Edit: Bee beat me to it...lol She's a very experienced hand at such matters.

 

[brahmabreeder]

Hm I may be able to see what I can do tomorrow. I'm going to be cleaning it out anyways because of the mite thing. Want to put more Sevin in just in case there are some left behind that will reek havoc on everyone. I think it's just coming in from the front of the coop because back part is where the wind usually hits and the sides are usually an all clear. The winds are changing direction every five seconds so who really knows.

 

[3riverschick]

UGHHHHHHHH there was snow in the coop!! Nice fine layer on the floor. It's all coming in through the top due to the gale force winds. I feel bad but I am at a loss as to what to do. The entire coop roof doesn't set flush. We did that on purpose to allow for ventilation. This obviously isn't a normal occurrence in the weather so normally it wouldn't be an issue. Any ideas?

Here's what I do in snowy, blowy western PA to roof my poultry yard. It will also work for a coop.
Go to Dollar General and get a silver/blue tarp which will come 1/3 the way down on all sides of the coop.
Buy a bag of 8 of those band bungies with the red ball on the end. You will need 8 quan. 3 inch wood screws.
Drape the tarp over the roof so it comes down even lengths on all sides.
Drive the screws in 1/2 way on each side of the 4 corners of the coop, 3/4 of the way down the side of the coop.
Drape the tarp over the coop and run the bungie thru the holes in the grommets. Slip the red ball end over the 8 screws.
This gives you a storm flap which should have enough give in it not to rip in the wind. I use this method to roof
my poultry yard. The neat thing here is the red ball bungies which give with the wind and keep the tarp from ripping.
Best,
Karen

 

[armorfirelady]

Karen do you have a keipper or something you could put one in for day?? I use an old collapsible dog playpen with a tarp clipped around the bottom!!! Its in my basement for qurantine/new birds!!!

No I don't.  A partition is a good idea tho. It would take several days to figure out which one. hum... I could make a wire cage to set in the corner.
    thanks,
 Karen

Do you know someone who hunts or may have a game camera? You could set it for a few days to see who is laying on the floor.

 

[gjensen]

But all you need to do is produce for the next generation - You don't need to monitor how it will be producing in two years. Quite frankly I move stalk every year to keep with new stalk coming in and by the time they are two or three if they are not gone they will be! Chickens just are not meant to be this long producing animal. Never really have been. As long as you don't push them no matter what breed they will produce for 8-9 years.

If that is how you prefer to do it, it is clearly your right to do so.

That is not good advice though. That is not breeding. That is just letting things happen by chance. You could never make progress like that. That is just going with the flow. Downhill.

It would make more sense to purchase replacers from a hatchery every couple of years. You will have the same quality of birds, would be much more economical, and be even more productive.

 

[gjensen]

So I guess people like guidelines now? Not that it's a bad thing.

Let's start with the easiest first - A fast molt a hen (or pullet) that 'drops' their feathers at one time and has them grown back in at the same time will lay sooner than one that has a molt that seems to drag on and on. If you wanted to see you could always do a force molt to observe hens and your flock as a hole.

Use the the finger rule the more fingers you can fit between a hens pelvic bones the better ( I always do this with my fingers going vertical). Look for a hen with a nice broad back this will give ample room for egg development. Length of time if not forced through molts should be about as long as it needs to be. I have found that chickens will lay their ideal time frame and unless we are breeding for commerical stock we should not be pushing this only maintaining this.

Another thing from my experience and others the lighter weight hens will be your most prolific egg layers and they will lay for the longest.

I have found breeding towards production only has really relaxed me - It has taught me that standards are something that we should not always adhere to.

Karen,
Did you ever get the name of the LS breeder in ON you were looking for? Emily says he is still alive (but ill and from my understanding not doing great).

I do not think anyone would have to do a force molt to witness the molt. It will come.

Monitoring spacing should be qualified with observing through the seasons and compared to their flock mates. Spacing changes over time. A bird for an odd reason coming out of lay temporarily can lose laying condition. Otherwise that same bird could be the most prolific layer. My point is that there is a little more to it than that.

The size of the hen is not genetically linked to their lay rate or anything else. Those genes are not linked. In a commercial setting light weight hens rule because they eat less, and devote more of what the eat into producing eggs. Your lighter weight hens could tend to lay earlier, but also smaller eggs. Compared to the rest of the flock.
Size is easy to lose. Advising people to blindly breed from their lightest hens is not good advice.

Lastly, we do breed to the Standard here. We get off track, but that is what this thread is about. Preserving or restoring the quality of the breeds we chose to keep.

 

[brahmabreeder]

I thought that forcing a molt was incredibly unhealthy for them?

 

[BGMatt]

I do not think anyone would have to do a force molt to witness the molt. It will come.

Monitoring spacing should be qualified with observing through the seasons and compared to their flock mates. Spacing changes over time. A bird for an odd reason coming out of lay temporarily can lose laying condition. Otherwise that same bird could be the most prolific layer. My point is that there is a little more to it than that.

The size of the hen is not genetically linked to their lay rate or anything else. Those genes are not linked. In a commercial setting light weight hens rule because they eat less, and devote more of what the eat into producing eggs. Your lighter weight hens could tend to lay earlier, but also smaller eggs. Compared to the rest of the flock.
Size is easy to lose. Advising people to blindly breed from their lightest hens is not good advice.

Lastly, we do breed to the Standard here. We get off track, but that is what this thread is about. Preserving or restoring the quality of the breeds we chose to keep.

Exactly, especially that last point. Whatever methods you use to pick your best producing layers, or best meat fowl, make sure you're selecting from the birds that meet the standard first. Cull through the entire year's hatch according to the standard, then pick the ones out of there that meet your production criteria the best (I still prefer Hogan method) and use those as your breeders.

 

[call ducks]

Quote: No that is breeding - I have produced high quality production Light Sussex, that have received best English at shows. Clearly what I am doing is producing high quality birds .

Quote: While there is not a genetic relation there is a inverse correlation between hen size and egg. Let's take the Leghorn a smaller breed with a weight of ~4.5 pounds but yet it lays one of the larger eggs. Now take a LF cornish - one of the largest breeds but lays an egg the size of bantam or a bit bigger.

I simply stated that the smaller birds will be your best egg layers I did not directly nor implicitly tell be to go breeding them. A good breeder can restore size as fast as size can be lost.

I thought that forcing a molt was incredibly unhealthy for them?

It can be if done correctly it's not something I do a lot unless I really need them to start laying.

Quote: If function followed form the poultry (and dairy, and beef) would be using pure breeding lines right now on the final generation. But beef and poultry have both switched to 4 way crosses. When assessing breeders the standard is the last thing I look at - and that is only occasionally. But yet I have one of the best strains of Light Sussex in the region.

Some people rely on standards while others rely intuition...