Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[ocap]

Thanks Walt. That's what came to my mind and that's why I thought to bring it up in here. Sorry, if it is a side bar conversation, but I hadn't thought about it for years and we don't very often discuss prepotency as a possibility. But it was the thought that crossed my mind when one of these three males put out offspring that was so much better than the other two.

My thoughts now are to see if he does that again, this spring.

would his male offspring have prepotency? Let us know what happens this spring, please.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: While that is true, there are different senerios that arise and are often given a name for discussion purpose. If you have been doing a bit of breeding you know how hard it is to to have every offspring be better than average. In nicking the gene of the female mesh very well with the male and the result is offspring that is regularly better than the parents.

THis is diferent than prepotency. WHere the genes of one parent , ususally the male, dominates all the other females bred to. In breeding horses, I still consider the mare because her genes will come into play in the next generation, so the female is still important long term. With the ability to breed back to the sire in chickens, the female may not be as big an isssue.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[3riverschick]

Hi
It is a happier day is Sussexland today. Yesterday, I was washing out a chicken water dish and decided to get the mail. Coming back, I ran into my neighbor at the corner where the school bus stops. She asked me how things were going and the topic eventually turned to poultry. She said she had had her cocks killed by coyotes last year. They live in the woods at the end of the lane and the varmints come out of the back meadows to get at their stock. They have a mini-farm, chickens , pigs , turkeys, and sometimes a beef.
Anyway, they had finally coyote proofed their poultry yard. So this Spring she went down to pick out her peeps ( white leghorns and brown sex links), thinking to be mostly pullets and a few cockerels/ Well she ended up with about 15 pullets! No cockerels. She looked at me and stated how she just wished she had 2 or 3 cocks to watch over her egg flock. No breeding, ( I believe her, we have known each other for almost 19 years). Just to watch the flock. "Well, it just so happens I have...."... Long story short, she now has three nice Light Sussex cockerels on duty. She, myself and the cockerels are all happy. They are huge compared to the production leghorns, smile. The only one who can't quite figure out what happened is my "keeper" cockerel who now has the cockerel grow out pen all to himself, LOL.
Best,
Karen

 

[bnjrob]

Hi
It is a happier day is Sussexland today. Yesterday, I was washing out a chicken water dish and decided to get the mail. Coming back, I ran into my neighbor at the corner where the school bus stops. She asked me how things were going and the topic eventually turned to poultry. She said she had had her cocks killed by coyotes last year. They live in the woods at the end of the lane and the varmints come out of the back meadows to get at their stock. They have a mini-farm, chickens , pigs , turkeys, and sometimes a beef.
Anyway, they had finally coyote proofed their poultry yard. So this Spring she went down to pick out her peeps ( white leghorns and brown sex links), thinking to be mostly pullets and a few cockerels/ Well she ended up with about 15 pullets! No cockerels. She looked at me and stated how she just wished she had 2 or 3 cocks to watch over her egg flock. No breeding, ( I believe her, we have known each other for almost 19 years). Just to watch the flock. "Well, it just so happens I have...."... Long story short, she now has three nice Light Sussex cockerels on duty. She, myself and the cockerels are all happy. They are huge compared to the production leghorns, smile. The only one who can't quite figure out what happened is my "keeper" cockerel who now has the cockerel grow out pen all to himself, LOL.
Best,
Karen

Great news! Always nice when it is easy to get rid of chickens that you don't need.

 

[normanack]

Great news!  Always nice when it is easy to get rid of chickens that you don't need.

Wow -- sounds like the neighbor needed the equivalent of an economy car and you gave her a Rolls Royce.

 

[fowlman01]

It is always good to have neighbors with roosters.....less chance of a crowing complaint.

w.

 

[juststruttin]

My grandfather used to raise animals for meat and dairy and sold pheasants to local hunting clubs. I remember him saying that the best way to keep the animals healthy is by plowing the field every year.

I am not sure what diseases they had or medication they used in the 40's and 50's but plowing the field to lower the concentration of bacteria seems to make sense so I did a little research to see if that was common practice back in the day and found this article.

Coccidiosis

October 1934

by Jacob Biely | Oct 1934
://www.agannex.com/poultry-research/coccidiosis

Edited to add: please keep in mind this article was written prior to the use of medicated feed.

 

[bnjrob]

It is always good to have neighbors with roosters.....less chance of a crowing complaint.

w.

 

[Arielle]

My grandfather used to raise animals for meat and dairy and sold pheasants to local hunting clubs. I remember him saying that the best way to keep the animals healthy is by plowing the field every year.

I am not sure what diseases they had or medication they used in the 40's and 50's but plowing the field to lower the concentration of bacteria seems to make sense so I did a little research to see if that was common practice back in the day and found this article.

Coccidiosis

October 1934

by Jacob Biely | Oct 1934
://www.agannex.com/poultry-research/coccidiosis

Edited to add: please keep in mind this article was written prior to the use of medicated feed.

Looking forward to reading this--the first line is very informative on the conditions that set the stage for an outbreak.

`With the decrease in efficacy in the horse wormers, my vets now talk about rotaional grazing. My sheep prof in college talked about rotating horses and sheep. I expeect their is a way to manage chickens for roational grazing too.

As for the plowing it would plow under the top soil -- another option.

 

[bnjrob]

My grandfather used to raise animals for meat and dairy and sold pheasants to local hunting clubs. I remember him saying that the best way to keep the animals healthy is by plowing the field every year.

I am not sure what diseases they had or medication they used in the 40's and 50's but plowing the field to lower the concentration of bacteria seems to make sense so I did a little research to see if that was common practice back in the day and found this article.

Coccidiosis

October 1934

by Jacob Biely | Oct 1934
://www.agannex.com/poultry-research/coccidiosis

Edited to add: please keep in mind this article was written prior to the use of medicated feed.

I think this is as relevant today as it was then. Plowing up ground to allow more access to sun, heat, wind to dry out the ground and thus the coccidia is not a bad idea if feasible. Then there is the suggestion to use buttermilk to help introduce good bacteria into the gut (probiotics) to try to help the chicken's own body fight better. A lot of the old time way of doing things was correct. They didn't always know the rationale behind what they did, but they were able to observe which actions had a positive or negative effect on things.