Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[3riverschick]

When the wing feathers come all the way in they will get back in order.

Sarah,
I don't believe this. I had 3 related chicks last season who had wing
primaries sticking out to the side. I culled 2 and grew out the third
one to see what would happen. The wing feathers did improve
slightly but were still noticeable at 11 months. I wil cull him soon
as he was just keeping the laying flock company over the winter .
I wouldn't chance it and agree with you, cull them now.
Best,
Karen

 

[gjensen]

Good to know that yours grew out ok. Thanks.

These chicks are all wing-tagged, so I will watch them as they grow out.

I am overrun with cockerels again. I need excuses to cull cockerels as they hit puberty because I don't have room to keep more than half a dozen of them in good condition. The pictured chick has been chest-bumping its brooder mates, but it has a pass for now. Time will tell.

Sarah

I start getting rid of birds early on. I find myself looking for reasons to get them out of there. You just have to know them well enough to be sure, and make good decisions. The better they are, the harder it is to do.

With NHs I was able to start culling for pinched tails @ 8wks. Excessive smut and black was evident in the Catalanas @10 wks. That was on the extreme end of course. And there is some other examples. I have found that once you have had them for a year or two, you can generally identify a fault or two early. I imagine that is more difficult in some than others.
A good excuse for culling cockerels before they reach puberty is eating them. You can eat the bottom 50% or something like that, concerning size at a certain age. Personally, I like eating chicken.

I do not think that chest bumping his brooder mates is a bad thing. I think it is a good thing.

It does sound like you need some more room. It is going to take quite a while to know who you want or not.

 

[thedragonlady]

How do you tell the difference between feather damage and (genetically) poor feathering?

This winter, we in the South are seeing a lot of stress barring and fretting on older birds who were in molt when it suddenly turned cold.Pin feathers in blood are pretty sensitive. I've seen many a Silkie in partial molt, ruined for the season, by people washing and drying them at that time.

 

[MagicChicken]

Quote:
I'm already near the point where chicken chores become work, not fun. No more pen construction for me. Chickens have to be fun or they're out of here.

Chest bumping in the brooder isn't a bad thing. An overabundance of cockerels is another issue entirely.

These cockerels are fast to mature but slow to put on meat. Most are pestering the hens by the time they are four months old. Structurally they are lots of bone with gradually developing leg meat until they're pushing 10 months old, when they finally start to put substantial meat on their breasts. I'd like to lengthen the time to sexual maturity and shorten the time for meat development, assuming that is even possible. But first I'm working on overall type.

It's a long-term project...

Sarah

 

[ocap]

I'm already near the point where chicken chores become work, not fun. No more pen construction for me. Chickens have to be fun or they're out of here.



Sarah

Seven degrees here in Missouri this morning, nine of the next ten days are misery, chicken chores becoming work......I understand. I need to always do my chicken math in the winter.

 

[gjensen]

I'm already near the point where chicken chores become work, not fun. No more pen construction for me. Chickens have to be fun or they're out of here.

Chest bumping in the brooder isn't a bad thing. An overabundance of cockerels is another issue entirely.

These cockerels are fast to mature but slow to put on meat. Most are pestering the hens by the time they are four months old. Structurally they are lots of bone with gradually developing leg meat until they're pushing 10 months old, when they finally start to put substantial meat on their breasts. I'd like to lengthen the time to sexual maturity and shorten the time for meat development, assuming that is even possible. But first I'm working on overall type.

It's a long-term project...

Sarah

I am not trying to impose my view. And it is just a hobby. It should be enjoyable. Maybe you will feel like putting together some temporary pens together on a later date.

If it was me, I would separate the cockerels from the females. I would eat all of of the undersized cockerels at a certain age, and have enough space to grow out enough to choose from. Enough space and enough to choose from is different for everyone. Just to me, those three things solve the problems that you mentioned. Then it would seam that it would be more enjoyable.

I was not being critical. Only contributing to the conversation.

 

[ronott1]

I'm already near the point where chicken chores become work, not fun. No more pen construction for me. Chickens have to be fun or they're out of here.

Chest bumping in the brooder isn't a bad thing. An overabundance of cockerels is another issue entirely.

These cockerels are fast to mature but slow to put on meat. Most are pestering the hens by the time they are four months old. Structurally they are lots of bone with gradually developing leg meat until they're pushing 10 months old, when they finally start to put substantial meat on their breasts. I'd like to lengthen the time to sexual maturity and shorten the time for meat development, assuming that is even possible. But first I'm working on overall type.

It's a long-term project...

Sarah

It is a lot of work sometimes for sure!

I am working on making things easier. I need to build nice feeders that can hold more feed. Auto waters that work and to not get yucky. I am always fine tuning things and it does seem to get easier with time.

Share more pictures as they grow out. Javas are a breed I like but I already have too many Breeds.

It will be great seeing yours improve over the years.

 

[fowlman01]

If you have wonky wing feathers (primaries) only, it's either a young bird or it has some other problem other than poor feather quality. Usually you see poor feather quality on the back by the tail or in the tail itself. Don't mistake a male treading on a female back as poor feather quality. Poor feather quality can be caused by a number of things, but I tend to think of it as genetic.

Walt

 

[MagicChicken]

Quote:
No worries - I didn't think you were being critical. You are right - more cockerel pen space would be great and I would do it if I had help. On the other hand, I'm already maintaining 6 separate chicken facilities - 2 large coop/runs, 3 breeding/grow out pens and a brooder. Not counting the incubator and hatcher. That is nothing compared with a lot of folks on this thread. But it is near the limit of what I can handle by myself, given that I have a full time job and other interests that also take time.

I do separate the cockerels from the females once they start pestering the hens. They have a 168 square foot coop/run all to themselves, and they get out to free range on alternate days. Last year I tried to keep 14 young cockerels in that space. Won't do that again. It can handle about six of them before they start tearing each other to pieces.

If I could get more female eggs to hatch I would be able to keep more birds longer. Last year the cockerel to pullet ratio was about 2:1. The fall broody hatch had a 5:1 ratio. This season's hatches are looking closer to 2:1 again, but it's too soon to tell for most of the chicks. I am overrun with cockerels and can't eat them fast enough. Hence my looking for any excuse to cull them early...

Keep contributing!

Thanks,

Sarah

 

[3riverschick]

I am overrun with cockerels and can't eat them fast enough. Hence my looking for any excuse to cull them early...

Keep contributing!

Thanks,

Sarah

Sarah, sell them for a bag of feed on craigslist. Put up some pics on CL.
Best,
Karen