Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[finnfur]

It is expensive. I am growing out 29. I will be at the limit I want to spend growing them out by 3 months old.
I figure if I can't figure spot a good'un by that age, something is really lacking, smile.
By Sept. 10th, I hope to be down to 13 birds ( 6 of which will be my keepers /7 hold for customers).
Plus I need to rehome 4 from the egg flock. Oh the egg flock! sigh, they have suddenly decided to go broody.
Three of thm are wanting to sit eggs. Not gonna happen except for March who has already been sitting
nearly 3 weeks.
Best,
Karen

I know the feeling on the broody - I only have five breeding hens and have one that has been trying to hatch wooden eggs for over 14 weeks - I have to throw her out of the nest about twice a week for eats etc . And is she a grouch when you do LOL- she will commander some one else egg by switching nests . She is a trip.
Problem is when we are looking for eggs to hatch she's not laying and is one of the better hens type wise .

 

[3riverschick]

OH help! I need a recipe for a fruit fly trap! I have been seeing them around the house and yuck! I just found
the hidden overripe banana in the kitchen that was their home. Can I use raw apple cider vinegar? Or? I have
some rotten apples out back. How do I make a trap? Ugh, I dislike fruit flies!

Thanks,
Karen

 

[LindaB220]

OH help! I need a recipe for a fruit fly trap! I have been seeing them around the house and yuck! I just found
the hidden overripe banana in the kitchen that was their home. Can I use raw apple cider vinegar? Or? I have
some rotten apples out back. How do I make a trap? Ugh, I dislike fruit flies!

Thanks,
Karen

I've tried several things and the one that seems to work for me is 1/4 c ACV and a couple of Tbs of honey or molasses. Cut the top 2 or so inches off of a water bottle and add the liquid. Remove cap and invert the top in the bottom and sit by sink. Good luck. Bananas was what did me in also.

 

[3riverschick]

Thank you! All set up and catching flies! Yeah!

 

[Lacy Blues]

Kathy I'm quite amazed that you can grow that many birds out in that amount of space without them eating each other. Must be the docile type bird. I could never do that with my birds!

Regarding fruit flies... this is what I have done in the past... I let that overripe banana stay on the counter, out in the open. When it appears that all the fruit flies have congregated, I spray the whole thing with bug spray. Takes 'em right out! If you're concerned about insecticides on your counter you could probably use insecticidal soap (dish soap and water in a sprayer) or you could cover your counter with plastic wrap before setting out the bait. I just clean it up immediately and with lots of soap.

 

[ronott1]

OH help! I need a recipe for a fruit fly trap! I have been seeing them around the house and yuck! I just found
the hidden overripe banana in the kitchen that was their home. Can I use raw apple cider vinegar? Or? I have
some rotten apples out back. How do I make a trap? Ugh, I dislike fruit flies!

Thanks,
Karen

Fruit flies lay eggs in soil and the nymphs live off of plant roots. Look for a list of host plants and see if you have any as house plants. If so, look for a gnaticide and treat the potted plant.

 

[LindaB220]

Kathy I'm quite amazed that you can grow that many birds out in that amount of space without them eating each other. Must be the docile type bird. I could never do that with my birds!

Regarding fruit flies... this is what I have done in the past... I let that overripe banana stay on the counter, out in the open. When it appears that all the fruit flies have congregated, I spray the whole thing with bug spray. Takes 'em right out! If you're concerned about insecticides on your counter you could probably use insecticidal soap (dish soap and water in a sprayer) or you could cover your counter with plastic wrap before setting out the bait. I just clean it up immediately and with lots of soap.

That might even be better than my method. Must try it if I ever decide to bring a banana in the house again.

Edited: Look what I found on Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/TERRO-Fruit-F...qid=1408971559&sr=8-8&keywords=gnat+repellent

 

[Highcotton]

I believe you are on the right track. Separating the pullets from the cockerels as soon as you know the difference alleviates stress and seems to make a difference in the growth rate. They just do better. I separate mine when they are quite young and as I cull from the pullet pen, they go to the layer flock. That pen (the layer flock) has some cull roosters to keep watch and order, and that is the flock I sell from if people want young layers or males for the pot. It is working pretty well but I wish (there I go again) that I had room to grow out both genders to a year and then cull just one time (although that would be expensive!)

Wisher, how old do they need to be to determine which will be good breeders and which go to the layer flock or are culled

 

[Wisher1000]

Hagar, find an expert breeder from your chosen breed to ask, they will know more about everything, as it pertains to our breed. I am too new to selective breeding to feel you should go by my advice, but since you asked, here is what I do. I have not been doing it long enough to prove if it is a good system!

I "cull" for anything obvious as I see it. A chick can be culled at hatch if it is not thriving. Those are the only ones that I trust myself to cull permanently. I like to see them pop out of the egg picking at anything that looks like it may be food.

I start with all the chicks in the brooder until I can move them outside, I have two grow-out pens (A and B.) All chicks start in A which is for unsexed chicks and pullets. B is for known cockerels and "likely culls." As soon as I determine a chick is a male, or is a female with an undesirable quality (leg color, eye color, wrong comb, etc.) they get moved to B. The male and female culls join the layer flock as soon as they are big enough to fend for themselves. I move them four or five at a time so they will have their own group to hang with. Eventually, I have a pen of "fair pullets" and a pen with "fair cockerels."

My layer flock free ranges during the day and I will lose one or two every couple of months to various predators. I don't mind so much if it is the culls that are taken, plus, if I see something exceptional about one of them as they mature, and what I culled them for is not as bad as I thought, I can always move them back. That makes my lack of confidence in selection a bit more forgiving.

Also, if someone is looking for hens, POL pullets, or cockerels for the pot, I will sell from my layer flock, not as Campines, but as layers.

The serious culling, for top line, bottom line, width of body and head, stance, tail set, and such goes on until I select the best for the breeder pens for spring hatches. Then all the rest go to the layer flock to be chickens for a while. I still watch them to see if anything interesting develops as they mature.

Silver Campines are so hard to find that I have to keep a few more than others may settle on because they are so hard to replace. I have plenty this year (I set over 100 eggs last spring) and selection is easier, but for the past two years, I had minor losses that undermined my whole program because individual birds were so important. I have started over three times!

 

[finnfur]

OH help! I need a recipe for a fruit fly trap! I have been seeing them around the house and yuck! I just found
the hidden overripe banana in the kitchen that was their home. Can I use raw apple cider vinegar? Or? I have
some rotten apples out back. How do I make a trap? Ugh, I dislike fruit flies!

Thanks,
Karen

We just use red dixie cups or anything similar - pour ACV w/ mother in about 1/2 inch cover with plastic wrap tight with rubber band - punch holes big enough for fruit flys to enter with a pencil -
When it fills or drys up we just do another - The added honey sounds interesting but seems to work with out it for us. Good luck