Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[gjensen]

Conspiracy theories aside, this was a good conversation. I have enjoyed seeing the chicken prices rise, though I do not like that it will hurt some people. Something was going to make this correction sooner or later, and the prices have been very very low for a long time. This model has only been operating for 75-80 years. It has not stood the test of time. I still picked up leg quarter for .68 per pound this week. It will be some time before I see our birds making that kind of cents.

It is interesting to me.

Next year will be worse, better, or the same. I do not see better happening soon.

Preserving eggs is an interesting topic. I had always seen mineral oil suggested. I never considered preserving eggs. My birds lay reasonably well through the winter, and the pullets make up for any slack the hens might have. In my climate, a batch of replacement pullets is an answer to the egg supply problem. I am growing them our every year anyways.

 

[colburg]

This has been around for a while...but some of you may not have seen this. It's a study on 60 dozen eggs packaged using 10 different methods with taste tests every months for 6 months.

How to Store Fresh Eggs

 

[MagicChicken]

Replacing pullets has not improved my egg supply this year. My Black Java "layer" flock stopped laying back in February. The layers are mixed ages, from barely one year old to three years old. All of them stopped laying back in February. Just in that one coop/run. My breeder quality birds in the other pens are still laying fine, including the three year old hens. Something is going on in that one pen and I can't figure out what it is. Until I can figure it out I won't be replacing those birds with anything I may want to breed later.

All of my adult birds have had periodic run-ins with mites and lice over the years. Thought I finally had it under control. Haven't seen any lice on the birds in the layer flock recently but there is some new evidence of mites on the cock (red skin in patches around the vent and on his abdomen) and also on a couple of the hens ("dirty" belly feathers. I am unfortunately learning that "feel" of mite-dirtied feathers.) So mites may be the issue even though the birds seemed to be free of infestation until now. Resuming an aggressive treatment program. Hope it works.

There have been no signs of illness in any of the birds. The layer hens will be replaced with non-breeder-quality pullets from this year if I can't get them laying again soon. This year's pullets are just beginning to lay. Open to insight, or suggestions of other things to look for besides mites.

 

[3riverschick]

Light Sussex stud cock for sale

See this URL for the ad: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/536408/light-sussex-thread/370#post_15505984
I will be offline from tomorrow thru Tuesday. Will be back online Wed. morning, July 8th.
Thanks for reading,
Karen

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Replacing pullets has not improved my egg supply this year. My Black Java "layer" flock stopped laying back in February. The layers are mixed ages, from barely one year old to three years old. All of them stopped laying back in February. Just in that one coop/run. My breeder quality birds in the other pens are still laying fine, including the three year old hens. Something is going on in that one pen and I can't figure out what it is. Until I can figure it out I won't be replacing those birds with anything I may want to breed later.

...

My Delawares take a long time to reach POL, and I tend to hatch a little later than some people because I use broodies, so I don't see first eggs until about December. That means I'm not to the point yet of using the "real" birds as replacement layers for the hatchery flock. I'm hoping the Delawares *are* the good winter layers they're supposed to be. We had a long, nearly-dry spell last year ... the laying flock was getting older and the heritage birds hadn't started laying yet.

Maybe try moving those Javas into a different pen to see if you start to get eggs out of them? It's an interesting mystery.

 

[gjensen]

Replacing pullets has not improved my egg supply this year. My Black Java "layer" flock stopped laying back in February. The layers are mixed ages, from barely one year old to three years old. All of them stopped laying back in February. Just in that one coop/run. My breeder quality birds in the other pens are still laying fine, including the three year old hens. Something is going on in that one pen and I can't figure out what it is. Until I can figure it out I won't be replacing those birds with anything I may want to breed later.

All of my adult birds have had periodic run-ins with mites and lice over the years. Thought I finally had it under control. Haven't seen any lice on the birds in the layer flock recently but there is some new evidence of mites on the cock (red skin in patches around the vent and on his abdomen) and also on a couple of the hens ("dirty" belly feathers. I am unfortunately learning that "feel" of mite-dirtied feathers.) So mites may be the issue even though the birds seemed to be free of infestation until now. Resuming an aggressive treatment program. Hope it works.

There have been no signs of illness in any of the birds. The layer hens will be replaced with non-breeder-quality pullets from this year if I can't get them laying again soon. This year's pullets are just beginning to lay. Open to insight, or suggestions of other things to look for besides mites.

I check mine with a flashlight at night, off of the roost. I find them easier to spot like that, and the birds are cooperative. If I find one single louse or mite among all of my birds, I treat them all as if they had them. My theory is if I find one, I missed 50.

Sustained stress of any sort can interrupt their laying.

Some strains are just prone to taking breaks for no known reason. You would know if that was the case, in your case.

It does sound like there is something unique to that pen.

 

[finnfur]

I check mine with a flashlight at night, off of the roost. I find them easier to spot like that, and the birds are cooperative. If I find one single louse or mite among all of my birds, I treat them all as if they had them. My theory is if I find one, I missed 50.

Sustained stress of any sort can interrupt their laying.

Some strains are just prone to taking breaks for no known reason. You would know if that was the case, in your case.

It does sound like there is something unique to that pen.

Mine must be on summer vacation break - 6 eggs today from 16 -
However I don't consider my Delawares to be great egg layers- maybe 180 a year per bird when you figure molt etc . But they are quality large eggs.
and they dress out nice to compensate for it.

 

[gjensen]

Mine must be on summer vacation break - 6 eggs today from 16 -
However I don't consider my Delawares to be great egg layers- maybe 180 a year per bird when you figure molt etc . But they are quality large eggs.
and they dress out nice to compensate for it.

Count them to be sure. Impressions are misleading. Running both ways.

That is certainly better than mine laid such and such last week. LOL. I never care how many eggs someone's bird laid last week or month.

Count them according to a pullet year. Then a hen year. The pullet year is from point of lay up until they molt as a hen. I try to see it in laying cycles. We would be surprised how much point of lay suddenly matters. Or how long they take to molt in their hen year.

This is only my take and how I view it.

I try to give the big birds some credit and consider egg weights. That helps them or hurts them.

I also look at what it costs. POL is a cost (replacements), and how much they eat from POL on etc.

I like the birds that I can put on the grill and get a treat at 8wks. That really helps concerning culling and cost to raise the cockerels. I evaluate the sexes separately, and then consider the cost combined. Some will surprise you. Both ways.

 

[Lacy Blues]

What is a good age to process those young cockerels George? I have a mixed breed flock for colorful eggs and there are 4 cockerels out there right now that are growing out. I want to process them but I don't know if they're too thin yet or not. I need to just pick them up and check it out.

 

[finnfur]

Count them to be sure. Impressions are misleading. Running both ways.

That is certainly better than mine laid such and such last week. LOL. I never care how many eggs someone's bird laid last week or month.

Count them according to a pullet year. Then a hen year. The pullet year is from point of lay up until they molt as a hen. I try to see it in laying cycles. We would be surprised how much point of lay suddenly matters. Or how long they take to molt in their hen year.

This is only my take and how I view it.

I try to give the big birds some credit and consider egg weights. That helps them or hurts them.

I also look at what it costs. POL is a cost (replacements), and how much they eat from POL on etc.

I like the birds that I can put on the grill and get a treat at 8wks. That really helps concerning culling and cost to raise the cockerels. I evaluate the sexes separately, and then consider the cost combined. Some will surprise you. Both ways.

You got it right
Mine are all in group therapy so its hard to know who lays what until you do some measurements - but that still doesn't tell you how many for each individual.
Just they are laying.
We need to train them to write their # on each egg as its laid . But I have some sneaky ones that push others off the nest - they would write their #.
You can't trust chickens . Its just a theory for development and if anyone does it I will give them credit.
I had great hopes for the RFID tagged reader but the guy working on it seems to have stumbled.
You can tell the hen has been in the nest but not if she laid an egg.
The old-timers figured it out with trap nesting but its A PITA to be checking nests all day.