Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[Wisher1000]

I am putting my best spring cockerel over all of my old hens in a separate pen. The cockerel will be the son of one of them, and new to the rest. I will see what comes out of that pen and decide from there. I am culling the #3 (last years) cock and putting the #1 cock over the best spring pullets. I will also cull two of the breeder hens that didn't produce as good of chicks this year. I keep the best cock of each line, and a backup cock from each line as well - total - 4 roosters.

That's my plan and I'm sticking to it.

 

[finnfur]

Molting here too. Egg production is also slow, very slow. Yes, its early here too. Wonder what is up. Do they know something we don't? Maybe an early hard winter is coming.

I don't know I had one last year that waited late and was skin and pin feathers on 75% of body and it was snowing - felt sorry for her but she survived it.

 

[bnjrob]

Molting here too. Egg production is also slow, very slow. Yes, its early here too. Wonder what is up. Do they know something we don't? Maybe an early hard winter is coming.

LOL - that's what I told my friends just the other week. Our birds starting molting in July. They have never molted that early. Usually it is the middle to last of August before the first ones start molting. But this year they were early and several friends within a few hours drive of me have also had their birds start molting already.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

We have a lot of young birds running around right now, dropping feathers everywhere, AND the "big birds" are also molting. It really looks like a horror movie in the yard. It does seem early to me. Egg rates are about 1/2 of what they were at the peak of the season, and I'm seeing more "odd" eggs which means the numbers will change (probably drop). This year's hatch won't likely start laying until December, so I'm not counting those birds.

I found one bird with mites, a cock (they seem to get external parasites "worse" than the hens/pullets, so they are my alarm system). At least it gets dark a tad earlier these days, which makes treating for mites a little nicer ... we do it at night after they go to bed. Yawn.

I'll be volunteering at a poultry show in October. It would be nice if some birds had pretty new feathers (without me having to pluck a living bird to force that) so I could consider taking one (some?) to the show. That's "a whole 'nother" topic.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I am putting my best spring cockerel over all of my old hens in a separate pen. The cockerel will be the son of one of them, and new to the rest. I will see what comes out of that pen and decide from there. I am culling the #3 (last years) cock and putting the #1 cock over the best spring pullets. I will also cull two of the breeder hens that didn't produce as good of chicks this year. I keep the best cock of each line, and a backup cock from each line as well - total - 4 roosters.

That's my plan and I'm sticking to it.

I'm trying to make a plan ... like that matters much as things happen to mess up my best plans.

I'm only growing out my second season of chicks, and am not sure I'll have better birds this year than I had last year. I'm super eager to see how last year's females look after molting so I will know if any of them can be used again. Neither of the females from my starter trio (all three were all from the same hatch, and are likely "siblings") were usable after their first molt because their color shifted so much. That means I bred their offspring this year and am just hoping for the best here.

Luckily the starter trio male still looks pretty good and if he is still around next spring, I mated him with his daughters this past season, and I'll put him with his grand-daughters next season, probably, at least. The cockerel I used from last year's hatch (with the same set of females, all his "sisters") seems to produce more consistent-looking chicks than his sire, but so far it looks like they all have poor color. The next few weeks will tell me a lot about those birds.

Because I broody-hatch my chicks, and broody brood them, too ... I'm thinking wing bands next year, followed up by colored leg bands for marking birds I spot with certain characteristics.

At what age can I wing band the chicks? I like to let them out of their broody pen when they're about a week old. Sometimes sooner, sometimes later.

 

[finnfur]

You can wing band anytime but I usually do it as soon as I see any feathering- but later works just seems to bleed a little more

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

You can wing band anytime but I usually do it as soon as I see any feathering- but later works just seems to bleed a little more

Can it be done right after hatch? I'd need to do it before the brooder cage is opened and the clutch starts to free-range/mix with the rest of the flock.

 

[neopolitancrazy]

Can it be done right after hatch? I'd need to do it before the brooder cage is opened and the clutch starts to free-range/mix with the rest of the flock.

You can wing band anytime, but I found it easier to do when they were about a week old. They were small enough to easily handle alone, but the wing web was bigger and easier to correctly position.

 

[finnfur]

You can wing band anytime, but I found it easier to do when they were about a week old. They were small enough to easily handle alone, but the wing web was bigger and easier to correctly position.

Do you use the ones with the applicator pliers or push thru and bend over ? I use the applicator pliers and sometime times it just doesn't bend correct ..
I have gotten where I bend them by hand until they line up correct before using the pliers. Maybe it was just the batch I got .

 

[neopolitancrazy]

Do you use the ones with the applicator pliers or push thru and bend over ? I use the applicator pliers and sometime times it just doesn't bend correct ..
I have gotten where I bend them by hand until they line up correct before using the pliers. Maybe it was just the batch I got .

My applicator pliers work great.