Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[gjensen]

THis implies, if I am understanding this fully, that folks looking for a good start in a heritage breed would greatly benefit from finding a local breeder where the poultry has already adapted to the local conditions; or be willing to deal with possilbly a poorer performance during the time of acclimation. I would think the latter would be a difficult obstacle to overcome for anyone new to breeding high quality birds.

When I was growing up in Maine, only brown eggs were at the grocery. ANd to this day, white eggs look strange to me. THis reflected the type of bird that thrived in the Maine climate even when kept in a commercial building. Or perhaps when commercial buildings became the norm, brown eggers were used because that what the product the consumers were already accustomed to.

Another variabilty I am seeing between breeds is matureity-- I expect this reflected the local diet and management style in the development of the breed. Perhaps a breed that took longer to develop also required less feed day to day whereas others that are fast growing and maturing reflected an abundance of readily available foods.

ANd what about disease resistence-- I would expect local issue that might be common in one area to be not a problem in another. SO again buying poultry already adapted to the local area could be a bonus for those somewhat new to poultry.

I would not let local limit me. I would take these things in consideration when I decided on my own personal ideal. Then I would go for it, searching far and wide to find the best that I could come up with.
If you were fortunate enough to find a REPUTABLE breeder in your area with birds that you would be happy with, then that would be a great way to start. I had to search from coast to coast and border to border to find what I wanted. With our new ability to access and exchange information, there is no reason to settle.

 

[Wynette]

I would not let local limit me. I would take these things in consideration when I decided on my own personal ideal. Then I would go for it, searching far and wide to find the best that I could come up with.
If you were fortunate enough to find a REPUTABLE breeder in your area with birds that you would be happy with, then that would be a great way to start. I had to search from coast to coast and border to border to find what I wanted. With our new ability to access and exchange information, there is no reason to settle.

I completely agree with this - this is a great discussion. There are very good statements for each side, and both hold merit. Bob always said (nutshell) that to find a "partner" who is several states away and has the same line you do, and then to swap a cockerel every 4-5 years, would bring a ton of immunity to each flock. I agree with that.

I have also done as gjensen indicates above - chosen a breed, and searched far & wide for the very best quality, and went with shipped birds or hatching eggs. When I've done that, I will say that YES, I've lost more than a "normal" amount of birds in the parent stock, but the ones that survived and subsequent generations proved to become stronger & healthier in even the F2.

 

[Apdeb]

More snow tomorrow
mine are out today so happy

 

[Vamvakas]

Why dose it always has to snow either Fridays or Saturdays and never on a Tuesday or something.. Hurts my pizza restaurant..

 

[Wisher1000]

Y'all have sure been chatty for the last couple of weeks!

6kidsfarm - I am two years into working on Silver Campines. I have recently added birds from Urch in MN and will soon add some more from a line in Texas. It has not been easy, but I am making progress. I would love to have a partner and to share what I have learned and to have someone to swap birds with! PM me if you are interested.

 

[hellbender]

Why dose it always has to snow either Fridays or Saturdays and never on a Tuesday or something.. Hurts my pizza restaurant..

If I lived closer to you, I'm sure I would help your bottom line. Snow does not even slow me down...jackasses are off the road and it makes it safer to drive.

City fools headed to the ski resorts near here are dangerous. The state allows for accidental road-kill of deer because of their vast numbers...too bad there isn't a 'limit' on "Nose Pickers"...that's what locals call the ski bunnies.

My son loves pizza ( and we both love all kinds of Greek food) ....carry-out is one of our major budget buster with regard to food!

 

[3riverschick]

I would not let local limit me. I would take these things in consideration when I decided on my own personal ideal. Then I would go for it, searching far and wide to find the best that I could come up with.
If you were fortunate enough to find a REPUTABLE breeder in your area with birds that you would be happy with, then that would be a great way to start. I had to search from coast to coast and border to border to find what I wanted. With our new ability to access and exchange information, there is no reason to settle.

Somewhere back in the vast archive of this list is a conversation on acclimatization when bringing birds from one temperature zone to another.
The historical advice on this was to wait until the climate at the sellers matched the climate at the buyers and then ship the birds. So if one was
buying from Idaho, one would wait until the temps (time of year) matched those in Tennessee to which they were going. that way the birds would have several
months to adapt to the new home before they ran into temps different to those to which their strain was acclimated.
Best,
Karen

 

[Arielle]

More snow tomorrow
mine are out today so happy

Why dose it always has to snow either Fridays or Saturdays and never on a Tuesday or something.. Hurts my pizza restaurant..

I was shocked to hear that forecast at noon--- It houghwe were on to warm weather for the weekend . . as in rain over the weekend. Hope the front moves quickly and folk are ready to order a pizza for dinner. Vam have you ever considered offering a low carb pizza??? I make one and my kids love it. Nothing like a traditional pizza though.

 

[gjensen]

Somewhere back in the vast archive of this list is a conversation on acclimatization when bringing birds from one temperature zone to another.
The historical advice on this was to wait until the climate at the sellers matched the climate at the buyers and then ship the birds. So if one was
buying from Idaho, one would wait until the temps (time of year) matched those in Tennessee to which they were going. that way the birds would have several
months to adapt to the new home before they ran into temps different to those to which their strain was acclimated.
Best,
Karen

The recommendation was if they are headed south, to send them in the fall or winter so they had chance to acclimate to the rising temperatures. If they were going North to send them in the spring or summer so they had a chance to acclimate to the falling temperatures.

They articulated it better than I did. I think Saladin was the one explaining this.

 

[Arielle]

As far as selecting the best source to buy stock from--- this too is a matter of opiinion. ANd if a person already has some stock but is lacking in some area--and needs improving, going to another flock with that trait being stronger can help tremendously. My point being, that every flock is likely to be a bit different and what is best could be near or far.

I keep coming back to why the RIR was dev in the southern New England area and yet single combs are taking a hit here this winter more than past winters. SOme roosters that already lost tips are loosing more from those tips. THough oddly not all roosters are effected the same. What does this mean and what is the take away???

THe NH were debeloped north of here. Was the climate that much different over 100 yrs ago, or was management different ?? Was dubbing popular then but not now? Kinda like docking tails has become a no-no in Europe?

I find it hard to beleive that most people just starting out in to the heritage breeds cannot find something interesting locally. WIll everyone need to start out with the best of the best?? I look at the number of birds at the shows-- say Boston POultry -- and think there must be something good worth working with?