Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[hellbender]

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.

I'm not George but if it were me and they were kinda' getting in the way, I'd separate them out, feed them buttermilk and very coarse corn meal and perhaps some oatmeal (always mixed with the milk), give them plenty of fresh water and in about 30 days, I'd do the deed.

 

[gjensen]

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.

It is a balance of your expectations, the genetics of your birds, and what you are willing to spend. Ideally as close to the peak of the growth curve as possible.

I can process a percentage as early as 8wks, split them, and throw them on the grill. I just skin these. You have to have the right birds for this though, and it is not the aim. It just gets rid of some that is not developing as well, and gives those that are more room. And they taste good. They are a treat. My dogs enjoy a few to. They are so fast to skin, it just makes sense to lighten the feed bill.
You can skin one in 30 seconds.

I would do as you said, and handle them. Kill and dress one. If you think they are ready, go for it. You probably do not want to put too much cash into these cockerels. They do not all have to be roasters. You can fry them young, or use them for stew meat.

 

[gjensen]

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.

LOL. When you get them trained to label their own eggs, let me know how.

Trap nests are not a practical option here. I wish that they were.

I just track them by the pen, and total them over time. It is not precise because I usually identify the lowest layers and get rid of them. This seams to boost the long term average, but really they have already hurt the average. It is more that you have limited the damage, or "stopped the bleeding". I try to have my general culls out by the time they are laying. I may not breed some of them, but if they make it that far, they are going to make it here until their molt. Most of the time.

I track the quantities more to know where they are than any other thing. I depend on a number of different markers and points of selection that we look at over the course of the year. I can always tell you where I am at, but I have to provide a range. We are not precise enough to give a precise number for an average. For example my Catalana Pullets lay 220-240 extra large eggs in their pullet year. The average is closer to 240, but the other number gives me some room for error.

The hens are easier for me to get right. I know them individually, and there is no real movement in and out of their pens. Less breeding season where we track the individuals as part of the pen that they come from.

I do this stuff with my boys. They may never choose to raise birds, but they will know how. That is good enough for me. They are learning how to breed a couple colors to.

If people tracked the eggs over an entire cycle, they would be surprised where they were. Some pleasantly surprised, but most would be sobered up a bit.

 

[finnfur]

The only two I am certain of egg tally is two EEs - one lays green and the other blue.
And Mrs green has been hit and miss this year- I think she's ready for the stew pot.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I count all my eggs every day and write the counts in a notebook (green eggs, white eggs, duck eggs, eggs from the breeding coop). What I don't count are the hens in my laying flock.

Right now I think the laying coop is only producing about 45% every day, and vent checks haven't revealed any non-layers, just a lot of slightly older hens who don't lay every day. I'll be doing a big cull when they stop laying for molt/winter this year. Then I'll reassess the wisdom of the laying flock ... I'm more into the breeders now.

Last year I kept the chicks in the breeding coop at least until they reached POL so I knew when they started to lay. I'm not sure how I'll handle that this year.

 

[hellbender]

I count all my eggs every day and write the counts in a notebook (green eggs, white eggs, duck eggs, eggs from the breeding coop). What I don't count are the hens in my laying flock.

Right now I think the laying coop is only producing about 45% every day, and vent checks haven't revealed any non-layers, just a lot of slightly older hens who don't lay every day. I'll be doing a big cull when they stop laying for molt/winter this year. Then I'll reassess the wisdom of the laying flock ... I'm more into the breeders now.

Last year I kept the chicks in the breeding coop at least until they reached POL so I knew when they started to lay. I'm not sure how I'll handle that this year.

@LeslieDJoyce ...how many breeds are you currently working with...not counting your laying flock?

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

@LeslieDJoyce
 ...how many breeds are you currently working with...not counting your laying flock?

ONE!!! And that drives me PLENTY crazy. I can't imagine worrying about the unique challenges of more than that. Though I do have breed envy.

Lots of hatchery birds and mutts in the laying flock to keep things colorful. If I deliberately hatch mutts here, I hatch green/blue or white eggs as my breeders lay brown. But I don't worry about those.

 

[gjensen]

I count all my eggs every day and write the counts in a notebook (green eggs, white eggs, duck eggs, eggs from the breeding coop). What I don't count are the hens in my laying flock.

Right now I think the laying coop is only producing about 45% every day, and vent checks haven't revealed any non-layers, just a lot of slightly older hens who don't lay every day. I'll be doing a big cull when they stop laying for molt/winter this year. Then I'll reassess the wisdom of the laying flock ... I'm more into the breeders now.

Last year I kept the chicks in the breeding coop at least until they reached POL so I knew when they started to lay. I'm not sure how I'll handle that this year.

That is half of the battle , to find our own rhythm.

Except for a variety of colored eggs, I never understood the rational behind a "laying flock". My "breeding flock" is my "laying flock".

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

That is half of the battle , to find our own rhythm.

Except for a variety of colored eggs, I never understood the rational behind a "laying flock". My "breeding flock" is my "laying flock".

It's just where we started ... My first poultry partner was very into ordering all kinds of birds from the farm store on the farm account, and then leaving me to pay for them and do all the work, and I tolerated that for a while until I could get him off the property. I did want SOME chickens.

BUT ... That's not normally the way I do things. I tend to like planning and goals and deliberate decisions, and QUALITY, so searched for a "real" breed to work with, and lucked into a trio of Kathy's recreated line of Delawares, which is just the kind of project that gets me excited. Except I don't really want to show.


Now we're phasing out the hatchery layers besides what we might keep for proven broodies and the variety of egg colors. We have some very loyal egg customers ( super awesome custom feed makes super yummy eggs, and kids like the variety of colors which makes life easier for the adults who feed them ). If we decide to not have the laying flock, things could be a lot simpler.

As you say, we could have plenty of eggs to share around with immediate friends and family if we just had the Delawares and ducks. The ducks are fairly low-maintenance, duck eggs are awesome.

This year the Delawares could also keep us in meat.

So as long as I can keep my head straight regarding breed envy, we should be in good shape.

 

[finnfur]

That is half of the battle , to find our own rhythm.

Except for a variety of colored eggs, I never understood the rational behind a "laying flock". My "breeding flock" is my "laying flock".

I understand your comment. But when you start with only 6 hens and two cocks - that combination didn't produce eggs needed .
That is even more critical when two of six go broody LOL
Thus the laying flock . That however will change when we get to a point all hens are breed forward type.