jaerhons from ideal poultry?

[triplepurpose]

who has experience with ideals jaerhon stock? im wondering what color type they are (they dont seem to specify online) and also perhaps more importantly how youve found them to live up to their reputations as utility fowl, how easy they ars to sight sex at hatch, and anything else of that nature.

we are interested in them as layers for our small flock: feed efficiency in laying is appealing, as is a beautiful and interesting appearance, and especially the autosexing feature. it seems like jaerhons could be a great match in all these areas.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Perhaps you'll find someone I this thread.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/8796/norwegian-jaerhon

What I like about them is extreme cold and good heat hardiness.

 

[bramblefir]

who has experience with ideals jaerhon stock? im wondering what color type they are (they dont seem to specify online) and also perhaps more importantly how youve found them to live up to their reputations as utility fowl, how easy they ars to sight sex at hatch, and anything else of that nature.

we are interested in them as layers for our small flock: feed efficiency in laying is appealing, as is a beautiful and interesting appearance, and especially the autosexing feature. it seems like jaerhons could be a great match in all these areas.

I ordered 3 pullets from Ideal and ended up with 2 pullets and 1 cockerel. The gender was obvious from the down colors but they still managed to sex them wrong.

As far as size, mine were barely larger than a Silkie. The cockerel was culled early on due to runty size. They were active foragers and laid small to medium tinted eggs.

The color on my pullets was a creamy buff with poor barring. The male, before culling, had significantly more white.

Now, out of curiosity, why are you so interested in autosexing? Do you plan on selling chicks?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

IMHO, Jaers have always been barely larger than a bantam. That is part of their draw. A small bird that lays lots of fair sized eggs.
Considered LF, they are still the smallest of the 30 LF breeds I've raised.

 

[triplepurpose]

we dont mind little chickens in a dualpurpose flock if they lay decent sized eggs, since laying efficiency is more important to us. tiny chickens still taste great and make fine meals! and when comes to wanting more meat, we have other sources--such as rabbits, for ex, which cost a fraction of the amount to raise that chickens do, and grow faster.

breeds with a reliable autosexing feature are attractive to us for multiple practical reasons. but basically, i dont see how autosexing would NOT be an appealing feature to a self-sustaining poultry keeper wanting to hatch small numbers at a time?! (we will only ever buy straight run when we do order from hatcheries for humane reasons, btw.)

so, are the autosexing features of ideals stock pretty reliable then? i havent heard anything to the contrary in my research--yet find it very odd if so that they dont mention this trait in the description in their online catalog...

whats up with that...?

 

[bramblefir]

we dont mind little chickens in a dualpurpose flock if they lay decent sized eggs, since laying efficiency is more important to us. tiny chickens still taste great and make fine meals! and when comes to wanting more meat, we have other sources--such as rabbits, for ex, which cost a fraction of the amount to raise that chickens do, and grow faster.

breeds with a reliable autosexing feature are attractive to us for multiple practical reasons. but basically, i dont see how autosexing would NOT be an appealing feature to a self-sustaining poultry keeper wanting to hatch small numbers at a time?!

(we will only ever buy straight run when we do order from hatcheries for humane reasons, btw.)

so, are the autosexing features of ideals stock pretty reliable then? i havent heard anything to the contrary in my research--yet find it very odd if so that they dont mention this trait in the description in their online catalog...

whats up with that...?

My teeny tiny sample size of 3 says that they can be sexed at hatch. However, that's a teeny tiny sample size.

Autosexing is fairly pointless in most all farm/homestead-type situations because you'll be raising out your cockerels to make breeding selections and then culling out the rest for the freezer. It just doesn't make a difference for farm purposes knowing gender at hatch and knowing gender in 2-6 weeks. For someone that plans on selling day old chicks an autosexing feature can certainly be useful for sorting out the pullets for orders, but other than that there's really no use. As a side note, most of the eggy Mediterranean and Continental breeds can be sexed at 2-3 weeks old because they grow so fast.

 

[triplepurpose]

well, one advantage i can think of would be to ensure that one has enough pullets to replace older layers in a timely fashion. say for example that you need about 8 pullets and you set 16 eggs but by a fluke only hatch 5 pullets. with auto sexing you can know right away and start another hatch immediatly to make up the difference, as opposed to waiting weeks or longer and risking interruptions in a small but important egg supply. and of course, yes, you could also sell off small numbers of extra pullet chicks if necessary to folks wanting only a handful of layers--with complete confidence in your sexing.

I take your point, but i still think it may be a useful feature for us little guys--the more guesswork and waiting can be taken out of it the more choices and confidence one has and the better one can plan, esp when feed costs are steep and every chick counts. just because something may not be strictly necessary doesnt automatically preclude its convenience...

plus, its pretty darn cool!

not the only reason to choose a breed, but still neat....

 

[dheltzel]

I love autosexing breeds! We sell chicks and that is where the money is, we lose money selling eating eggs.The market for straight run chicks is maybe 1/10 of the market for sexed pullets, or less, so except for true Ameraucanas in various colors, every breed I have is autosexing.

My choice for an "autosexing" white egg layer is the California Grey, from Privett Hatchery. The head spots are much larger on the males, making this a reliable sexing mechanism, and they lay about a well as a commercial leghorn. Mine starting laying at exactly 5 months of age, on January 1st and laid better than any other breed I have. As young birds, they were rather flighty, like you would expect from Leghorns, but once they started laying they were very easy to handle. Highly recommended. I put "autosexing" in quotes for CG's because they are not technically the Crele color that the true autosexing breeds must possess.

If you want a more colorful basket of eggs, get some Cream Legbars (blue eggs), Rhodebars (light brown) and Welbars (dark brown).

 

[triplepurpose]

I love autosexing breeds! We sell chicks and that is where the money is, we lose money selling eating eggs.The market for straight run chicks is maybe 1/10 of the market for sexed pullets, or less, so except for true Ameraucanas in various colors, every breed I have is autosexing.

My choice for an "autosexing" white egg layer is the California Grey, from Privett Hatchery. The head spots are much larger on the males, making this a reliable sexing mechanism, and they lay about a well as a commercial leghorn. Mine starting laying at exactly 5 months of age, on January 1st and laid better than any other breed I have. As young birds, they were rather flighty, like you would expect from Leghorns, but once they started laying they were very easy to handle. Highly recommended. I put "autosexing" in quotes for CG's because they are not technically the Crele color that the true autosexing breeds must possess.

If you want a more colorful basket of eggs, get some Cream Legbars (blue eggs), Rhodebars (light brown) and Welbars (dark brown). 

id never heard of CGs but they sound like an interesting breed! you wouldnt happen to have any pics of hatchlings to share, would you? i tried googling to see what yoy meant but was getting weird results....

 

[dheltzel]

id never heard of CGs but they sound like an interesting breed! you wouldnt happen to have any pics of hatchlings to share, would you? i tried googling to see what yoy meant but was getting weird results....

Sorry, CG = "California Grey" (because I'm lazy, LOL)
If you google those I think you will find a bunch of pics and info.