Landrace/adaptive breeding discussion

[Bigtom Turkey]

I think that’s just them growing out their feathers at different rates.

Yes it is. And it is true that males often feather slower so it is highly likely that the slow growers are male.

 

[tinychicky]

Yes it is. And it is true that males often feather slower so it is highly likely that the slow growers are male.

Agreed. That was my first thought as well. That's a useful trait!

 

[LaurenRitz]

Ok. I was hoping I could identify good fliers before they feathered.

I do have a mostly unrelated problem, though.

I have only 3 pullets out of the last two batches of chicks, not counting the 3 week olds in that number. All of the pullets are old bloodlines. The Marans, Buckeyes and Rangers turned out to be 100% male. The 15 week olds are starting to cause problems so I won't be able to keep them all to 30 weeks (past the teenage jerk period) to fully evaluate behavior.

Other than behavior, what criteria do you use to identify culls? I know two of them are going, but that leaves a lot of decisions to be made before butcher day, which is currently planned for December 7th.

I am not concerned right now about appearance. I do have a place to isolate them once the decisions are made.

And yes, I am fully aware that your criteria will be different from mine. That's ok. I'm trying to learn, here.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Ok. I was hoping I could identify good fliers before they feathered.

I do have a mostly unrelated problem, though.

I have only 3 pullets out of the last two batches of chicks, not counting the 3 week olds in that number. All of the pullets are old bloodlines. The Marans, Buckeyes and Rangers turned out to be 100% male. The 15 week olds are starting to cause problems so I won't be able to keep them all to 30 weeks (past the teenage jerk period) to fully evaluate behavior.

Other than behavior, what criteria do you use to identify culls? I know two of them are going, but that leaves a lot of decisions to be made before butcher day, which is currently planned for December 7th.

I am not concerned right now about appearance. I do have a place to isolate them once the decisions are made.

And yes, I am fully aware that your criteria will be different from mine. That's ok. I'm trying to learn, here.

For this kind of project (free-range survival) I recommend culling for major genetic/birth defects and nothing else. For example, missing or deformed toes. Otherwise, let nature take its course.

I’ve said in other threads, and possibly this one too, that’s I’ve culled and promoted too early and it lead to infusing issues into the flock (such as a susceptibility to Marek’s) that could not have been detected except for the passage of time.

I’m of the mindset now to make them free-range for two years, then decide of the survivors which ones I should butcher vs allow to stay as breeders.

 

[LaurenRitz]

When you do cull, what criteria do you use?

 

[LaurenRitz]

Wish I could keep this guy, but he may carry a fatal recessive. For size, the wire cage behind him is 4 feet tall.

 

[LaurenRitz]

@Florida Bullfrog
I gave myself a copy of your book for my birthday. ***** !!

If my review ever gets posted (a while back Amazon had some asinine rule about not allowing authors to post reviews on books) you got 5 stars.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I have been watching the flock closely as I am trying to teach them to free range. I have two pullets that come to the evening feast with bulging crops and pay no attention to the food.

Three hens and one cockerel come with bulging crops but gorge themselves anyway.

Since I've been forcing them to forage, feed use has dropped by about half. There is always something left in the bowls.

The Mom has her 6 babies out foraging constantly. The last batch she raised much preferred foraging. They would eat the food presented, but not much of it. Unfortunately their father had a form of fatal genetic dwarfism, so all but one have been culled at this point.

Most of the young cockerels have been so polite to this point that I've only separated out 3 to cull.

Edit: I just learned that one of the pullets is sleeping in the rafters outside the coop, about 10 (?) feet up. I have never seen her fly, but I butchered one of the cockerels tonight and she started alarm calling as soon as I came out with him and didn't stop.

 

[Lukers]

Hey ya'll, I want to start up a project similar to this and I'd like to ask a few questions, and just follow this thread for ideas. So first off, I'm getting a red jungle fowl cockerel from Az OEGB, I don't figure he's mixed with anything, and he's young, about still 2 months from any breeding and I don't have any mature cocks, (derned coyotes) so he shouldn't stunt his growth any, and I got some mixed mutt chicks about his age that he should integrate pretty well into, at least, do you think that he should? So what I want to create is a dunghill sort of bird using genetics of the jungle fowl and my mutt chickens that I hatched here on the property. I want something first and foremost that can evade most predators, and can brood chicks fast enough to reasonably replace losses. As well as reasonable egg production, which is where the layer-bred mutts come in. I have an extreme variance of of types and appearances in the pullets in question, as some are built like slightly less fluffy wyandottes or Brahmas, and others are built like Mediterranean type birds, with a long tail and medium to tight feathering. the only consistency is that they are all black with some degree of red or gold on them. Also, I am not interested in making a breed of any sort of standard or consistency, just tough mixed birds that will range further than my layers and have the sense and ability to get away from big predators and fend off small cooper's hawks and smaller owls. I myself have 2 acres that adjoins to some extremely brushy rangeland. I have horse stalls and compost piles that I'd like them to scratch for insects (especially the fly maggots to control those pesky critters a bit) and I'd like to have them go into the brusy range close to the house to forage too. Anyone have any criticisms and or advice for me? Thanks!​

 

[LaurenRitz]

Go for it. There's a lot of information here. If you have the resources, might want to get Bullfrog's book as he goes into a great deal of detail on the process.

If your boy is a bantam, will he be able to handle full size hens?