Long Term Sustainability - What's the best combination?

[Majestic Lane Poultry]

Quote:
I agree.

 

[Roosteroops]

Find a broody hen that isn't wanted and purchase or trade for her. Introduce broodiness into your birds - like the other post said.

I've always used an incubator - never again though - we "accidentally" let our Easter egg frizzle (green eggs and frizzled feathers - very odd bird) - set on her eggs. It is the first time I've had that spirit in any hen so I didn't know what she was doing. We thought she was sick! Anyway, they hatched and she did all the work and is now caring for the tiny things all on her own. No expensive incubator, no turning eggs, checking humidity, no heat lamp no mess it is GREAT!

It was 28 last night here in NC and they are all just toasty and fine this morning. All I do is sprinkle some Chik Quick Crumbles around (they are separated in a barn stall) and put the Chik Quik in the waterer - the mama has taught the chick how to find everything. Both are energetic and healthy! Amazing. Have fun!

 

[patandchickens]

Have you looked at the actual economics of selling hens as year-old layers. I would be really surprised if you could get your feed money back (maybe it's different in your area than here), much less make a profit. (Unless this is purely a mechanism to avoid having to face the older-hen-not-producing but-don't-want-to-make-stew problem.)

One thing to bear in mind about the dual-purpose thing is that the birds that are meatier will also cost more to feed, so keeping a breeder flock of heavy birds over the winter costs you a bit more than something lighter like leghorns. Especially on a per egg produced basis.

I'd suggest, once you get a sense of what your different breeds are like, that maybe you concentrate on one or two of them for future years. That way you can keep one or two roos per breed (depending what sorts of numbers you want, and what facilities you have) and hatch your own chicks in future years.

Are you philosophically opposed to incubators? B/c if not, that gets around the whole broody issue.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat, trying to work on a flock of Speckled Sussexes for about the same purposes as you're interested in

 

[Laskaland]

Quote:
Hey Pat.
Here in Nebraska, nice year old hens would sell for between $10 and $12. I've paid $15 for point of lay hens.
I think you're right that in some places they sell at different prices.

 

[patandchickens]

I think that last time I added it up, I figured that I have put about a sack and a half of feed into a hen by her first birthday - for me, that is about $22.

Whereas point of lay hens around here go for $8-12, and I think you'd pay about the same for a generic year-old layer.

I am sure it varies regionally, especially depending on your feed costs, but it's something to check into.


Pat

 

[dancingbear]

Delawares are supposed to be great dual purpose birds, lay well, and provide a decent table bird as well. they were once the preferred meat breed, before Cornish X's were developed. You'd probably do better with birds from a breeder rather than hatchery birds, they tend to be not very true to type, leaning much more toward layer breeds than true dual purpose. When I say breeder, I mean somebody who has been conserving the breed, keeping to breed standards, not somebody who got off-type hatchery birds and bred them.

They tend to be non-broody. If you had a standing flock of Delawares, you could keep a few hens of some other breed for brood hens. They don't care who laid the eggs they hatch. My best brooders have been dark Cornish, light Brahma, and Australorp. I've had Orpingtons, and they didn't brood much at all, but other folks have had some that would brood all the time.

Bantams (I had mixed breed bantams, I don't know which pure breeds would be best) are often great little brooders, too, and easy to tell which eggs are theirs, so you don't set the wrong ones by accident. Since they're smaller and lighter, they're less apt to break eggs in the nest.

When I want eggs from a particular hen or group of hens, I isolate them in a separate pen for a few days until I get as many eggs as I want to hatch. Sometimes I let them out with the others to run around, after I collect the eggs for the day, then take them off the roosts at night and put them back in the iso pen, if I have time to mess with them. That way they don't get totally deprived of foraging. (I let mine free-range)

Edited by me, to remove what annoyed the Op. That wasn't my intention.

Anyway, good luck with your chickens, I hope it all works out well for you!

 

[PacsMan]

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Then don’t don't stir it up…
This is a chicken topic please…

Kind regards
Marty

edited for content - Marty

 

[sandspoultry]

Quote:
Then don’t don't stir it up…

I have extremely strong feelings about the subject, and don’t want to start anything both you and I will regret.

This is a chicken topic please…

Kind regards
Marty

I agree with you 100% there Marty, you started this thread and made your feelings known. If people don't like it then they should go to another thread to discuss it.

Steve in NC

 

[PacsMan]

Quote:
Thanks...

And, if I go with just, say one batch of RIRs, is it ok to breed brothers and sisters, or do I get two different sets of chickens from 2 different batches of birds?

Marty

 

[sandspoultry]

Quote:
Thanks...

And, if I go with just, say one batch of RIRs, is it ok to breed brothers and sisters, or do I get two different sets of chickens from 2 different batches of birds?

Marty

With inbreeding (bro to sis etc) you will run into trouble in the future. You can go 2 routes. From time to time add new blood into the mix or line breed them.

Steve