Making Lemonade [Selective Culling Project - very long term]

[U_Stormcrow]

Happy. Barest trace of red leakage, if you look hard enough. Lightest of this batch. Unless there is a stunning change of fate, fryer/roaster in about 12 weeks.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

"Doc". Middle of the road on weight. I love the coloration, the bird is so uniform in appearance, but completely unsuited to my lands. Have a friend thinking about giving chickens a try - if they are willing to make the drive, and this is suitable to their wants - I'd happily rehome this bird as alternative to eating it.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Grumpy. Should remind you of Thing One and Thing Two. Nearly my lightest bird of the batch. Doesn't bode well for this one's longevity. At 11.6 oz, its lighter than its similarly marked "brother" Dopey, and also Thing Two at this age. Reading between the lines, that means Thing One's chances are also in decline....

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Dopey. Like Thing One, Thing Two, and Grumpy in pattern. Dopey sits at 15.6 oz right now, second heaviest of the batch, and beats out Thing One, Grumpy and Thing Two for weight at the age (from lightest to heaviest). Current thinking is I keep both this bird and T2, see when they start laying (if pullets). Acceptable comp, some pattern, no reds (sadly), clean shanks without the slate of many of the other birds, pale skin.

If this is a Roo, almost certain I will keep him and breed him back to the Rainbows.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

P1-01 UPDATE (8 weeks - minus a day) Weights and Photos

Thing One, previously 10.8 oz, now 26.4 oz.
Thing Two, previously 13.2 oz, now 27.7 oz
Thing Three, previously 28.9 oz, now 52.5 oz
Thing Four, previously 16.5 oz, now 37.0 oz

and Photos for ID/Development purposes. NO red tones in this batch, sadly. Thing One started catching up with Thing Two in total weight, and both have similar patterns, but Thing Two remains heaviest, and in my view, has the more distinct (and marginally whiter, in spite of photo appearances) pattern, and thus is the most likely to avoid culling of the pair. Thing Three is being kept for reasons of pure weight gain, and is the whole reason, when I couldn't get the breeds I wanted last year due to COVID, I was willing to keep a CornishX for breeding purposes, though I knew only a small % of offspring would likely show the early development and large size of that hybrid. Thing Four has the next best weight, by significant margin, but none of the coloration I'm seeking, can't find a hint of red bleed thru in all that black. Whit I do with T4 will largely be determined by the results of the genetic lottery over the next few months, but for now, its a keeper, unless someone see's something I don't.

Thing One

Thing Two

Thing Three

Thing Four

 

[NatJ]

For gender:
Thing 4 looks male to me, but Things 1 & 2 might be female (not certain, but maybe). I'm unsure about Thing 3, but leaning male for no reason I can easily identify.

For the ones named after dwarves, I think I'm seeing a lot of cockerels, with a few being pullets (mostly ones you mentioned as being smaller), but I'm not very sure about any specific ones--just a general impression based on scrolling through the pictures.

Since I notice you plan to keep them all through at least 12 weeks, hopefully some will become clearer by that time.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Since I notice you plan to keep them all through at least 12 weeks, hopefully some will become clearer by that time.

Yes, since they are mutts, I expected gender ID to be more difficult, so I planned to keep them at least thru 16 weeks, unless one that I was certain I didn't want showed obviously male. Even the "wrong" females are useful data points to me as I determine if they are early (18 wk) or moderately early (22 wk) layers.

Though I'm making mutts with (often) hybrids, I'm hoping the pictures allow me to determine typical offspring patterns so I can take adult girls out of the rotation if they aren't breeding traits I'm desiring. Though it will be fall, most likely, before I have enough data points to be useful. I also need time for combs to develop so I can be more certain of the offspring of the DBs and the SLWs, since both are patterned black and white, and I've a barred rooster. But at this age, pea v rose isn't something I can tell. As you recall, I couldn't tell rose on some of my SLW pullets until 20+ weeks, they didn't get distinctly puffy till the birds started laying. Then it was finally night and day.

 

[MysteryChicken]

What's your goal weight for birds before slaughter?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

What's your goal weight for birds before slaughter?

My target is a 4.5# plus male at 12 weeks. I don't expect to see that in the first years of this project, however. Most likely, I'll be taking the slaughter birds from these batches to between 16 and 20 weeks, mostly for identification of their dames, and to see if any show early laying tendencies. Then its stew or sausage. Just got my order of sausage casings in.

 

[MysteryChicken]

My target is a 4.5# plus male at 12 weeks. I don't expect to see that in the first years of this project, however. Most likely, I'll be taking the slaughter birds from these batches to between 16 and 20 weeks, mostly for identification of their dames, and to see if any show early laying tendencies. Then its stew or sausage. Just got my order of sausage casings in.

Sounds good.

I see you have Brahmas, are you gonna use them? I'd suggest you do if you want birds heavier then 4.5lbs.