Making Lemonade [Selective Culling Project - very long term]

[U_Stormcrow]

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.

Yes, my Roo is currently breeding the Brahmas, and I'm incubating them, possibly successfully. My Brahmas LOOK huge. They don't weigh it though. I'd like to get some of their eventual size into the line, but with much faster maturity. Actually, best case, I get the Brahma pattern + Red, loose the feathered feet, move up maturity, and get more comb - to help them with the heat.

Maybe its normal for Brahma to kind of drag their @$$ to eventual weight, but these (other than intelligence and appearance, with which I am happy) have greatly underperformed my expectations. My Brahma are now 8.5 mo old, I'll have you a weight in a minute, don't mind the squawking! (Curious myself, after their last disappointing weigh in)

 

[MysteryChicken]

Yes, my Roo is currently breeding the Brahmas, and I'm incubating them, possibly successfully. My Brahmas LOOK huge. They don't weigh it though. I'd like to get some of their eventual size into the line, but with much faster maturity. Actually, best case, I get the Brahma pattern + Red, loose the feathered feet, move up maturity, and get more comb - to help them with the heat.

Maybe its normal for Brahma to kind of drag their @$$ to eventual weight, but these (other than intelligence and appearance, with which I am happy) have greatly underperformed my expectations. My Brahma are now 8.5 mo old, I'll have you a weight in a minute, don't mind the squawking! (Curious myself, after their last disappointing weigh in)

Oh, okay.

Took my Brahmas 3yrs to get good weight. Biggest one is 10lbs, smallest is 7-8lbs.

Adding a fast growing bird to a slow growing bird gets you a good moderately fast growing bird.

Big Boy, my EE/Brahma cross got upto just a little under 3ft tall, & 15lbs. Sadly he's no longer living. He was killed by a heartless person.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

"Chuck", my (visually, at least) largest Brahma, and my favorite (together with "Darkest Diane"), weighs 6.83# at 8.5 mo of age. Chuck, btw, is a pullet, don't let the masculine-sounding name fool you.

 

[MysteryChicken]

"Chuck", my (visually, at least) largest Brahma, and my favorite (together with "Darkest Diane"), weighs 6.83# at 8.5 mo of age. Chuck, btw, is a pullet, don't let the masculine-sounding name fool you.

Not bad. Good weight for that age.


Mind if I share Big Boy with you?

I'm gonna be watching your progress on this project, curious to see what you come up with.

 

[ChassiNoir]

Following! This is very interesting. I know many land races are created by just letting nature take its course, but I enjoy seeing that you have more of a hand in it to get what you looking for.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Following! This is very interesting. I know many land races are created by just letting nature take its course, but I enjoy seeing that you have more of a hand in it to get what you looking for.

Kind of you to say so. In any other situation, I'd have started very carefully, with much reference to charts and web pages, and likely great expense, to make my mutts. With which I probably would not have been very satisfied. Much easier to start with very good and backslide by introducing foreign genes than begin with adequate and cut away towards somewhat better...

But COVID forced me to start with cheap, hatchery birds birds whose breed I had little choice of - more often than not, I'd call TSC to confirm a bird arrival, and they'd be gone before I could make the 1 hour drive into town this year.

If this works, it will be a demonstration to others that with time, attention, effort, you can make a good (for you) flock even if forced to start with marginal birds. Certainly better than turning a $25 or $50 local 3rd place show bird into sausage when it fails to produce.

And if, after a few years of effort, this fails to produce a satisfactory result?? Well then, its a well documented example to others of what not to do - which most will no doubt ignore. But they can't claim I didn't warn them, right???

 

[U_Stormcrow]

P1-03 Candling tonight, the eggs are at a week old.

Will Update this Thread with the results. Considering replacing any culled with fresh eggs on the 'morrow, and just doing rolling incubations.

/edit to the extent I can see thru those tinted shells, they all appear to be developing normally, though more than a few have the appearance of early saddling in the air sack. May have been an issue with the autoturner, though more clearly defined air sacks have now moved where they belong. Its an odd "not shadow" shape one one side (middle) of many eggs.

Should I abandon these and start over:??? I have NO shortage of fresh eggs to choose from, expect 15-18 each day

P1-01 updated photos and an early begging for help sexing the birds has been made in another thread. I've a neighbor wanting to take a pair of cockerels off my hands if I have any I'm not keeping - Thing Four is a potential candidate, in spite of his rapid growth.

 

[Kgbao]

 

[U_Stormcrow]

/Update - I didn't cull and replace any of the eggs, just crossed my fingers and let it go. They should start pipping any time now. I'm just not good enough at candling, and the shells have too much tint for my light source, to be certain of the quits. My wife hasn't mentioned any off odors, so fingers crossed - in the past, a certain sense of "off" when the incubator lid was lifted has been our best indication that one or more were incubating the wrong sort of things.

Will be pictures as it happens.

 

[Cattle dog Mom]

Any updates on gender? I'm wondering if T-3 is male and S White is female. Which would {at least partially} account for S White not being as good of a "gainer" as T-3. (Wouldn't it? LOL)