Making Lemonade [Selective Culling Project - very long term]

[U_Stormcrow]

Two culls today, removing whites. 5.5# roo who was starting to chase ladies, and a 4.51# hen, about 28 weeks, not yet laying.

His sister/cousin/something.

Let's talk about her for a minute. Particularly, her insides. I promised to do this next time i had a bird leaning a bit fatty.

See the organs? Liver is still glossy and uniform, but i like it a little darker, a little firmer. If you look very carefully, you should be able to see tiny red lines, not blood vessels, from handling. That's as much fat as i want to see on the gizzard as well. More than this, i'd consider it a problem, not just a warning.

And cell phone seems to have darkened the colors somewhat - maybe autocorrecting the photos as they are taken.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Two culls today, removing whites. 5.5# roo who was starting to chase ladies, and a 4.51# hen, about 28 weeks, not yet laying.


View attachment 2943523


His sister/cousin/something.

View attachment 2943526


Let's talk about her for a minute. Particularly, her insides. I promised to do this next time i had a bird leaning a bit fatty.View attachment 2943533

See the organs? Liver is still glossy and uniform, but i like it a little darker, a little firmer. If you look very carefully, you should be able to see tiny red lines, not blood vessels, from handling. That's as much fat as i want to see on the gizzard as well. More than this, i'd consider it a problem, not just a warning.

And cell phone seems to have darkened the colors somewhat - maybe autocorrecting the photos as they are taken.
View attachment 2943535

Would you say less fat on the gizzard would be preferred or make you nervous something wasn't right?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Would you say less fat on the gizzard would be preferred or make you nervous something wasn't right?

Less fat would be the preference. Truly, though, its the line of fat on the heart that is my best reference. I think of it like a belt - and what that bird is wearing is a 3" belt. I really want to see a 2" belt, and if I see a 1 1/2" belt, I know I need to fee them more. Its a subtle thing, but the way fat deposits on the heart is so consistent it quickly became a reliable indicator to me.

Sadly, its MUCH harder to describe in photos, where the sheer quantity is a bit more obvious on the gizzard, because of the way it deposits there.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I know there has not been a lot reported on this thread of late, mostly cullings which aren't that much fun, because I've had no hatching since the middle of November. I'm not setting new eggs to hatch for at least another week or two, but wanted to provide a couple of loosely status pictures to keep interest up. Also wanted to talk about a mistake I made with Last Hatch that involved birds eating a higher calcium feed. Not real satisfied with their size at 7 weeks. Spot check puts them all between about 1.6 and 1.9 pounds

Two more of that hatch, foreground. Elder, mostly grown birds behind, 4.5 to 6+ pound weights.

And here's a bird whose high hopes have faded - blue leakage, the desired pattern all but disappeared as it aged.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

The morning eggs. Largest white are from the Pekin ducks, obviously not part of the project. I don't plan 5o incubate any of the darkest eggs this year, which likely come from my Comets, who are on borrowed time - though still laying well.

 

[NatJ]

I don't plan 5o incubate any of the darkest eggs this year, which likely come from my Comets, who are on borrowed time - though still laying well.

I've forgotten-- did you previously hatch some eggs from your Comets?

They should have the right genes for early maturity and good laying, which are two useful traits. And I *think* that if you cross them to birds with no white, half of the offspring should have no white (based on such hybrids usually having a Rhode Island Red father.)

 

[3KillerBs]

Just a point of information, which could be coincidence, but if you bring in any new genetics this year I would like to mention that all my birds that have Wyandotte blood and my Dominiques lay pinkish-tan eggs that are as light as or lighter than the lightest eggs in your flat there.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

@NatJ - yes, all the red currently in my flock is either from the Comets or the Hoover Hatchery "Rainbows", which appear to have a good bit of NHR in them. Since both breeds are now approaching their third year, the Comets (with the darker eggs, and the greater reputation for reproductive problems) will get aged out first, the Rainbows second. There is no shortage of red (gold) in the offspring - in fact my next problem is deciding which of four near identical red roosters to use to replace Pretty Boy and Phoenix...

Getting the white out first, then removing older birds with some of the blacks that don't seem to be leaking the right hints.

Haven't decided in what order to take the Brahma and the Wyandottes - though the Brahma will be rehomed, I have a friend very attached to them.

@3KillerBs its a kind offer, but no plans to add more genes to the mix this year - still to actively removing them!

 

[3KillerBs]

but no plans to add more genes to the mix this year - still to actively removing them!

I'm going for a wide variety of shell colors in my eggs because the research I've been able to do indicates that they will sell better.

We haven't gotten the egg sales part organized yet. NC's laws are fairly liberal for small producers, but the bad part of living out where I live is that there is no passing traffic for a roadside egg stand to draw from.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I'm going for a wide variety of shell colors in my eggs because the research I've been able to do indicates that they will sell better.

We haven't gotten the egg sales part organized yet. NC's laws are fairly liberal for small producers, but the bad part of living out where I live is that there is no passing traffic for a roadside egg stand to draw from.

Likewise, except a lack of demand for colored shells... FL's laws aren't entirely unreasonable for small producers.