***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[Kassaundra]

One more question. I want to get a jump start, on raising these meat birds. Much of what I read, says caponize early. Even with what I've done so far, I'm not certain I want to attempt this right away. If I were to buy an order of all males, how soon do the need to be canonized, before they start acting like a bunch of fighting cocks?
I have several straight run chicks, housed together, right now, which likely includes some males, they are all under 7 weeks old. I presume they ought to be safe from each others' aggressions, until at least this point?

@Kassaundra
Are you willing to help show a newbie, how to do what you've learned? I'm willing to drive your way, with some appropriately aged boys.

Absolutely willing to help you learn. It would be easier for me to come to you though so your not hauling birds, and b/c I have several dogs and not much room. 1 lb is the size most suggest, I have had good success up to 8-10 ish weeks, still small testes, a little bigger bird a little more room. But as young as 4 weeks is what all the literature says.

 

[Kassaundra]

I have no intention of freezer camping 50 to 100 chickens at a time. The plan is to get heritage breeds, primarily, and a couple of dual purpose breeds, to add in, and harvest them, fresh, from the hoof. I want them to live long, healthy and happy, primarily organic lives. Then they go to the cone, fresh, from the yard, when we want to cook some chicken. I'm primarily interested in the Dark Cornish, simply because I keep reading that they are more pheasant like in flavor, having mostly, if not all, dark meat. I'm a dark meat guy. I don't want, nor would there be any real advantage, other than humanitarian, to getting the kind of meat birds, in the quantities we are looking to have, then slaughtering them young, and putting 100 chickens in a giant freezer. The idea is since we have room, we'll raise them fresh, and provide a healthy, humane alternative, to commercial chickens, to out families and friends, here locally. Not looking to make money. Never figured on doing any of this for profit. We just don't wish to support Tyson, Pilgrim's Pride and others, in their treatment, of poultry.
Our turkeys, for holidays, and otherwise, are Heritage breeds (Narragansett, Bronze and Red Bourbon). Why not get our "everyday" chickens, from the same humane source? And once we are setup for larger livestock, we'll do the same with swine and cattle, too.
So, yes, caponizing, sounds like our best option.

There was an Okie that had real Cornish (not x's) his were awesome he put a lot of work into them. He doesn't post anymore, haven't even seen him lurk in a looooong time. Last I heard he had a horrible preditor attack (if I am remembering right and not mixing up two people)

 

[MrsDickey]

So far the other chick is doing good. Up moving around and eating and drinking. The guy I got them from said they were almost 2 weeks when I got them so now they're close to 3. Bought 5 chicks.. sorry for the confusion. I don't see any mites or bugs on them but I don't really know what I am looking for. Its hard being new and running into problems like this.

 

[ashtree]

So far the other chick is doing good. Up moving around and eating and drinking. The guy I got them from said they were almost 2 weeks when I got them so now they're close to 3. Bought 5 chicks.. sorry for the confusion. I don't see any mites or bugs on them but I don't really know what I am looking for. Its hard being new and running into problems like this.

Look under wings and around their vents. What you're looking for is super small so if you dont have great eyes I recommend a magnifying glass.

@Kassaundra how long does it take NNs to grow out and how big do they get? Are the girls good layers and lastly what color eggs do they lay? Ive been thinking about getting some next spring, or hatching eggs sooner.

 

[SharkmanDan]

There was an Okie that had real Cornish (not x's) his were awesome he put a lot of work into them.  He doesn't post anymore, haven't even seen him lurk in a looooong time.  Last I heard he had a horrible preditor attack (if I am remembering right and not mixing up two people)

That would be neat. I'd love to deal with someone locally, if I could. In the mean time, to see if they are, what I want, I just ordered 10 of McMurray's Dark Cornish, and 10 Barred Rocks, all males, for delivery this week, to start my meat birds. I have to get to Lowe's for the lumber, to build my super sized tractor coop, that I'm likely to start them in, once they are ready for the coop.

There are likely a few males in the grow out pen, now, which were hatched around June 22. I got 6 different breeds, of five chicks each, plus their free "mystery chick", in that order. Of those, four breeds were ordered straight run, and two, were females only. So, there are certainly at least 3, or 4, likely more, who are going to turn out to be boys. If I can figure out the males in those, they may be the ones, I'll learn caponizing, from you, on. Thank you, for your kind offer, I will be taking you up on it. I will PM you, with contact info, so we can set up a time that's good for you. Next step, is to figure out, who is what. Of those who survived, I have 3 Brown Leghorns, 3 Sultans, 4 EE's, and 3 or 4 Silver Laced Wyandottes, that could be either, plus my "mystery chick" is certain to be male, and it appears to be a Gold Laced ??? Maybe Wyandotte, maybe Appenzeller, maybe, maybe, maybe. Who knows, at this point? I just have to learn that, too.

 

[nnbreeder]

Look under wings and around their vents. What you're looking for is super small so if you dont have great eyes I recommend a magnifying glass.

@Kassaundra how long does it take NNs to grow out and how big do they get? Are the girls good layers and lastly what color eggs do they lay? Ive been thinking about getting some next spring, or hatching eggs sooner.

NNs are a good dual purpose bird and under extreme conditions, heat or cold, will out perform commercial meat or egg types in feed conversion. They are naturally disease resistant and lay big brown eggs. They are very people friendly too and we have never had a rooster so much as run at us like he was going to flog us.

The hens are good broodies and fierce protectors of their youngsters. We got our first NNs back in about '91 I think and have liked the breed very much. If you do any research on them be sure to type in Naked Neck Chickens, just type in Naked Necks and stuff pops up that you would rather not see! LOL

 

[ashtree]

NNs are a good dual purpose bird and under extreme conditions, heat or cold, will out perform commercial meat or egg types in feed conversion. They are naturally disease resistant and lay big brown eggs. They are very people friendly too and we have never had a rooster so much as run at us like he was going to flog us.

The hens are good broodies and fierce protectors of their youngsters. We got our first NNs back in about '91 I think and have liked the breed very much. If you do any research on them be sure to type in Naked Neck Chickens, just type in Naked Necks and stuff pops up that you would rather not see!  LOL

That's probably as good as "sexing sizzles" big mistake! I think I may have to try out some NNs. I think naturally disease resistant sold me! I was already reading some info on them but that was new to me. Docile and dual purpose with good feed conversion sounds smart. Thanks for the info.

 

[nnbreeder]

There was an Okie that had real Cornish (not x's) his were awesome he put a lot of work into them. He doesn't post anymore, haven't even seen him lurk in a looooong time. Last I heard he had a horrible preditor attack (if I am remembering right and not mixing up two people)

How do you do a member search? I know who you are talking about and about three phones ago I had his number. LOL

 

[nnbreeder]

Comparison of the immune responses against Salmonella enterica serovar Gallinarum infection between naked neck chickens and a commercial chicken line.

Alvarez MT1, Ledesma N, Téllez G, Molinari JL, Tato P.
Author information

• 1Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia, México.

Abstract

The immune responses of indigenous naked neck (NaNa and Nana) and normally feathered (nana) chickens against a Salmonella Gallinarum (SG) infection were evaluated and compared with those of a commercial line (B-380). Groups of 28-day-old chickens (NaNa, Nana, nana, and B-380) were immunized orally and subcutaneously with 50 microg of SG antigens. Control non-immunized animals were inoculated with sterile saline solution. All chickens were challenged with 1 LD(50) of SG and mortality was recorded daily for 20 days. Antibodies to SG were measured in sera before immunization, before the challenge, 10 days after the challenge, and at sacrifice. Peripheral blood lymphocyte proliferation assays were performed using concanavalin A and SG antigens. Results showed that non-immunized Nana chickens exhibited the best natural resistance to Salmonella infection, since only 30% of them died. In contrast, all control B-380 chickens died by the 13th day. Immunization with SG induced immunity in chickens of all genotypes. Indigenous naked neck and normally feathered chickens showed a higher survival rate when compared with B-380 chickens. Immunized Nana chickens showed the highest antibody titres (P<0.05) as well as the highest thymidine incorporation in peripheral blood lymphocytes stimulated with con A or SG antigens (P<0.05). The results show that Nana chickens are the most resistant to SG infection and the best responders to vaccination with SG antigens.

 

[nnbreeder]

Here is another good study, or two.

http://scialert.net/fulltext/?doi=ajpsaj.2010.164.172


http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd18/1/badu18003.htm


http://www.biomedsearch.com/article/Evaluation-growth-carcass-immune-response/250999940.html