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wingstone said:
It is no wonder hubby and I are putting weight on, I cut up a 5.5 pound chicken into 8 pieces and put it on the grill along with 2 baked potatoes for each, and made side salads.....

:oops:. We ate every last bit of it..

It has only been about 45 minutes and he just asked me what is for dessert....?how does ice cream sound?
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Haha! I can't wait to try one of your tasty chickens tomorrow! Thank you for all your time an effort that went into raising them well and processing. It was very nice to meet you today!


wingstone said:
Dheltzel, like usual, I was lost half way into that.
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Ditto, but thank you Dhetzel for the explanation!

LMP, your garden is lovely and your granddaughter is such a cutie also!
 
dheltzel said:
wingstone said:
Dheltzel, like usual, I was lost half way into that.
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It's not for everyone. I will help you figure out whatever I can. Some just baffles me. Those cochins I hatched from your eggs are absolutely delightful little things. My nieces are smitten with them. Every one looks different, I can't imagine what is going on with the genetics, but it sure makes them easier to name and tame.

I think cochin bantams are now my favorite breed . . .
No, now it's the welsummers . . .
No, it must be those rhodebars . . .

How can anyone choose a favorite?
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Cochin are one of my favorites, be for warned, they seem to be even more broody than silkies.
Out of four hen's I got 4 broodies..

I think next year I may look into getting LF Cochin.

The little black one that I hatched seems o be staying all black and I think a roo
 
PlaidBattleAxe said:
I've only got my laying chickens now, but we will be getting meat birds that will be raised up strictly for eating purposes. Do you have recommendations? I've been told by the people I got my hens and roo from that we should just hatch from our current buff orpingtons for dual purpose (and that they taste like eating game birds....?). I was initially wanting to get dark Cornish game birds. I'd appreciate any input from you and anyone else who has some experience with this, thanks!
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This is our first year exploring Cornish X...there is a lot of misinformation out there about them,IMO- being around them first hand, for the first time. Our experience:
*We did not handle them because it is just easier ( for me) not to be attached. (It doesn't mean I don't care, it means that I DO care and do to want to "humanise" these particular birds.)
*So, in not handling them, they are more skittish. Now, when the food comes out, they are right there.
*The birds were raised by a broody for 5 weeks, they were totally fine with her leaving.
*They have been outside the entire time.
*They are fed 3 times daily.
* Fermented 'meat maker' feed. They did have dry-"non medicated" chick starter for about a week(it was what i had). They also receive veggie/fruit/sod-grass. H20 all the time. When it is real hot, I add vits.& electrolytes to it.
*They eat more therefore they poo more, so this means if you don't clean it up it WILL be obnoxious! Because they eat a lot, their poo is generally more loose than the layers, even with the ferment, but I can only imagine how "wowsers" it would be without the ferment-seriously. I rake-out their area once a week, sometimes, if it has been more rainy, I will do it more.(They are covered by a tarp to help keep dry and to keep shade-very important)
Then I will: (1)-turn the soil over a little, or (2)- add fresh soil from the garden, toss it on the top of the raked area. By doing this, it has kept their smell and area "look" very tidy and acceptable, As an example, we have a fire ring, not more than 15 yards, more likely closer, to their area. (there is a pic somewhere on the thread) We just had company over to enjoy the evening with us and they could not get over how "good"/"un-chickeny",hahaha, the chickens smelled & looked. They are obviously there, but will you NOT smell them before you see them.
wink.png

*They are VERY quiet..they do purr at me though. It is very nice/sweet sounding.
*They have not acted like crazy-food starved birds. They have 3 meals. They eat, get full and walk away. They do what they do,lay,scratch,drink..then come back and eat more...just like any other chicken does. When we walk by, they don't act like they are starved, they have never "begged".
*It has been a wonderful experience thus far with these birds. At this point I would recommend Cornish X to anyone. We are planning to process tomorrow, (if we are up to it), Tuesday at the latest.
I have heard/read many ways people raise these birds, some were experiences/practices like ours, some, well-more than some unfortunately, were not under really any kind of animal/poultry-husbandry it would seem with horrifying situations & results. I believe truly, it's your food..treat it how you want it. BUT,...you can read way too many of these "OMG" threads on BYC unfortunately.
We/I personally wanted ours(DH) to be/have the healthiest fed,( that we can afford), cleanest kept, humanly treated(incompasses all above), poultry product we could raise.
So, in a nutshell...hahaha , hope this helped you. I am a newbie..take it for what it is.-Danielle
 
wingstone said:
Cochin are one of my favorites, be for warned, they seem to be even more broody than silkies.
Out of four hen's I got 4 broodies..

I think next year I may look into getting LF Cochin.

The little black one that I hatched seems o be staying all black and I think a roo
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It's ok if they go broody, we have that with the silkies.

None of the ones that hatched black are all black any more. Unusual colors, even an all white one. These are pets only and being able to tell them apart easily is a "feature". I like these a lot, thanks for sharing them with me.
 
dheltzel said:
I love genetics of all sorts. Chicken genetics have some very fascinating aspects and I've been fortunate to have some people on the genetic threads help be understand some of the trickier stuff, like auto-sexing breeds.

We see some genes in a chicken's appearance, but some may be hidden and it's like a mystery or solving a puzzle to try to understand what the rest of that birds family looked like (parents and children). Maybe it's having to "puzzle out" the real genetic make up in order to accurately predict the appearance of the progeny that makes it so interesting for me. I have a group of Easter Eggers now that are breeding sort of true. Most of the chicks are exactly like their parents looked at hatch, but about 25% look entirely different as chicks. There must be a recessive gene in there. I can't wait to see how those feather out. I really have no idea what they will look like.
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It is obvious and wonderful you enjoy it so much!
I think there will always be that "now where did that or you come from" aspect of genetics....heck, just look at us!! hahahaha
joyfulshepherde said:
The 3 Roos I had were almost funny when they fought. They would fight once a month. When you finally rehomed them, they had had 3 fights. They were all nasty fights. And even the "losers" would keep fighting once they were back in the coop - the one would sit up on the bar and pick at the other one's head. The other one would take it for a chance to pick at the top one! Don't know if this is normal - never had other roos - but man they could fight.

They were scared of the hens, though!
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as it should be....
lau.gif
.....
 
dheltzel said:
It's not for everyone. I will help you figure out whatever I can. Some just baffles me. Those cochins I hatched from your eggs are absolutely delightful little things. My nieces are smitten with them. Every one looks different, I can't imagine what is going on with the genetics, but it sure makes them easier to name and tame.

I think cochin bantams are now my favorite breed . . .
No, now it's the welsummers . . .
No, it must be those rhodebars . . .

How can anyone choose a favorite?
Click to expand...
Chosing a favorite is easy ;)

My daughter loves Sumatras because they have black feather and are iridescent.
My son likes the big white Plymouth rocks because they are so tame for him
I love orpingtons especially the rarer colors if blue, black, and white. They are good meat and good egg layers. Calm birds
My husband got my son going on the white rocks because he loves their size. Good table birds

Of course it took me 12 years of raising chickens and getting a different breed every year for 11 of the 12 to pick a favorite
 
Barley has been harvested, I kept what I needed for mixing feed and then a couple hundred pounds extra, I mix this into the ferment and also in the winter make fodder trays, my question is since I buy sprouts for salads, how would I go about just using this barley seed for that, or can I even do that..

The jar in the cupboard does not work for me, I am to forgetful.

Remember I also have wheat seed and corn, can I use any of them for this purpose, those little packs of sprouts are expensive., used to just be me, but now hubby eats them also and he just sticks his fingers in the pack and eats them by themselves when he walks past the fridge..

Someone asked about this on a Facebook page also, and I am following just for answers, any you have would be appreciated
 
LittleMissPurdy said:
This is our first year exploring Cornish X...there is a lot of misinformation out there about them,IMO- being around them first hand, for the first time. Our experience:
*We did not handle them because it is just easier ( for me) not to be attached. (It doesn't mean I don't care, it means that I DO care and do to want to "humanise" these particular birds.)
*So, in not handling them, they are more skittish. Now, when the food comes out, they are right there.
*The birds were raised by a broody for 5 weeks, they were totally fine with her leaving.
*They have been outside the entire time.
*They are fed 3 times daily.
* Fermented 'meat maker' feed. They did have dry-"non medicated" chick starter for about a week(it was what i had). They also receive veggie/fruit/sod-grass. H20 all the time. When it is real hot, I add vits.& electrolytes to it.
*They eat more therefore they poo more, so this means if you don't clean it up it WILL be obnoxious! Because they eat a lot, their poo is generally more loose than the layers, even with the ferment, but I can only imagine how "wowsers" it would be without the ferment-seriously. I rake-out their area once a week, sometimes, if it has been more rainy, I will do it more.(They are covered by a tarp to help keep dry and to keep shade-very important)
Then I will: (1)-turn the soil over a little, or (2)- add fresh soil from the garden, toss it on the top of the raked area. By doing this, it has kept their smell and area "look" very tidy and acceptable, As an example, we have a fire ring, not more than 15 yards, more likely closer, to their area. (there is a pic somewhere on the thread) We just had company over to enjoy the evening with us and they could not get over how "good"/"un-chickeny",hahaha, the chickens smelled & looked. They are obviously there, but will you NOT smell them before you see them.
wink.png

*They are VERY quiet..they do purr at me though. It is very nice/sweet sounding.
*They have not acted like crazy-food starved birds. They have 3 meals. They eat, get full and walk away. They do what they do,lay,scratch,drink..then come back and eat more...just like any other chicken does. When we walk by, they don't act like they are starved, they have never "begged".
*It has been a wonderful experience thus far with these birds. At this point I would recommend Cornish X to anyone. We are planning to process tomorrow, (if we are up to it), Tuesday at the latest.
I have heard/read many ways people raise these birds, some were experiences/practices like ours, some, well-more than some unfortunately, were not under really any kind of animal/poultry-husbandry it would seem with horrifying situations & results. I believe truly, it's your food..treat it how you want it. BUT,...you can read way too many of these "OMG" threads on BYC unfortunately.
We/I personally wanted ours(DH) to be/have the healthiest fed,( that we can afford), cleanest kept, humanly treated(incompasses all above), poultry product we could raise.
So, in a nutshell...hahaha , hope this helped you. I am a newbie..take it for what it is.-Danielle
Click to expand...
Thank you for the wonderfully informative post! I agree with how you raise your flock. We agreed to only consume ethically treated meat. Which means we have to hunt our butts off during deer season and wind up eating venison and lake perch all year lol. I'm trying to do the best for my layers and will do the same for our meat birds when we get them. And thank you for the poo advice!! I will be using this post as a reference point for sure. Good luck with your processing today!
 

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