Plans or changes you wil make for 2014?

[casportpony]

A couple more things:

• Make a proper "hospital wing" in my garage.
• Provide my avian vets with peafowl specific info like normal poop, weights, sounds, etc.

-Kathy

 

[BYC-user-174785]

I will have more colors being produced, including bronze blackshoulder peafowl that I am getting in the spring. For 2014 I will have to keep better records and use wing bands. What are some methods of recording keeping you find to work the best. I asked some peafowl breeders and the idea of using excel sounds good. But I would like to hear some other ideas. I also would like to learn more about the feed FBC is talking about. Another thing is healthcare. That will need to improve.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Can you all see the jealousy here?? Everyone has bronze b/s,,,,,,,,,,,,but I think I may have found a cheap cure,,I see Craig Hopkins has some adult aged Bronze b/s males,,,for sale,,,and I have plenty of bssp hens,,,,just one more pen to build.

Casportpony,,Blue Creek Farm,,,January will soon be less than a month away,,I started all my birds on the new feed about 2 weeks ago now,,they have consumed close to 1 3/4-55 gallon plastic barrels full so far.Every pea on the place is getting this as feed,including the 2013 hatch. Next batch I have made in about another month will have some more corn in it,due to colder temps and the protein level will come down to 16%. That ton should last me thru mid February,,but from then on the protein level goes way up,,main source of protein will come from fish meal which is 60%,,and my "extras" to round out the vitamins-trace minerals that are so very,very important in non-free ranging peas.

Kathy,glad your up to recordkeeping.It's tedious and somewhat of an inconvenience but the way I look at it,I'm on the computer every night.Starting a spreadsheet and recording eggs and hatches is very easy to do,as easy as typing here.You need a baseline to know which direction your going,mainly better or worse. I'd urge you of Jan 1st to start keeping track of imput costs,vs. peachicks hatched.You will notice significantly more peachicks once your season is over,which will more than justify custom made feed,vs bagged feed NOT specific for peafowl. If you have recorded the total number of breeding birds you used this past year,and the total number of eggs they laid,,and the number of peachicks hatched,you can establish a baseline for 2014 to make an accurate comparison based on feed alone.Any new birds you add for breeding in 2014,should not be used,especially if they are first season 2 year olds that will begin laying for the first time.You want your comparisons between last and next year,to be as close as possible to make an accurate asessment.

Blue Creek,,if you have Excel on your computer,set up a spreadsheet. If your wanting it for just hatches,you need one column for each day of the month starting when your hens first are breeding and laying eggs. Last year I started collecting eggs April 15th,so from that day on each day I recorded,
1) Eggs collected each day per pen
2) Any eggs that were laid,but broken,possibly because they were laid while the hen was on a perch.
3)Candled eggs that were cracked,or rare instances of air sacks being dislodged.
Of these recordings,,you will arrive at your average of eggs laid per color-pen,or group. You cannot discount a hens laying average because of broken or unhatchable eggs.
I then record the total number of eggs suitable for going into the incubator,and the date they were put in. From this number at 10 days when I candle,I then record any non-fertile eggs that are removed.then again normally around the 20th day I candle again,looking for quitters.That number is recorded. Then the actual quitters at hatchtime. Then,the final number that actually hatched out.
You will still have one more column,,that does not go into the above computations,but that is any deaths that occurs after the chicks are past 2-3 days old.I immediatedly use diffrent colored zip ties to mark each peachick once it hatches so I know what color it is.Hatching so many b/s chicks can be confusing since they all are yellow at hatch.I use 4" ties,have 7 diffrent colors of them,and use for diffrent hatched chicks,or in some cases,use just the left leg,or just the right leg for the tie. I wing band the chicks at around 1 month old,when I move them from one growing pen,to the next sized bigger one.Then the zip ties gets cut off.

 

[BYC-user-174785]

I could also send you some eggs! Or juvenile birds... You can send me a PM if you want. Do you suggest putting two wing bands on or just one? I have never done it before... I will just feel bad for the peachick! I am sure it will be okay just like it was with clipping the hind toe off of certain ducklings.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Put the same number of wingband in each wing,that way if one is lost,or comes out you still have one to identify.You can order 2 sets of bands with the same numbers.In many cases mine don't actually squirm when I'm banding them,it's quick and easy,but if you've not done it before,have someone else hold the chick and it's wing outstretched to you can see the webbed area easily where the band goes.

 

[Arbor]

I double band within 36 hours or straight from the hatcher. I decided on custom bands, so I'll always be able to determine if the bird originated from me. 90% of breeders in my province don't use bands. I don't use zip ties any more, as they sometimes get forgotten about... I think I am also going to start photographing each chick at one week old. This will allow me to be able to "try" to learn how to distinguish some of the newer colours I'll be producing right when they are chicks.

 

[BYC-user-174785]

Please tell me more about the custom bands. That is a good idea to get peachick pictures.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Arbor,you can see in a situation like mine where b/s chicks are over 50% of my hatch,taking pictures wouldn't help much? This year tho that will be diffrent.I've looked at stainless steel legbands to be put on peas,but until they are a year old you would need to upsize them as the chick grew,and they are all in metric sizes,,One night to cure my curiosity I got several open-end wrenches out of my toolbox that was metric as well as standard,,took a flashlite and actually took the wrenches and found a few birds on the perch that I used as "subjects" just to see what metric wrench size it would take to go around an adults leg. If I remember right my metric sizes wasn't big enough at 16mm,,but a 3/4 open end wrench seemed to "fit" with a little room left.Pea identifying this year will be a lot diffrent for me too and much more recordkeeping especially if I get those dreaded "splits" from pens.

 

[AugeredIn]

I think wing bands and zip ties are the best bet. The wing bands tell the story but leg bands let you see on an instantaneous basis without having to catch the bird.

 

[Arbor]

The pictures weren't really for the BS, mainly for the barred wing birds. Though, there is some difference between many of the BS colours, though subtle, one should be able to narrow it down to only a couple possibilities.
My custom bands came directly from national band co. And you can get them in any colour and have up to 8 characters printed or engraved on them. I use the first four letters of my last name and four numbers starting with 0000. I got two sets of 250, so they'll last a couple years. I then record which birds get sold and to whom.