- Sep 15, 2013
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@5toez
Good. I think you will still enjoy them, even with all thier flaws. If I couldn't find a good, reasonably priced breeder I think I'd order quite a lot of Dutch and day one cull (by cull I mean sell) any that didn't have the right leg color. Then as they got older you could continue culling (even if that just means you won't breed from them) for earlobes, stance, feathering, and color. Look for birds with looser feathers, that is a easy way to gauge quality. The tight feathering is more of OEGB trait and it does pop up in hatchery Dutch. I mean you really only need to find 1-2 decent roosters, and a few decent hens to breed. Then next year hatch from those and be pickier, cull harder and breed only form your best form both years. In a couple generations you might be surprised at the quality you have. And also I have found my Dutch to be great little egg layers and the perfect amount broody (they will go broody, but they don't spend the whole summer trying to sit on infertile eggs in my nest boxes! I have no roosters being in town)
And btw, it may be too late for this year, but if you look under Advertised Specials on Ideal's website throughout the summer (maybe all year?) they have sales on chicks due to hatch that week. You could order assorted Dutch and sometimes specific variety of Dutchfor as little at $0.90 a bird! That's be a great way to get a big group to choose from without having to spend as much. You could easily sell all the ones that don't meet your standards on Craigslist for $2-$4 each (depending on local demand) and make up what you spent.
Good. I think you will still enjoy them, even with all thier flaws. If I couldn't find a good, reasonably priced breeder I think I'd order quite a lot of Dutch and day one cull (by cull I mean sell) any that didn't have the right leg color. Then as they got older you could continue culling (even if that just means you won't breed from them) for earlobes, stance, feathering, and color. Look for birds with looser feathers, that is a easy way to gauge quality. The tight feathering is more of OEGB trait and it does pop up in hatchery Dutch. I mean you really only need to find 1-2 decent roosters, and a few decent hens to breed. Then next year hatch from those and be pickier, cull harder and breed only form your best form both years. In a couple generations you might be surprised at the quality you have. And also I have found my Dutch to be great little egg layers and the perfect amount broody (they will go broody, but they don't spend the whole summer trying to sit on infertile eggs in my nest boxes! I have no roosters being in town)
And btw, it may be too late for this year, but if you look under Advertised Specials on Ideal's website throughout the summer (maybe all year?) they have sales on chicks due to hatch that week. You could order assorted Dutch and sometimes specific variety of Dutchfor as little at $0.90 a bird! That's be a great way to get a big group to choose from without having to spend as much. You could easily sell all the ones that don't meet your standards on Craigslist for $2-$4 each (depending on local demand) and make up what you spent.
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