Protocol for breeding free-range meaties

[Bossroo]

A college student intern must get the perameters of the project methodology from his/ her major professor. Asking for input from mostly amatures, each with their own biased and/ or hearsay opinions, is not the right way to accomplish a scholarly study project.

 

[ReiMiraa]

i'm slowly working on creating my own hybrid/breed of free rangers that are adapted to the North Central WA area. A very diverse range of weather and predators with at most 14 hours of daylight (oddly my hens molt in the summer because i do not supplement light but i am swamped with eggs in the winter from the heat lamps i leave on at night), yet our light intensity is some of the strongest in the world (ag. student in tree fruit major). The choice of forage also changes with the season. Mine often range in the orchard and eat tons of mice and clover. For me i have been testing many breeds and letting them cross. My favorite pet birds i keep an eye on their safety. The others I allow natural selection to take place. It breaks my heart and makes me mad, but that is how other great breeds became developed (ex. Icelandic). I only hatch eggs that find their way into the nest box. For me its a side experiment that does focus on the large size of the bird.

How fast does your breed mature? the rate it matures should be how you determine how often you take your measurements. I think in the poultry science world after incubation they do measurements by the week age and not the day or hour age. Also the type of forage will affect the bird, what they are pastured on in France should be replicated or a similar plant species should be used.
You might want to contact a professor at a poultry science college in VA about what their methods are for their poultry experiments.