Simulated Natural Nest Incubation~Experiment #1 So it begins....

[Beekissed]

That's too bad. When I first came to BYC a breeder told me that he paid 10K for a trio of Cornish and had driven for hours across states to get them as they were the last of an old breeder's line and were something special. I couldn't believe anyone would pay that much money for chickens but then he told me how much he sold trios for at shows and I could see why he made the investment....but it also had me believing I could never have good breeding stock. I could never afford to pay what that fella charged for eggs and stock and I figured he was typical of all breeders.

I promptly put heritage stock and breeding out of my mind and went out and hugged a hatchery bird. (not really, but you know what I mean....

)

Some years later I learned that it wasn't really that expensive to buy some eggs from a decent breeder of the breed I loved, but I wasn't much into incubating and by then I had plans to take a volunteer job in Jamaica, so I rehomed my flock with an old farmer and another lady I worked with and was preparing to go, but it fell through. And you know the rest of the story about when I got my flock back...or what was left of it.

Now I don't know about how much longer I'll be around here but someone sent me two WR chicks out of a coveted line and someone might send me a cockerel from the same lines or a branch thereof. In the time I have left here I may be able to have some fine birds on the ground and get to see what they can do. That's enough for me...just that.

 

[ocap]

That's too bad. When I first came to BYC a breeder told me that he paid 10K for a trio of Cornish and had driven for hours across states to get them as they were the last of an old breeder's line and were something special. I couldn't believe anyone would pay that much money for chickens but then he told me how much he sold trios for at shows and I could see why he made the investment....but it also had me believing I could never have good breeding stock. I could never afford to pay what that fella charged for eggs and stock and I figured he was typical of all breeders.

I promptly put heritage stock and breeding out of my mind and went out and hugged a hatchery bird. (not really, but you know what I mean....

)

Some years later I learned that it wasn't really that expensive to buy some eggs from a decent breeder of the breed I loved, but I wasn't much into incubating and by then I had plans to take a volunteer job in Jamaica, so I rehomed my flock with an old farmer and another lady I worked with and was preparing to go, but it fell through. And you know the rest of the story about when I got my flock back...or what was left of it.

Now I don't know about how much longer I'll be around here but someone sent me two WR chicks out of a coveted line and someone might send me a cockerel from the same lines or a branch thereof. In the time I have left here I may be able to have some fine birds on the ground and get to see what they can do. That's enough for me...just that.

great "conversation" on contentment, chickens and how to get started

 

[Beekissed]

given that's yr intention my suggestion would be run them all together & just put the trio in a breeding pen each spring ,gather sufficient number of WR eggs to hatch .

2 hens = 2 eggs a day x 12 days = 2 dz to hatch ,

that's how i think Fred does it

Pete

What's the reason to put them in a breeding pen and not just breed on the land? Is it to save his efforts for just those two birds? Everyone says you can't hatch eggs past 10 days old, so if I save them for 12 days will they be less viable?

 

[aussie pete]

What's the reason to put them in a breeding pen and not just breed on the land? Is it to save his efforts for just those two birds? Everyone says you can't hatch eggs past 10 days old, so if I save them for 12 days will they be less viable?

just a suggestion ,so u know the eggs u collect & set r definitely WR's,& yes it will also save his energies for just those two.
it will also concentrate the collection time .as u know the roo may not get to each hen every day in a good size flock, even if u can tell the wr eggs from the rest
if u just allow flock breeding on the land u may find u will have a higher ratio of clears in yr set

yes 10 days is the suggested max time to collect , the 12 day thing was just to show an example ,
i flock breed on the land but i only run the one breed in each flock so i know they're the rite breed lol .
i had problems when i first started when i had some dubious hens that looked rite but turned out not be pure, resulting in setting ,incubating ,& growing out chicks ,that i had to cull .
lots of wasted effort i could have saved if i had used a breeding pen & selected the hens for breeding eggs
Pete

 

[Beekissed]

That makes a lot of sense, Pete. My flock is very small right now and I'm culling in June when I kill the CX, so it will be even smaller....that will leave a couple of Aussies, one Del, and one old NH, along with the two WR hens I currently have which will turn 1 yr in a week or so. I currently have 8 hens...would that be too many birds for a young WR cockerel(11 mo.) to cover if I wanted to leave them to open breeding and just collect those WR eggs for a hatch next month? Do you think I'd still get clears on that?

 

[Cowpoke]

thanks for the vote of confidence Cowpoke , but i'm not as good a communicator as Bee.
i still consider myself on "L " plates(beginner/ learner)

the best i could offer is just the pitfalls i have encounted but no real titbits of information to help u going forward.

I joined BYC because i needed to learn ,there r a lots of very experienced breeders & flock managers here,very willing to pass on their knowledge & experience

the situation in aust in a bit strange ,(to me) ,lots of backyarders that just want chooks for eggs, and experienced breeders with a huge gap in between .

the experienced breeders complain there r not many serious breeders about & a sml gene pool, but r reluctant to share any knowledge or stock until they deem someone has enough experience & wherewithal to be granted access to birds or knowledge

while i can understand their reasoning to a point,how can u complain about a diminishing gene pool of good stock if u only sell yr culls .

can u really complain about not enough serious breeders if u only sell good stock to yr peers & don't impart yr knowledge to others that want to learn, or sell the occasional good stock for a high price with no knowledge on how to continue on.

as an example

recently I attended a local poultry club open day ,with the intention of seeing if they provided some sort of education program.
very disappointed ,had various breeds on display with description cards from "Google",very poor examples on display, some had scaly leg mites,dirty ,undersize, birds with wrong eye colour for breed.
a sml demonstration on how to wash a bird,giving out,free membership application forms.

no breeders to talk to , just ppl selling food or encouraging u to join .but couldn't answer any question about activities referred me to club president who wasn't in attendance.
seems their only objective was just increase club membership but offered little in the way of benefits to the joining member other than the ability to enter their annual show .
the list of calendar events they gave me ,had only their annual show & twice yrly sale dates

aust poultry forums r similar ,experienced breeders may answer a specific problem but impart no flock management advice to educate learners

i just go to BYC for my education,& offer any advice i can from my limited knowledge to help others avoid yhe mistakes i have encountered


Pete

I understand Pete. I am amazed to hear about no breeders to talk to in your country. Especially with several breeds of chickens the have originated there.

I too go to BYC to learn and share my limited knowledge to help others. And we all help and learn from avoiding each others mistakes that have been encountered.

I and others on the forum Appreciate your advice.

 

[aussie pete]

go for it, if u can tell which r the WR eggs ,given yr sml flock size, any clears would be minimum IMO
a vigorous cockerel should have no prob covering up to 15 hens

i like to run about 12 hens/pullets in my flock,as any number less than 6 hens results in bare backs on a few ,as my roo plays favorites,
haven't had that happen using a breeding pen over a week or so .
when i got down too low in numbers ,i used a breeding pen to save my hens some grief. lol my roo is a very amorous fellow

cheers Pete

 

[Beekissed]

Yeah....it's been a long time since I had such small numbers in flocks. My old roo wasn't too vigorous anymore, though, and this young guy I have right now is a good breeder but still not too much of a manly guy. I'm thinking this young WR cockerel might up the ante some and cause some problems for the hens, though these WRs seem to be completely impervious to breeding damage....their feather quality is so far above other breeds that it's like they wear armor. They don't even show dirt on their backs from breeding...it's almost like their feathers are silk and everything just slides off. I think that's one reason I love them so much....they always look bandbox fresh even when the rest of the hens look a little scruffy.

That's one reason I call them the royalty of poultry breeds.

I'll slowly build up to a flock of 15 and go from there. Expanding the coop this spring to hold more birds though this one is built for 20 bird capacity I really like way more room for them after seeing how the winters are changing and becoming more severe.

 

[fisherlady]

I took a course in college (45+ years ago) called "economic decision making". If you take the problem of eggs vs trio and ran a cost to 100 hatched chicks in your barn.......I would like to know the answer, I read about a lot of failures on the incubator threads, you have tons of broody experience that should change the failure rate of shipped eggs. I would try and take the snooty response
emotion out of the thought process and make the entire decision an economic one.

John

I believe I have found a source for cornish eggs, so now it will be a matter of matching egg availability to broody availability, dorking and white rocks are on the list also. I know I can afford to buy a trio, and may still do that, but my ability to travel to the shows where such stock would be available is extremely limited due to full time work schedule. I know birds can be shipped, but again, I don't like to do so.... heck, I have driven 3 hours each way to pick up eggs I knew were from good stock so that I knew how the eggs were handled to give my broodies their best chance at a good hatch. I don't show, but want stock as close to breed standard as I can keep, and then I can work on making sure I keep the birds true to their best possible form and function. Economically cornish are a bad choice from the start with their historically low fertility (actually due to short legs, which is something I would really have to work on avoiding) but I just love the look of them.

From a purely economic standpoint, after coop, coop additions, runs, run additions and all the other 'tools of the trade' it should only take me about a 100 years to start getting 'free eggs' from my birds!

 

[aussie pete]

x3