Straub’s search for colored eggs

[Tstraub]

The jack-o-lantern carving is going well.

No issues with the cockerels yet. Everyone is just hanging out beside their own tractor and enjoying the sunshine

 

[Tstraub]

At sundown all the cockerels went to their own tractor to sleep. We had a bit of drama in the main coop tonight. I think Smokey finally decided she was done brooding her 2 remaining pullets. The pullets were trying to find a spot on the roosting bars and tonight momma didn’t clear a spot for them. My broody Jersey Giant,Gena went up to roost tonight. I think I’m broody free for the first time since spring.

 

[wrathsfarm]

It's been a couple weeks for me since the 3 broodys hatched theirs.

 

[Tstraub]

10 week weight in for the Bresse and I’m very happy with the results so far. They really do look to be growing much faster than my olive Eggers that were in the incubator at the same time. It’s hard to describe but just handling them they feel more fleshy than to OEs. The OEs feel real bony like they build bone first then put on weight as they get older. The yard is getting a bit noisy with one rooster and 14 cockerels out there.

 

[Tstraub]

Egg production is way down in the main coop. I’ve been getting 3-6 eggs a day. About 1/2 the girls have finished their molt and are back in feathers but haven’t come back into lay. If things don’t pick up I’ll plug in the light and timer. I can’t justify feeding all these birds unless they are producing some eggs.

I’m really happy with the size the Bresse are putting on. They look and feel so much larger than the olive Eggers they m used to handling. Although I am afraid they all have caved in keel bones. I thought I noticed it last week but I was in denial. This week it’s pretty clear their bone structure needs improvement

The keel bone shape is one of the known genetic problems to look out for with the breed. It doesn’t really cause any health issues as long as it’s not too severe but it doesn’t present well in a shrink bag or on the table. So I guess I have found where they need improvement and I’ll have to do what I can to breed away from this. The good news is that just means I need to hatch a bunch of eggs so I have plenty of choices for the next generation.

They still do look like a good enough foundation to build from and I’m excited to see what I can do with them. It’s likely to take several years to get it completely straight but I’ll just take it one season at a time and keep looking for improvement.

 

[Tstraub]

Weekly weight in result. It was pretty windy today so you’ll have to excuse all the ruffled feathers. Nobody wanted to corporate with me on a natural pose either. Every time I try to take pictures all of them tuck their tails

 

[Tstraub]

Here are two of the olive Eggers from the same hatch day to show how the Bresse grow compared to my colored egg project birds. Same age, same feed, different housing but close enough for comparison. I didn’t weigh all of the OEs just grabbed on of each. I tried to get ones that looked to be on the larger side of average with a quick eyeball comparison


The pullet weighs 2.77 pounds the Bresse pullets are 3.0-3.2 pounds at the same age.


The cockerel weighs 3.75 pounds the Bresse are 4.33 and 4.44 pounds

 

[WingItRanch]

Weekly weight in result. It was pretty windy today so you’ll have to excuse all the ruffled feathers. Nobody wanted to corporate with me on a natural pose either. Every time I try to take pictures all of them tuck their tails View attachment 4233656View attachment 4233657View attachment 4233658View attachment 4233659View attachment 4233660View attachment 4233661View attachment 4233662

They've filled out nicely!

 

[Tstraub]

They've filled out nicely!

They are looking really good to me. I expected worse quality simply because I didn’t have to travel a log distance or pay a lot of money for the hatching eggs. They came from a Craigslist add. I believe the seller was actually paying attention to what he was breeding. I still have work to do to make them my own line but I believe I have everything I need

 

[Tstraub]

Yesterday evening I sold 2 pullets and a cockerel to a friend of my wife’s. We sold her several day old straight run earlier this year. She had already culled down to one cockerel then lost him, so we brought her flock up to what she needed and got ours closer to the number I want to carry through the winter.