Sulmtalers Thread

[celticgarden]

So I processed the roo last night. When I caught him I was amazed at how light he was. Needless to say he dressed out small. I think he was a bit over 6 months old. I wonder, anyone keeping any records of age vs. dress weight? Also wonder if there is a preferred feeding protocol to get them nice and plump. My 2 year old Orpington hen outweighs him by a mile (although she was not processed). I feed an organic grower formula (oyster shell on the side). Needless to say it was MUCH quieter outside this morning.

 

[Bama1]

They are an extremely TASTY bird, not a huge cornish rock cross hybrid dressed out 6 pounder.

 

[Arielle]

I too am sorting out how to feed these meatier type birds, so this is my musings on the subject . . .ANy large flowl of heritage type cannot be compared to a cornish cross. However they have the capacity to be m uch meatier than the typical hatchery layer that I have currently. TO reach full capacity for meat they need the protein resources to do so-- from vegetable matter and from a meat source. ANd the proteins need to be in the right balance to produce muscle. OF course this assume a good diet of energy and vitamins and minerals.

WIth an over abundance of food I can see what the growth capacity is for my birds and then adjust from there. Fastest growth is not always the best. Depends on the goal-- if all the birds are heading for the freezer asap, then the faster the better is fine. IF keeping for breeder birds perhaps slower is better. Historically I'm sure year to year varied depending on the harvests and local variances in food stuffs. We are better able to control the feeding given that we have access to commercial feeds.

One of my goals is to improve the forages and hopefully improve the native insects as well. THen use commercial feed to balance this out. THis is similar to Saladins pasturing method.

 

[Arielle]

I too am sorting out how to feed these meatier type birds, so this is my musings on the subject . . .

ANy large flowl of heritage type cannot be compared to a cornish cross. However they have the capacity to be much meatier than the typical hatchery layer that I have currently. To reach full capacity for meat they need the protein resources to do so-- from vegetable matter and from a meat source whenever possible. ANd the proteins need to be in the right balance to produce muscle. OF course this assumes a good diet of energy and vitamins and minerals to support the growth.

WIth an over abundance of food I can see what the growth capacity is for my birds and then adjust from there. Fastest growth is not always the best. Depends on the goal-- if all the birds are heading for the freezer asap, then the faster the better is fine. IF keeping for breeder birds perhaps slower is better. Historically I'm sure year to year varied depending on the harvests and local variances in food stuffs. TOday, We are better able to control the feed given that we have access to commercial feeds.

One of my goals is to improve the forages and hopefully improve the native insects as well. THen use commercial feed to balance this out. THis is similar to Saladins pastured method.

Just muddling out what to do. . .

ON JOsephs Farming and heritage thread-- there is much support for breeding a farm bird that is a good meat bird. THe photos of his dorkings inspire hope to keep breeding meat type heritage stock. ( His thread is limited to US heritage birds, but still worth reading)

 

[Extra Java]

So I processed the roo last night. When I caught him I was amazed at how light he was. Needless to say he dressed out small. I think he was a bit over 6 months old. I wonder, anyone keeping any records of age vs. dress weight? Also wonder if there is a preferred feeding protocol to get them nice and plump. My 2 year old Orpington hen outweighs him by a mile (although she was not processed). I feed an organic grower formula (oyster shell on the side). Needless to say it was MUCH quieter outside this morning.

Sulmtaler fatten nicely if they are slightly confined towards "the end" of grow out. We use 16ft cattle panels and create runs where they can move around well yet not feel crowded. How many panels we use varies depending on how many males are in there. The rest of the time, our birds are free range.

Below is a Sulmtaler male we processed a while back. Nice breast development and tender.
We recently processed one much larger than this...I'll see if I can upload that photo later.

Although I normally don't keep records - our largest male was over 9 pounds dressed.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: That is huge!!

 

[TammyTX]

I'm considering buying hatching eggs from Widget Creek, but I want to breed and their birds are all the same bloodline. If I buy some of the duck-wing color from GreenFire and I breed them to the Widget line, will they turn out some duck-wing and some standard coloring or will the roos just be a hot mess, color wise?? ....hens look about the same.

 

[flypen]

I'm considering buying hatching eggs from Widget Creek, but I want to breed and their birds are all the same bloodline.   If I buy some of the duck-wing color from GreenFire and I breed them to the Widget line, will they turn out some duck-wing and some standard coloring or will the roos just be a hot mess, color wise??   ....hens look about the same.

GreenFire has the red wheatens, gold duck wings, and whites. Widget Creek has red wheaten and blue wheaten.
Eric

 

[DCchicken]

There was a discussion recently in the club about the gold Duckwing color. In the Austrian standard, the color is actually called silver wheaten. So the recognized colors are white, wheaten (red), blue wheaten, and silver wheaten. There is also a blue silver, which has blue body and silver hackles but that has not been recognized yet.

 

[celticgarden]

Oh I understand I can't compare a heritage bird to a Cornish cross. He just looked larger than he was. Very tasty of course. I'll continue to follow the thoughts and info here, thanks for sharing!