The aseel thread!!!

[fluffycrow]

These 2 Brazilians produce great chicks. Will try to get a clutch of these this spring

These guys are gorgeous on a whole other level

Sorry I've been sitting here for five minutes appreciating their beauty

 

[fluffycrow]

When are you all preparing to breed the pairs?

If I find that hen, but if I don't, the same plan will be for next year

I'm probably going for the start of May, thinking it usually takes one or two weeks for the hen to gather all her eggs, and three weeks of brooding which would bring us to the first week of June

I'm going for late breeding because
1. I only want one batch this year because I'm mostly interested in seeing what my rooster can produce and also fix his major fault
2. Assuming the hen is young, because I don't think it'll be easy to find a hen at all, let alone a proven and mature one, I want her to be older by the time she broods
3. Kind of tied to the second point, brooding can take a toll on a hens body, so I don't want to put too much pressure on her, so I'm HOPING she'll keep the chicks through winter, though I'm suspecting she will leave them and ask for the rooster again by early September

Again, this is all based on the fact I find the hen, but really this will be my course of action even if I find the hen next year

So with that said, I'm interested to see your schedule, which includes more pairs than mine

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Because my projects with orientals all involve using them for free range survivor stock, I start spamming chicks as soon as I can for as long as I can. I’ve had many batches where it took 1-2 dozen to make 1-2 free range survivors in my conditions. So my first batch of oriental crosses will go into the incubator as soon as laying starts. Currently I can do up to 44 eggs at a time, and realistically I can hit that number every two weeks or so. Plus when hens set they can have whatever extra eggs I have.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

When are you all preparing to breed the pairs?

If I find that hen, but if I don't, the same plan will be for next year

I'm probably going for the start of May, thinking it usually takes one or two weeks for the hen to gather all her eggs, and three weeks of brooding which would bring us to the first week of June

I'm going for late breeding because
1. I only want one batch this year because I'm mostly interested in seeing what my rooster can produce and also fix his major fault
2. Assuming the hen is young, because I don't think it'll be easy to find a hen at all, let alone a proven and mature one, I want her to be older by the time she broods
3. Kind of tied to the second point, brooding can take a toll on a hens body, so I don't want to put too much pressure on her, so I'm HOPING she'll keep the chicks through winter, though I'm suspecting she will leave them and ask for the rooster again by early September

Again, this is all based on the fact I find the hen, but really this will be my course of action even if I find the hen next year

So with that said, I'm interested to see your schedule, which includes more pairs than mine

Hens end up doing the choosing. They will lay and try to brood without a male, which is just a waste of eggs.

 

[fluffycrow]

Hens end up doing the choosing. They will lay and try to brood without a male, which is just a waste of eggs.

I'm sorry, I'm not sure I'm following, what do you mean exactly? Sorry, it's getting late

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

You can't make a hen wait till spring/summer. I have a hen now that is brooding. A good oriental will pretty much always be broody. That included wintertime for some strains.

 

[fluffycrow]

You can't make a hen wait till spring/summer. I have a hen now that is brooding. A good oriental will pretty much always be broody. That included wintertime for some strains.

Ahhh got it. The main reason I'm confident that won't happen is that I will be looking for a young hen, more precisely one that is of breeding/brooding age at the time I want. Obviously, if I don't find the exact age of hen I want, or if she seems interested in breeding, I will breed her earlier

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

The broody hen I am talking about is on her second brood and is only 10 months. You might have different stuff where you are, I am just throwing this out there. I hope you get what you want, and it works for you, I just want you to be prepared.

 

[fluffycrow]

The broody hen I am talking about is on her second brood and is only 10 months. You might have different stuff where you are, I am just throwing this out there. I hope you get what you want, and it works for you, I just want you to be prepared.

Thank you for your input! Of course, we are working with live animals, and that means that things don't always go to plan. If that does happen, and she does request for a rooster earlier, all the infrastructure is already in place, and the chicks will be properly taken care of, I would just prefer her to raise chicks in the summer

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

Yeah, your doing everything right, just wanted to let you know.