The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[speckledhen]

Thank you for your response..
I must say I really am not in love with the chocolate color. I just took him because he was a breed I haven't been exposed to and I wanted some fertile eggs. I absolutely adore your barred birds. My favorite color is black and white. I will have to research what breeds have the barring.

I didn't know papas poultry also bred dogs. How many years ago did your friend go there? The Delaware looks like an interesting breed. Thank you for explaining why the Delaware was in your birds.. I hope by trimming my Roos nails the hens will be better off. I might have to just move the smaller ones out of his pen. When my orps that I hatched get big enough I will just keep them in with him. I have plenty of laying chickens now. My hatchery chickens are just starting their first molt.

Ellie went to Jeff's place this spring, actually. Her screen name is Ellie, too, so if you want details, you could ask her about her visit.

Beautiful quilt.

Thank you.

 

[h2oratt]

Ellie went to Jeff's place this spring, actually. Her screen name is Ellie, too, so if you want details,  you could ask her about her visit.

Thank you.

Thanks. I think I will pm her. I can find absolutely no reference to him on the Internet of selling goldens. I bred dogs but they are raised in my house. My main problem is keeping the dogs and chicken separate.. I have a few dogs that are not trustworthy around the chickens. I hope to rehome these dogs and not keep any dogs that I can't trust. This is one reason why I don't want to invest a lot of money in my chickens until I have it all figured out.

 

[speckledhen]

Thanks. I think I will pm her. I can find absolutely no reference to him on the Internet of selling goldens. I bred dogs but they are raised in my house. My main problem is keeping the dogs and chicken separate.. I have a few dogs that are not trustworthy around the chickens. I hope to rehome these dogs and not keep any dogs that I can't trust. This is one reason why I don't want to invest a lot of money in my chickens until I have it all figured out.

She said goldens, but I didn't see them myself, so maybe yellow labs, but definitely puppies around there. Anyway, she just said it was not what she expected, exactly, but she would get more eggs from him if she needed them.

 

[getaclue]

Quote:
Overwhelming is right. Though I appreciate all the suggestions, unfortunately, I have sectioned the barn as much as I can. I have six pens I started with and divided one of the larger ones up again already so now there are seven, but that last one is smaller than I like. I don't care for pens smaller than 5x8, so hard to deal with clean up. And truly, I just plain don't want to do it. I am not a serious breeder, as you can see by the title of this thread, though I like a good quality Rock and don't want to go back to hatchery types again. The pen that surrounds the barn can't be sectioned because I have no pop doors, only the entry door on one end and the roll-up door on the other. My actual dream was really not to have different groups, but to have most all my birds running together other than the crippled old hens who cannot have a rooster and a small group of breeding BRs. It makes me weary just thinking about trying to do the breeder thing the "right" way, sigh. I may be able to swing something closer to optimal when one entire group of old hens is gone or enough gone that I can consolidate two groups and free up one pen.

I fully understand, and was not trying to tell you how to do things, by any means, but simply offering some suggestions. I agree with you about anything smaller than 5x8. Anything you don't want to do, or are uncomfortable with, just don't do it. As long as what you are doing is working, and you are comfortable with it, then that's what you should go with.

 

[speckledhen]

I fully understand, and was not trying to tell you how to do things, by any means, but simply offering some suggestions. I agree with you about anything smaller than 5x8. Anything you don't want to do, or are uncomfortable with, just don't do it. As long as what you are doing is working, and you are comfortable with it, then that's what you should go with.

I truly appreciate all your suggestions, I hope that comes through since tone is not something easily put forth in internet conversations.

Though I cannot accomplish those things now, in the future, more room may open up for better selective breeding. I'm just hoping that one day I don't have to go back to only a few laying hens because of my husband's or my own health concerns so I'm doing the most I can within my limitations right now, knowing there are things I should be doing better to get optimal results.

 

[Wyatt0224]

Sorry about the tough questions earlier but I have one more for today I think . I apologize if I've already asked this question but I can't recall if I ever did. How long do roosters normally live?

 

[speckledhen]

Sorry about the tough questions earlier but I have one more for today I think

. I apologize if I've already asked this question but I can't recall if I ever did. How long do roosters normally live?

Never apologize for the questions. I love them. You make me think!

Well, all I can attest to is how long my longest lived roosters did live. Isaac, my heritage line Delaware, was 6 years and 7 mos old when he died of a sudden heart attack. He lived through a rough summer with a fungal lung infection that affected his breathing for the rest of his life. And he had severe arthritis and impaired leg circulation because of that, so he got frostbite on his feet one bad winter when he slept on the floor, unable that night to jump to the first rung on the ladder roost. He lost two toe ends but lived to crow another couple of winters. I've never heard of someone with a really old Delaware rooster, but I keep asking. I think he had a good, long life, especially for all he went through with those two health incidents.

My Blue Orpington, Suede, was 14 lbs. He was 5 years 8 mos old when he passed but I knew it was coming for 2 months leading up to it. I think the large roosters do not live as long, much like in the dog world with big breeds generally having shorter life spans.

Currently, my oldest rooster is my porcelain Belgian D'Anver, Aubrey. He is 5 years 5 mos old now. If he's stressed, he will turn dark purple, so not sure how much longer I'll have him around.

 

[Wyatt0224]

Oh that's unique that a rooster changes color when he's stressed, I've never read anything on here about that. Thank you for your input and that it an interesting comparison between dogs and chickens.

 

[1muttsfan]

Probably his color change is due to circulation issues, such as a weakening heart. Chickens can have heart attacks.

 

[1muttsfan]

Miss Mary, quite contrary (remember that nursery rhyme?)

Oh and I forgot