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

[1muttsfan]

Yes, which is a shame, because they could do a lot better if they took the time to have someone knowledgeable evaluate their stock and kept better birds for breeding. Just by carefully selecting sires and dams you can have a big impact within a few generations. Think of what they have done with Holstein dairy cows - years a go a great cow produced 40# milk a day. After the widespread use of Artificial Insemination, a great cow on any farm now produced over 100# of milk a day - simply by being able to select excellent sires, and without the need to keep dangerous bulls on the farm.

 

[speckledhen]

Yes, which is a shame, because they could do a lot better if they took the time to have someone knowledgeable evaluate their stock and kept better birds for breeding. Just by carefully selecting sires and dams you can have a big impact within a few generations. Think of what they have done with Holstein dairy cows - years a go a great cow produced 40# milk a day. After the widespread use of Artificial Insemination, a great cow on any farm now produced over 100# of milk a day - simply by being able to select excellent sires, and without the need to keep dangerous bulls on the farm.

Exactly right. But, they make money hand over fist by producing substandard, cheap bird in bulk quantities with no attention to genetic selection at all. Then, on top of that, most of them still use false advertising to boost their product.


Tessa is giving poor little Athena a really hard time. She stalks her viciously. The others pick at her but don't go out of their way to do so. Tessa is really awful. She tried to get around my husband, who was holding Athena, to attack her. She got herself tossed across the room, I'm afraid. So, when Ida was out with her two, I gave Tessa a taste of the Crusher. She flared up at Ida's chicks and got her butt kicked. Ida chased her across the pen, even gave her a taste of her own stalking. NOBODY messes with Big Ida or her chicks. She's still in full-on broody mama mode. If she goes back in the group, Tessa will be running for her life. Actually, they all will. Ida was head hen in there. I doubt anybody will unseat her.

 

[speckledhen]

Adding photos of Athena as well as Ida's pair who will be 9 wks old Wednesday. Athena is pretty wide across her back. I think the #4 male is bulking up. He seems to be round with a thick neck, though his barring is not as good as any of the other three males I had. The pullet is smaller than Athena at that age, but what are your impressions of this pair and Athena? (I'm going to weigh him to compare with his older brothers at that age)









Ida's pair










And Wynette, post-motherhood. She's looking good, I think!

 

[1muttsfan]

I think #4 has a very nice shape, maybe not the size of some of the others - have you compared age weights recently? His barring is not quiet as clear, but I think it will improve with molting, loosing some of the smuttiness that makes it look less crisp. And I think Athena is lovely.

 

[speckledhen]

I think #4 has a very nice shape, maybe not the size of some of the others - have you compared age weights recently? His barring is not quiet as clear, but I think it will improve with molting, loosing some of the smuttiness that makes it look less crisp. And I think Athena is lovely.

Thanks, Mary, appreciate the input. I agree, he is not the size of #1 (but who is? Yikes, he was huge!) or #2 at that age, but when I weigh him today or tomorrow, I will be able to see how he compares with them at the same age. It's odd that they do seem to "sharpen up" as they go through those juvvie mini-molts-just like Athena! She is wider than she appears in the photo, I'm pleased with her overall shape and her barring is much improved over the way it started out. Her sister has sharper barring than Athena did at that age, but no the width of big sis.

I'm curious. I'm going to take the postal scale out there and see if I can get him to stand long enough to get a weight. I'm selling them as a pair, at least that is the plan still. I do believe they are full brother and sister, but hopefully someone will have others to put with him, too.

 

[speckledhen]

Reminder of the weights of the older chicks at this age:
7 weeks old 9 weeks old

#1 22.5 oz 32.9 oz


#2 19.5 oz 27 oz

#3 18.9 oz 27.6 oz (this was a shocker! He's passed #2 in weight? Wow)

Athena 17.7 oz. 25.25 oz


And this last pair's weight at 7 weeks and now, at 9 weeks old:

#4 20.9 oz 27.25 So, he is smaller than #3 was but slightly larger than my #2 was at this age (gained 6.35 oz)

P#2 15.7 oz. 22.3 still the shrimp, almost 3 oz less than Athena at the same age (gained 6.6 oz)


Did you notice that bull neck on the male? Look like mama's, LOL.

 

[1muttsfan]

A little more petite, but nice shapes and sounds like temperaments are good too

My roosters are constantly alarming lately - I think it is a competition between the two, as in I'm the Better Provider Don't Listen to Him. Pretty soon I'll be done collecting hatching eggs, and will go back down to one roo - and peace and quiet. Until the babies start growing up.

 

[speckledhen]

A little more petite, but nice shapes and sounds like temperaments are good too

My roosters are constantly alarming lately - I think it is a competition between the two, as in I'm the Better Provider Don't Listen to Him. Pretty soon I'll be done collecting hatching eggs, and will go back down to one roo - and peace and quiet. Until the babies start growing up.

I saw someone on my husband's FB feed complaining that some idiot had a rooster in the city, of all places.

(her sentiment, not mine) She was incensed that someone would ever have a rooster there, could not stand the crowing. Someone suggested a BB gun. I was so mad, but it was on his feed, not mine and I didn't comment. Wanted to tell the jerk that was animal abuse and I almost asked the woman what was wrong with her, that I missed my roosters and I'd be happy to hear more crowing around here, LOL. Seriously, lady, if zoning permits, they can have roosters there. Anyone who has listened to a barn full of caterwauling hens would welcome a rooster crowing periodically. Those women can be much louder than their men! And I have a BABY MONITOR in my barn! It's attached to the side of the bantam pen, too. Now, those two squeaky guys are more irritating than Atlas ever dreamed of being! I have only four roosters right now and three are bantams, though Xander's crow is fairly low for a bantam. The D'anvers are super high pitched. I used to have as many as 10 roosters at one time, I think. What I miss is big Suede's long, mournful, howling crow. Maybe with a Brahma rooster, I'll have that again.


The little BR pullet is really sweet. Someone will fall completely in love with her. The male is a tad more "don't touch me!" but he's not bad. I am making a point to pick him up and calm him down, then let him go, just to get him used to being handled. Broody-raised chicks can be standoffish if the mama is, and Ida tends to be less of a big baby than Wynette was. Wynette wanted to be held all the time, silly hen. She still loves to be picked up and petted. Not Ida.

When the guy came to get the cockerels and asked to buy #2, DH went to get him. He was upset, being alone, his brothers having been taken away first, and he was struggling. I took him from DH's hands and held him up to my face and said, "hey, you're okay! you're all right, buddy" in a low voice, and he settled right down and looked me right in the eye, all the fight right out of him. The guy just shook his head. He was a little surprised at how friendly they were, how they responded to me handling them. All my males are pretty much like that, though some take to it less than others. I don't baby them, but they tend to gravitate toward me over my husband. Just call me "rooster magnet". I love them all. Too bad I can't keep them all. I don't expect them to be cuddly, but they HAVE to be easy to handle and non-aggressive. It's just a requirement around here.

 

[1muttsfan]

Since my boys are Arkansas Blues they are not cuddly at all - but they do have nice tempers and hang around near me when I'm out with them. I do think they like to be talked to, just not touched. But I have a speckled Sussex hen for that

 

[speckledhen]

Since my boys are Arkansas Blues they are not cuddly at all - but they do have nice tempers and hang around near me when I'm out with them. I do think they like to be talked to, just not touched. But I have a speckled Sussex hen for that

That's just fine. I just had quite a thing with Atlas. He was after Wynette, who ran right into Ida, so Atlas found Ida out with her chicks for the first time. I was trying to keep him at arms' length from her and if he was aggressive, he would have attacked me. But nah, he's a good boy. I even pulled him off Ida, but later on, I saw Ida voluntarily squat for him so she may be done with her chicks soon.