The Front Porch Swing

[Beekissed]

Sell them to defray feed cost. Unless, of course, you have some people that really need the nutrition. The elderly and those single mothers you know could sure use them if you cannot. The local food pantry might take them as well.

 

[lindz8504]

Sell them to defray feed cost. Unless, of course, you have some people that really need the nutrition. The elderly and those single mothers you know could sure use them if you cannot. The local food pantry might take them as well.

I will definitely be looking into that if I get so many that we can't handle them.

 

[bruceh]

well my picker. humm not my strong point.. so anyhow my eggs this year are coming from my barnevelder crew. they are still young so i got a way to go. i have 17 of them in my house. i woke up this morning to a ererter. .great nothing like a new crower. poor boy sounds like a young boy;s voice changing. im working on my new projects for my lines this year. i found some fun.
the Pennsylvania line will not die. going to take a while but i got time. if i croak you guys can split the breeds im doing. im working with dual purpose birds. the objective is to take them show birds and bring them back to true dual purpose. not an easy adventure. however i got good people on my side who are doing the same thing. the 1800- 1900's is making a comeback with a jump start. i never have been so proud to be part of this new movement.
my biggest fear if we keep going in the same direction the majority show folks take. in 10 or less years. they will be no more of the good birds left. the norm in 10 years would be . what you got a rock or a red that lays.eggs no way i have not seen a laying heritage bird in years.

 

[Beekissed]

What is really sad is that they disdain hatchery stock because the focus has been on laying production and not form, which is just the opposite of the common show breeder from what I can tell. I would think one extreme to the other would be just as bad...why can't folks put these birds down the middle of the road like Bob suggested? Good laying, good fertility and good looks...right down the middle of the two extremes. If function truly does follow form then the egg laying would be there, wouldn't it? The wide and deep bodies, the straight back lines, the tail set...all of these should be pointing at an animal whose sole design is geared towards getting an egg from the ovary to the nest with ease, so why isn't that happening?

 

[Beekissed]

I'm getting excited about this upcoming incubation. I only hope the weather isn't so bad that we lose power before I can get this done. I'm collecting eggs right now and will choose the best of those for this experiment~was pleased to see signs of fertilized eggs when I made breakfast this morning so maybe Fat Cochin is doing his job. Tomorrow I get to work constructing part of my incubator system and on Friday will construct the rest. This is going to be fun! I just pray that it works like I think it will.

It's 16 degrees right now and supposed to have snow showers tonight and tomorrow. I'm not complaining...it's been worse this winter, much worse. We still have power here and that's a plus and the wind has died down a bit so that's good too. The house is nice and cozy and the night is quiet...good night for sleeping. Called all my boys that were on the road coming home from work and all made it safely home. God is good!

Just finished watching Facing the Giants for the umpteenth time and still cried about it, per usual.

 

[bruceh]

the answer to your question is a simple one. points points and more points in the show ring. the more points the more wins. the more wins the more you sell in eggs or chicks. the middle of the road is correct. i mis bob more then ever right now. im starting with a new breed that has more issues. i like a challenge. give me time and the tools. i build you an iron tool. it will take years and tears to get there. im used to it. hatchery for me i just can't do a dressed up leghorn. i myself want that good bird of yesterday. shows shmowes. i do not give 2 craps about them big shows. i do not need a big blue ribbon to show i accomplished a perfect bird. my opinion that winning bird most likely sucks as a dual purpose bird. it has a nice fancy coat and a plastic surgeon on speed dial. however will not give you 3 eggs a week.
personally, i have shared this before. i am almost scared to show.. disease is rampant . i went to the farm show here this year. if i showed a bird there it would stay there. i have never seen hunched over fluffed up sick looking birds like that. them shows are supposed to be checked for illnesses. just what i want my best bird caged next to them. i think i have been through enough. loosing a flock of birds in which you put heart and soul into just to have to kill them to end the suffering. i never admitted this on open forum. i cried like a infant killing my precious reds. it had to be done. so i maned up and did it. bee you are correct i love the reds way to much to quit them. just right now my heart hurts way to much. the line i worked with is gone for me. i can not replace them. no one will give me anything to work with. the master breeder slowed down. understandably his wife is very ill. my mentor great guy but will not really share anymore. he can't he needs them birds since the master is slowing down. i will see wilford in march. i will take it from there.
bee, your a good soul. when you say your cheap . that erks me. you are practical. birds do not require thousands of $. they require dedication. those fancy show breeders get 10% that they keep. 10% ain't that a shame.the rest are culled no wonder the gene pool is messed up.
give me 6 hens 2 cocks that are good stock. i ll build you a bird in 3 years time that you can take it to the bank. i did it with the 4 of 3rd and 4 th cull rejection reds. . 3 years later i had a show able pullet. that i know would place. it is not that tough. if people would just work the birds they have and not look for that picture perfect centerfold bird..everyone is to much in a rush. the old saying goes hast makes waste. so 90% of those birds are wasted..
i want to see your video and i want that incubator of yours to work. i like you. trust me . coming from me that means something..
you owe me a chicken dinner from last year.

i have been around you women way to much. i got up after the cockerel crowed and cleaned the house. did the windows mopped the floors,and dusted. oh wait i almost forgot i cooked the dinner. . yes i got the nooks and crannies in the widow sills .and door jams

now leave me alone im eating chocolate ice cream and watching steel magnolias.with my pet silkie.

 

[Beekissed]

Not Fried Green Tomatoes??? I named my two newer BAs Idgy and Ruth.

Fat Cochin cried so much over those two films that I had to tone it down a little and only show him light, comedic chick flicks like Miss Congeniality and the Runaway Bride.

I'm wondering if a person can do this whole developing a breed without toe punching and leg bands. Say if one were to just keep the best and cull the rest over the years, wouldn't they pretty much end up with a consistently good bird out of their flock? In other words, only keep two roosters so you'll have one for a spare and only keep the best. Keep a set amount of hens and only keep the best. Wouldn't it follow that anything they produce will be the best and anything less than the best would be culled anyway? So if you select the eggs from the best and hatch the best, wouldn't you keep turning out the best with the occasional cull now and again?

That's what I've been doing in my laying flock over the years...just culled until I had the best of all the rest and then just kept those. Of course, I wasn't culling hatchery birds for their form, but just performance, hardiness, feed thrift, foraging on free range, etc. But, if function truly follows form in these heritage lines, then form would naturally keep emerging as one of the traits if you keep culling for function, wouldn't it? Sort of keep it simple and keep weeding out the culls, do a small hatch every year to see what comes out and to replace your flock and keep doing that....it may be the slow way to get there but it would be a steady forward movement.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Bruceh, you lost all your birds to disease. How on earth does that happen?

I read the bio security warnings here at BYC and it is all very scary, but also lots of it seems so silly. Especially when so many "serious" chicken people show. And then someone who appears to know what they're doing loses all their birds to one outbreak ...

I'm on the same page as you and BK regarding showing -- I got all the pretty ribbons I'll need in this life as a kid with my horses. I'm not even that comfortable going to a chicken show as a spectator now. But I would share showable birds with someone else ... if I ever had any.

I'm starting to set eggs with my first "project" birds this year ... Delawares from Kathy's restoration project. I got a trio from a woman in my state who got a couple dozen. They are pretty, solid, dignified birds compared to my hatchery birds and the mutts of those hatchery birds. But this generation was "slow" to mature.

I selected the Delawares because the breed is designed to do everything I want birds to do ... the standard says it matures reasonably fast to produce a steady stream of eggs and plenty of meat and still wants to forage and go broody. White so it plucks nicely.

I picked them out of a book based on performance specs. We shall see if the chicks I hatch this year show any improvements ... and then I'll have some to choose between.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

BK, I've been asking myself that exact question. I was a librarian for long enough to not really want to spend a lot of time cataloging birds.

I was thinking from my first generations here, putting the pullets first to lay in with their father and hatching out as much from them as possible. For the males, breed the ones that start to look/act like cockerels first back to their mothers, hatch those eggs ...

But of course with the Delaware project the goal is to get them looking right, so after the time for the "firsts" passes and the rest of the birds catch up maturity-wise, then do beauty pagent breedings ...???

Only band the good broodies???

Start again with a similar strategy as the second batch matures???

This means moving birds around, and having multiple pens ... another of my pet peeves. But it would maybe move the Delawares towards maturing a bit faster. And I'm thinking the Delawares as heavy as they are might stay put in their designated pastures a bit better than the hatchery birds do. Those light-bodied leghorn influenced birds I got from the hatchery are independent thinkers. Especially the California Whites.

 

[Beekissed]

I too find biosecurity to be silly...but if one is constantly moving birds with weak immune systems(heritage line show birds)in and out of the flock and exposing them to this or that group of birds from all points of the compass, I'm betting it's necessary.

What's not necessary is having birds with weak immune systems because one would rather crutch it up with meds than build from within, adding birds too often from various sources, keeping birds in small pens for extended periods of time, keeping birds in coop and run situations that compromise the soil structure in the runs, not culturing the bird's bowels with good cultures, not keeping good soil culture in their living environment, overstocking, not providing a more natural diet and habitat for fowl life.