The Frugal Small Flock SOP Breeder

[chickee]

I have a small flock of wheaten/blue wheaten Ameraucanas I have been working on for almost 4 years now. Just getting to where I want to be with type and some show quality birds. We are in the process of building a new chicken house for them so I can separate them into two flocks so I can add a new line that has some common bloodlines in it. It is so much fun to figure out which lines mesh well with each other and breed back into the best line and get some great results.

I would like to add that I started with 2 lines from some great breeders who have done a lot for this breed . . . Pips&Peeps and Paul Smith.

 

[LindaB220]

Hi Huntress,
Will get some pics and post them tomorrow. Well, the strain-cross hen doesn't have a cushion so I was breeding her into the Boese strain to eliminate it. I was surprised when I inbred the Boese strain dam to son that it looks like 1 of 4 or 2 of 5 are showing up without the cushion. Which seems to show that the characteristic was not firmly set in the flock. Looks like I will be able to breed away from it either strain-crossing or inbreeding.
Best,
Karen

Hi Karen, so excited to find this thread. It looks right down my alley. I have a breeding program planned for the spring. I recently was able to get one Blosl pullet White Plymouth Rock and 3 XW pullets and a cockerel. Almost 6 mo old and they should start laying within the next 4-6 wks. Lovely birds, regal and LARGE. I find it interesting about you being able to breed out the cushion in the inbred side. I like it. One of the XW pullets is not in the game, too small and immature. I'll use her for the layer pen.

 

[LindaB220]

I wanted to report that I received a call yesterday from the MO Dept. of Ag. They will be coming 2 weeks from today to test my flock for NPIP. I'm looking forward to it, now that my adult flock is so small. Not nearly as daunting as it could have been. They should only have to test 13 birds, even though I have about 75.

Neat, that's what I plan on doing shortly. I only have the 8 birds and 2 babies with more babies coming. Do it now!!!!

 

[Fentress]

good idea for a thread. My situattion is made more complicated by the fact that I insist on free ranging. Everything I have (fence and facilities) is mobile and gets moved about every 6 weeks. Managing the males is tough. I don't like the idea of keeping chickens in a pen. I could keep a male in a chicken tractor on grass, but I don't like that either, because he is still in isolation and cooped up. I will attempt a breeeding program with just 2 males, which I know is not enough.

 

[Chestnut]

Fentress,
I think you could accomplish controlled breeding while following your convictions. It would require more equipment. The thing is you would only have to isolate the pairs/trios for the time period you are actually going to be gathering eggs to hatch (plus a period beforehand to be certain of purity). You could have a temporary small coup for the pairs surrounded by fencing. I just built a "hutch" to keep roosters separate. The hens will stay in the egg layers coop until spring then I'll pen them with the roosters as pairs. I do selective free ranged when I can supervise due to high predator populations here. I plan on selecting towards SOP but have no intention to enter shows.

BTW, grew up in your area fishing in Fentress/Blackwater.

 

[Fentress]

I live in Fentress! Fortunately, jet noise does not seem to bother the birds.Lol. I agree with you, I can solve the problems with additional chicken tractors, but reintroducing males that have been separated is an issue. Even having a separate grow out pasture for cockerels will be tricky when The one(s) selected are brought back to the flock. I'll have to experiment and find something that works for me. thanks

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I don't like having lots of little cages everywhere, either. And I'm not a huge fan of moving hens around if you're wanting them to keep popping out eggs. I'm working with one line of one breed so I can wait a year before I have to start partitioning things up.

My current issue is segregating the cockerels ... luckily my chosen breed doesn't seem to be super eager to escape. I think my cockerels will stay in a run.

 

[Fentress]

I see some real advantages to separating the K's, being able to keep them longer before making selection decisions, better evaluation as a group in a smaller space, better weight gain prior to processing etc. But it is more facilities and for me that means a second setup with fencing that can be moved and if K's are within earshot and in view of p's I'm not sure if they would honor the 42 inch electronet fence. The standard bred BR that I got this year are friendlier than the hatchery stock, which could influence the type of coops I use and how I manage them. With my older birds the only way I can get my hands on them is to take them off the roost at night. Gonna get to know my birds and make some decisions in the spring.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

We have our formerly-free-range flighty cockerels in this pen this year. They went in there when they started trying to mate. It's modular and went up super fast and can be disassembled into flat, reusable panels. If the birds in there start to fight, we can break it into individual cages.

 

[TwistedFeathers]

I'm in my first season with my tiny flock at the mo, have 5 breeding hens and one roo. Got 3 broods of chicks currently, and 18 eggs in the incubator due this coming friday. I am on the lookout for more quality birds, but as i live in New Zealand, the selection and numbers are really low. Have had great feedback on the birds i have so far, and can't wait to see how my babies from this season grow out, so i can figure out if i am on the right track with my guys. Thankfully, i really lucked out with my rooster, he only has one fault, and is pretty outstanding otherwise The hardest part at the mo is finding hens that are good enough to match him.
I did worry at first about having such a spall flock, and not having much space, that i wouldn't get the good results some people do from breeding hundreds of chicks every year, but i think it might almost work the other way around. As i am limited on space, i will only be able to keep the VERY BEST birds, and so will be forced to be very fussy with who is good and who is not.
Have one little pullet in the grow out pen that has made it to my keep list already. Hopefully she matures up well