The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

[cmom]

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By the way onarres how are your chicks doing? I thought I had some due to hatch today but just candled and they're not ready. I must have marked the wrong day on the calendar. I have done that before a couple of times over the years.

 

[ShrekDawg]

If you are able, visit the breeder and look at their stock. I keep my birds in family groups and all of the birds are banded so I know who belongs to what family. They are all distant cousins but I'm not in-breeding. Check out the shows and see who is placing well. If they are, most likely they are pretty serious breeders. I also believe there are a lot of people who buy birds from lines and really don't pay attention to their breeding. Just my 2¢.

Breeders that sell eggs and chicks will hatch out as many as they can then cull and select the next breeding pairs or trios that will  improve the line if they happen to hatch out ones that have those qualities. The hobby can get expensive with feed and housing. Selling eggs and chicks can offset the cost some.

At that point you could call it propagation, but honestly I don't see anything wrong with that. Any breeding, even selective is just one big DNA lottery. Like tickets, the more you buy the better your  chances, the more you hatch the better your chances. Selective breeding just improves your chances with no guarantees. 

As far as breeders that market such and such lines, take that as advertisment, and like advertisement buyer beware. Word of mouth from RIR community would be a safer bet.

Thank you both! That all makes sense and are good points

So how are they able to tell and choose chicks so young? Or do they have a penn of "lesser" birds to breed and sell to offset costs of the better birds? Or is it all just luck?

Seems like a lot of hardwork

 

[Ur-ur-ur-urrr]

Thank you both! That all makes sense and are good points

So how are they able to tell and choose chicks so young? Or do they have a penn of "lesser" birds to breed and sell to offset costs of the better birds? Or is it all just luck?

Seems like a lot of hardwork

Breeders will put as many chicks on the ground as they think they'll need to get a good selection for the next generation of breeders... and hopefully see improvement in traits that need improving on. Most birds have to be grown out to tell what one has. Ugly chicks may become champion birds, and champion-looking chicks may turn out to be hideous. Growing out chicks is one of, if not the most expensive aspects of the trade. If you're lucky, you might recover some of your feed bill by selling culls. Some people raise more chicks than they need and sell them to curb expenses. Finding excess chicks from a reputable breeder, or eggs for that matter, increases your chances of getting quality birds that haven't been picked over. Just my 2c...

 

[ShrekDawg]

Breeders will put as many chicks on the ground as they think they'll need to get a good selection for the next generation of breeders... and hopefully see improvement in traits that need improving on. Most birds have to be grown out to tell what one has. Ugly chicks may become champion birds, and champion-looking chicks may turn out to be hideous. Growing out chicks is one of, if not the most expensive aspects of the trade. If you're lucky, you might recover some of your feed bill by selling culls. Some people raise more chicks than they need and sell them to curb expenses. Finding excess chicks from a reputable breeder, or eggs for that matter, increases your chances of getting quality birds that haven't been picked over. Just my 2c...

That makes sense. So they just make excess chicks mostly? I guess different people do different stuff

Thanks!

 

[cmom]

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I grow all of my chicks out and then choose who to put into my breeding pens.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I grow all of my chicks out and then choose who to put into my breeding pens.

That makes sense. Now more wondering the people that do sell them how they are able to choose so young. What do you do after you choose yours?

 

[cmom]

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I sell a lot of them. I do sell very nice birds as well as my culls (not for breeding). People who seem to be more interested in preserving the breed (line), I sell the better birds the ones looking for yard candy or lawn ornaments and just want eggs don't really care as long as they are pretty.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I sell a lot of them. I do sell very nice birds as well as my culls (not for breeding). People who seem to be more interested in preserving the breed (line), I sell the better birds the ones looking for yard candy or lawn ornaments and just want eggs don't really care as long as they are pretty.

That makes sense and sounds like a good plan! So you just sell the older ones then? And yeah, and honestly the people just wanting wggs or yard candy or whatever probably don't even know what the faults are and wouldn't be able to tell anyway!

 

[Fred's Hens]

Yes, at the fall and early winter shows, the sales area is filled, over flowing with excellent poultry brought to be sold by the breeders/show folk. It is THE time to find your next spring's breeding stock.

Again, 90% of the new folks ask about stock when? In spring. Wrong time of year completely. You can get wonderful birds in fall. Then in spring, make yourself 70-80 chicks and pick through them for some really nice birds to center your own program on.

 

[Fred's Hens]

I grow all of my chicks out and then choose who to put into my breeding pens.

That