The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

[cmom]

So I have been giving the RIR pen some thought, and was wondering, if I am able to get a trio, how do people really manage the breeding?

If you have a cock over 2 hens, do you leave them in there full time? Or do you give the hens a break?

How do you know the dam of the offspring if there are 2 hens? Do some of you guys breed the hens individually?

Sorry for all the questions, lol, just been excited thinking about this all day....

I have a lot of birds. I pick out around a half dozen very nice females to put with a male by considering the traits of all. I have 4 families now so I can rotate the males with females. I hatch with my preferred females and males and those eggs will go into my incubator. I do not know necessarily which female is the mother but all of the females I put with the males will hopefully make nice chicks. So far it's working. I think I have many really nice youngsters.There are no guarantees that they will be show quality but the chances are pretty good you will get some. I started my current flock with a quad I bought from Matt. (3 pullets and a 2 year old cock. The following year I bought another cockerel from Matt and pretty much every year have been getting a new cockerel. One of my poorest males made the nicest chicks.

This is Wallace. He is not my first choice but does make very fine chicks with nice females.

 

[Ur-ur-ur-urrr]

When I let my reds out this morning, I saw something I've been waiting for. It's happening... my males are starting to fill out once again. Still have a ways to go, but they're definitely getting there.

C.J.




S.J.




These are the two males I've always thought would make the top of the list, and they are filling out faster than the other 3, but even the lesser birds are showing a little improvement. Kind of happy about that...

Edit: I think the 5th pic isn't C.J., but is one of the other males...

 

[Fred's Hens]

Single mating breeding. Having females in separate small pens and moving the male every two days, rotating him in the pens and also have rest days.

Trio mating breeding. Penning up a male with two females. and/or Rotating a single male between two pens, each containing two females.

Small group mating breeding. Penning a cockbird with 3 or more females.


Only single mating with allow for strict line breeding whereby you can take the offspring back, K back over his dam, or P back under her sire.


With trio mating or small pen matings, the dam is always unknown and pedigree is considered only as through the sires.

My assignment to all who now have a zillion questions is to read all about this on Bob Blosl's blogsite. Some of this looooooong drawn out explanations are simply not suited for a forum setting. So happy reading.

And yes, there will be a quiz on Monday.

 

[Ur-ur-ur-urrr]

Single mating breeding. Having females in separate small pens and moving the male every two days, rotating him in the pens and also have rest days.

Trio mating breeding. Penning up a male with two females. and/or Rotating a single male between two pens, each containing two females.

Small group mating breeding. Penning a cockbird with 3 or more females.


Only single mating with allow for strict line breeding whereby you can take the offspring back, K back over his dam, or P back under her sire.


With trio mating or small pen matings, the dam is always unknown and pedigree is considered only as through the sires.

My assignment to all who now have a zillion questions is to read all about this on Bob Blosl's blogsite. Some of this looooooong drawn out explanations are simply not suited for a forum setting. So happy reading.

And yes, there will be a quiz on Monday.

 

[daxigait]

Geesh, and my students said I gave a lot of homework Could we do it one or two at a time?

 

[Ur-ur-ur-urrr]

Geesh, and my students said I gave a lot of homework

Could we do it one or two at a time?

My sentiments exactly! You CAN teach old dogs new tricks... it just takes longer!!!

 

[Fred's Hens]

You all understand humor, right?

 

[Fred's Hens]

OK, I"m going to describe how a beginner might start mating. This implies a beginner with limited number of birds and/or very limited space, infrastructure and equipment. So, here goes. You might be surprised, but everyone starts just about like this. Gotta start somewhere, right?

So, you have a trio. If you arrange for pedigree mating of both females, you will benefit greatly from doing so especially if one of the two females dominates the fall's selection process. If female B's offspring are considerably better when the dust settles by the following September, you'll be so pleased you didn't just trio breed.

To pedigree breed means more than just having separate female pens and cockbird rotation, it also means one must "log in" each egg, each day, with a penciled code on the eggs. The simple code A and the day of the month. A-10 means A pen, Feb 10. The male isn't coded as you're only using the one. The easiest way to continue with separate hatches is to have two incubators, one of which will become the hatcher. Once you have collected eggs for 7 days, go ahead and set those eggs from the A pen. On day 14, go ahead and set the eggs from Pen B. This staggered setting will result in staggered Day 18 moves to the hatcher and will result in staggered hatch days. Set on Saturday night, hatch on Sunday. (21 days, right?) Questions anyone?

This way, the chicks (approximately 8-10 chicks will be hatched every Sunday, but Pen A and Pen B chicks will alternate hatch Sundays. Punch on day 2 or 3 and the chicks will always be identified and you will always know the sire and the dam. Again, come the following autumn, you will be very glad you did this.

In my next post, I'll describe doing the most simple mating method of all. The small group mating.

 

[Ur-ur-ur-urrr]

You all understand humor, right?

I love humor, and I hope you can see the humor in my puzzled response...

OK, I"m going to describe how a beginner might start mating. This implies a beginner with limited number of birds and/or very limited space, infrastructure and equipment. So, here goes. You might be surprised, but everyone starts just about like this. Gotta start somewhere, right?

So, you have a trio. If you arrange for pedigree mating of both females, you will benefit greatly from doing so especially if one of the two females dominates the fall's selection process. If female B's offspring are considerably better when the dust settles by the following September, you'll be so pleased you didn't just trio breed.

To pedigree breed means more than just having separate female pens and cockbird rotation, it also means one must "log in" each egg, each day, with a penciled code on the eggs. The simple code A and the day of the month. A-10 means A pen, Feb 10. The male isn't coded as you're only using the one. The easiest way to continue with separate hatches is to have two incubators, one of which will become the hatcher. Once you have collected eggs for 7 days, go ahead and set those eggs from the A pen. On day 14, go ahead and set the eggs from Pen B. This staggered setting will result in staggered Day 18 moves to the hatcher and will result in staggered hatch days. Set on Saturday night, hatch on Sunday. (21 days, right?) Questions anyone?

This way, the chicks (approximately 8-10 chicks will be hatched every Sunday, but Pen A and Pen B chicks will alternate hatch Sundays. Punch on day 2 or 3 and the chicks will always be identified and you will always know the sire and the dam. Again, come the following autumn, you will be very glad you did this.

In my next post, I'll describe doing the most simple mating method of all. The small group mating.

Uhm... I must have missed something in this method, so I have a question.

Suppose I collect eggs from Pen A for seven days, set those eggs at the end of seven days, incubate for 18 days and move them to a hatching incubator, how will 8-10 chicks hatch in 21 days? This isn't considering that the pullet/hen may not lay an egg every day, either. Best case scenario, each female lays 7 eggs in 7 days, and these eggs are set every seven days with alternate weeks for Pens A and B. Even with 100% hatch rates, I'm only able to come up with 7 chicks each week under these ideal conditions. I can be easily confused at times, and this is obviously one of them. Which part am I missing to come up with the extra 1-3 chicks?

 

[Fred's Hens]

I merely offer this as a possible method. It's what I do. If it gives you other ideas? Great. If you devise a better plan? Great. A pedigree breeding program must not ONLY have separate pens and marked eggs, it also needs a plan in place and equipment in place to keep the chicks hatched separately and punched before confusion sets in.

What does NOT work is is mixing eggs and mixing up chicks. May just as well have pen bred or flock bred. Hope that makes sense. If you wish to identify each and every chick? As per pedigree? You must devise a system. That is my over riding point here.

The incubator / hatcher combination allows for an assembly line. A continuous filling and a continuous, day 18 moving to a dedicated hatcher. Every seven days, eggs keep coming into the incubator, eggs keep getting moved to the hatcher and chicks keep hatching in the hatcher. This system allows time for the hatcher to be sterilized in plenty of time for the next group of eggs. The incubator just keeps on humming. The turner is in the incubator only. The hatcher doesn't need a turner. Again, this is my system, it works for me. There are LOTS of different methodologies used. Find your way that works for you!!!!! I actually use 3 boxes as incubators/hatchers, but the principles are the same. This isn't an incubation discussion as much as a pedigree breeding and a How To on pedigree breed/hatch/punch chicks.

The system also allows for the eggs to be hatched separately I KNOW which eggs they are and what the chicks are. No mistakes. The system also means I'm would only keeping eggs for a maximum of 14 days before setting them. With two incubators, I personally only have to hold eggs 7 days before setting.

This is the way you can set EVERY egg laid by the two pens over a months time. It's the way to go if you wish to keep your hatches identified as to which pen they come from. Easy peasy.

If you are planning to pedigree breed, then this merely serves to engage your thoughts on how you are going to accomplish your goals.