The Plymouth Rock Breeders thread

[rancher hicks]

Hi,
I know of Blakeslee but not so familiar with Kellerstrass. I agree with
the other poster on the record keeping. They did a lot of things
back then that we have disposed of in the "modern era". Now we have
"complete ration formulas". Just feed them a formula with some grit
and they will be fine.".
Things we have lost in the process and are just now rediscovering:
1. the science of feeding grit to poultry.
2. The use of charcoal in raising chicks.
3. The importance of sprouted grains ( particularly forage oats) in raising
chicks and supplementing green feed to POL hens and sexually maturing cocks.
4. The importance of proper treats for chicks, fed not to entertain but to
improve development.
5. Systems for determining breeding worth of laying hens.
Best Regards,
Karen

Most of us hobbyist don't keep chickens for a "living" so imho, we don't keep good records nor breed our own line to develop the best in our birds.

I had a friend who ordered 100 RIR and GCs only to get no eggs. Well one egg. He sold all the birds and has moved on to goats. Not sure how he's doing there.

Perhaps I'm wrong but if we expect to get the most from our birds we need to pay more attention to how we're keeping and feeding them. Maybe the reason my Dels are such good layers is they get the first of the morning sun. I may need to add and upper window to this coop. Any thoughts? You can just see the top of the window near the roof of the covered run. While it does have clear plastic the snow of course blocks the light.
It's divided into two coops and the birds in the back never lay as well as the Dels in the front.

 

[LindaB220]

Hi,
I know of Blakeslee but not so familiar with Kellerstrass. I agree with
the other poster on the record keeping. They did a lot of things
back then that we have disposed of in the "modern era". Now we have
"complete ration formulas". Just feed them a formula with some grit
and they will be fine.".
Things we have lost in the process and are just now rediscovering:
1. the science of feeding grit to poultry.
2. The use of charcoal in raising chicks.
3. The importance of sprouted grains ( particularly forage oats) in raising
chicks and supplementing green feed to POL hens and sexually maturing cocks.
4. The importance of proper treats for chicks, fed not to entertain but to
improve development.
5. Systems for determining breeding worth of laying hens.
Best Regards,
Karen

Karen, can you point a way to research charcoal for chicks.

 

[uphilljill]

I've noticed that about half of the chicks have wings set high up on their backs vs others. Does this portend anything? Or is it to early (at 12-weeks) to tell yet?

 

[Fred's Hens]

I've noticed that about half of the chicks have wings set high up on their backs vs others. Does this portend anything? Or is it to early (at 12-weeks) to tell yet?

In most cases, we find the wings "fall" into their proper position with time. At the age you're showing above, it seems as if the wings are so long and so large and their bodies are yet large enough to position them. In 90% of the cases, if you show these same birds at 8 months of age, the wings, especially on the males, will look almost tiny in relation to their overall body size.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Look how much lower the wing carriage is at one year and how much smaller the wing is, in proportion to the rest of the body.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Here's a year old female. Same thing seems to happen. The wings now "match" better the over all size of the bird.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I see the trend to now look at our operations to determine if we're giving all that can be given to our birds for their full potential. I caution this knee jerk change things with some history:

The originator of Orpingtons, William Cook, went on to write extensively on poultry care. Orpingtons being in creation just before 1870 and normal poultry management at that time was to just let them run wild, find the clucthes of eggs and grab one when you wanted a meal. They were put on a homestead and thought to forage for themselves in most cases excepting the emerging gentry class of fanciers. The modern thinking of the time Mr Cook was an avid proponent of; such little things as moving them to recently harvested crop fields, rotating them to orchards and for housing he said the best modern way of thinking was to hollow out a shelter in a hay stack for them and even to feed worms to sickly chicks as the idea was the grit inside not only protein aided their recovery. Now really think on this. These measures are providing better shelter and a rotation of good forage. What we humble chicken folk do today far exceeds the care of poultry in the early 20th century.

There's no need to reinvent or recycle the care of birds as it's evolved quite well with modern feed and our somewhat standard coop designs. Obviously if you had access to grain mills your able to greatly reduce you costs. I'm in an advertised agricultural region (New England) that can't even support a mill so that let's you know how inexpensive modern feed actually is. If you can't support the electric, trucking, labor or taxes on a product everyone in your area would purchase then we truly are not so agricultural without government subsidies. Those in the mid-west and redions of the south can take advantage of mills and should. For the true back yarder's forming a co-op of purchasing power, i.e. a person has a truck and drives to get feed from mill and all divide that monthly haul, would be a step in the right direction of limiting cost to enable some sort of profit. Those near farms may even be able to let flocks loose on harvested fields- farmer gets soil airation, pest reduction and limited high end nitrogen manure and you get to move a coop for free feed for a few weeks.

 

[3riverschick]

Karen, can you point a way to research charcoal for chicks
--
Give me a bit and I will get references for the 5 points.
My glasses got accidently destroyed and I am surfing at
175%, it takes longer. New glasses hoped for by weekend.
Best,
Karen

 

[rancher hicks]

Karen, can you point a way to research charcoal for chicks
--
Give me a bit and I will get references for the 5 points.
My glasses got accidently destroyed and I am surfing at
175%, it takes longer. New glasses hoped for by weekend.
Best,
Karen

I buy them at the dollar store and keep a pair everywhere in case I lose mine. Perhaps you could buy a pair just in case you end up in this situation again.

 

[LindaB220]

I buy them at the dollar store and keep a pair everywhere in case I lose mine. Perhaps you could buy a pair just in case you end up in this situation again.

Good idea. I have two pair and ones for reading and watching TV. The other is for the computer. Yesterday I knocked the computer ones off the table and I couldn't find them. Looked everywhere and finally found in a tiny box sitting by the chair. Relief because I use the computer a LOT more.