The Trap Nesting Thread

[ki4got]

Quote:
what sort of body type does the standard call for/?

personally i like the one on the right better, the barring looks cleaner and i would personally select for the larger bird since i want dual purpose birds in the first place...

 

[MANOZ]

hmmm great minds think alike.......lol thats exactly what i was thinking as well,i like the wider body and larger eggs.

thanx for the speedy response

 

[galanie]

I was about to say exactly the same thing but he said it better. Interesting how the more regular layers do seem narrow. My best layer so far as frequency is my smallest bird. But again, she lays the smaller egg. My bigger ones lay larger eggs a little less frequently, but they have more meat. I suppose no matter the breed, a dual purpose bird has it's tradeoffs.

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
I'm hoping to have both... i'll breed first for size/conformation, then for egg quality/quantity. but at the same time i don't want to select away from broodiness... that's important to me too, as i'd rather have them hatching their own chicks when possible. in that case i will sacrifice egg production.

 

[MANOZ]

i just cooked 15 eggs in my incubator this morning,woke up and temp was 120.guess i need that broodiness trait also. sighs

 

[galanie]

Quote:

You really did cook them! Hopefully you have the problem fixed.

 

[MANOZ]

ahhhhh just in from the feed store.......wafer thermostat just set me back $25. ohhhhh what i wouldnt do for the chicks........

 

[MANOZ]

tips on trapnesting that i have found beneficial,

making the transition from a regular nest box to a trap nest box has been very easy due to the milk crates.imo, my original idea was to stack the crates like a tower. i've seen one like that in a display flypen at the local feed store.then i stumbled on that old book in cyber world and it changed all my plans :] anyways,the hens were familiar with the crates already and by having them inside the trap nest boxes made the switch over very smooth. all i did was lock them out of the chicken tractors then set up the boxes on the ground in front of the tractors. like in the photos at the begining of the thread. i ran this setup for a week,it took like three days of me trying to get through to them.first i threw cracked corn inside the boxes the first 2 days.this was their introduction to the boxes.i trapped them with food for 2 days just getting them to move the doors. i'd leave them in there for a few minutes then do it again to whoever sets the doors off. after a couple of days i put an egg in each box,then i threw cracked corn in front of the boxes. i maintained this setup for about a week,an egg in each box and feed in front of the boxes.then they gradually started going into the boxes to lay. i'm just about finish building an open air style poultry house,once i had my roof on i moved the boxes inside. i still feed in front of the boxes but in a trough now. the hens took that move smoothly as well. they sleep in the chicken tractors maybe 10 feet away from the chicken house but now all activities take place in the open air house. i still have one wall to put up so i'm not worried about moving them in yet.i have 12 laying [recently lost 5= possum and coon attacks] and 3 thats about to start laying. thinking about keeping 8 may be less to make room. there is a bit of training but its very easy. some birds want certain boxes they do have favorites. one day box #2 was taken and this other hen wanted that box.she gripped and gripped,she would jump down then back up to that box. i watched her quietly......she got bolder then started poking her head inside the diamond hole.she even tried to push her self through. while she was trying to be rude i snuck up on her while her head was in the hole and grabbed her. the sneak attack make them submit instantly. i gently rubbed behind her head and calm her down then walk her to an empty box. i let her walk i just kinda hold her wings so she dont jump down. then i turn around and walk away and leave her there by her self. she'd walk back to box#2,i'd walk back toward her,she'd turn around going back to the empty box looking over her shoulder at me. she put her head back into box#2's hole i grabbed her again,this time i just went and put her in an empty box and closed the door. she sounded like she was ready to lay and she was. once inside the box all was well.the next day she went straight to the box i had put her in the day before,no fuss. since then she uses other boxes.

one day i found an australorp cross having issues.she wanted box#2 and she was gonna wait. she jumped up and down a few times, my boxes sit on a platform 16 inches off the ground.what they like to do is jump down then turn right around and jump back up all the while gripping. she decided to sit right in front of box#2 so i caught her [old school hook thingy] put her in an empty box and left her there until she layed. i know before the trapnests they all layed together and they must have had problems inside the chicken tractor over the nestboxes. i'm working on this.the pecking order will not dictate who can have access to the nest anymore.

 

[MANOZ]

in " high egg production by individual hens, pens, and flocks" grant curtis writes: that a," mr locke brought a trap nest over. he had gone down town and got an orange box and by cutting a hole through the middle partition of the box, all he had to do was to make a gate and work the trap." he says"we set it on the floor of the kitchen, got one of our leghorns and we poked her in there and pulled her out again till she couldnt stand on a leg. after we had tired her out, we got another one and practiced on her awhile." curtis says" then i got an orange box so i too, could have a trap nest.

i think the training part of their routine back then was a bit extreme. i'd never poke a bird in and out a box until they couldnt stand. feed and eggs proved to work just as well for me. i never stressed them to lay in the boxes. they chose to lay in them on their own,so to speak

those guys were motivated to make those hens get in those boxes...

http://books.google.com/books?id=GS...d=0CCkQ6AEwADgo#v=onepage&q=trap nest&f=false book here

 

[MANOZ]

outstanding hens and roosters were developed from this simple method. barred rock was one of the breeds but it wasnt the only breed. several different breeds were used from orpington to wyandottes.i think this validates the trapnest as an important tool for the improvement of poultry. they took different breeds and applied the trapnests to them and improved their egg laying ability. the things we hear today, like; the slimmer bird lays better than the big bulky bird! this was aknowledged first by trap nesters a century ago.

i couldnt speak about my birds before like i speak about them now. one tends to become more attentive to there needs, their personalities, plus you become more positive about this whole poultry issue. its a bit of effort but the reward is worth it.