Things I don't feed my chickens😊

[Farmgirl283420]

My Daffy would eat lettuce but now that she passed I don’t think the others do.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

very interesting @U_Stormcrow . I imagine the cross in the Cornish x can make quite a difference. The Cornish now usually used here commercially are harvested at 4 to 6 weeks (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broiler ) and it is hard to find information on never mind photos of the breeder stock. My understanding is they are very closely guarded strains.

Yes. Cx here are similar. When I started the project, there were a lot of things I didn't know that I didn't know.

The CX grandparent stock are still tightly controlled, and Cobb/Vantive (who sells them to commercial operations) has different guides specific to the "breeder" stock from the "production" stock in terms of feed, quantity, performance expectations, selection for future generations, etc.

I will say that since I was "some Roo" over Cx, I didn't actually answer the question of Cx over Cx for sustainability - but if I can offer a statistically useless anecdote, I had three Cx males make it to sexual maturity, some on property over a year, without competition from other males. Not a single one of them ever produced a viable offspring.

MANY factors in that (lack of broody hens, I wasn't actively incubating non stop, etc), but in the main, they were too slow, too ungainly, too fat, and too lazy to mechanically do the deed successfully with my many hens - it was rare that I cracked a fertilized egg in the kitchen.

 

[MamaPoult]

Try toasting the bread, mine love it so much more.

oh man I bet! Mine are so spoiled, they get any of our leftovers so they've gotten grilled steak, chicken, burgers and so much more

 

[RadEggs]

I think it would depend on what information you are trying to find.

If you want to know what foods will kill a chicken, and what foods will cause major harm to a chicken, and what foods appear safe for a chicken, I think the broiler studies should be just fine. They will be much more useful than studies about what foods are safe for cows or pigs or dogs or mice or even people. That seems like the point that would matter for this thread.

If you want the "best" chicken feed for a flock, then broiler studies will still be more useful than cattle or pig studies, but will give one specific kind of "best" feed (fast growth, while avoiding health problems bad enough to matter by butchering day, all as cheaply as possible.) The actual "best" food for a flock of backyard pet hens may be much more expensive, not cause such fast growth, and avoid more health problems for a much longer time, but will not be found in broiler studies.

I'm not realy talking about food as much as general health and illness.

 

[BDutch]

Personally I would love to have a breed that layer 150 eggs a year for 5+ years. Then the occasional egg after that while retiring in dignity teaching the new generation all the tricks.

I have small bantams. Dutch look a likes but too heavy for show quality.

These chickens are an old breed and lay reasonably well. Maybe 150 small eggs a year for 5 years. They don’t lay in winter. The period they don’t lay is longer every year. My 10 year old still lays an occasional egg in spring. Two 9 yo lay rather well during spring and summer. Other bantams /bantam mixes I have/had lay about the same.

They are excellent mothers and I have multigenerational flock where the mothers teach the little ones how to find food and how to behave.

I doubt they would flourish in a cold climate, but in my country (origin) they are doing great.

There are many more older breeds like my Dutch that lay in between 120 and 180 eggs a year with decreasing amounts after the first few years. The resellers in my country often give a character description (friendliness, broody type or not, flighty) with the number of eggs you can expect for each breed.

I don’t know what kind of older breeds you can buy where you live. But a research on BYC (reviews), other places on the internet and books are a great source to find more information.

 

[Sally PB]

I'm curious about your scale in this picture.

Weight Milk Water

What are those designations for?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I'm curious about your scale in this picture.

Weight Milk Water

What are those designations for?

The scale broke. Quickly. But it would give volumes of milk and water based on weight.

 

[Sally PB]

But it would give volumes of milk and water based on weight.

Interesting, though I wouldn't have a use for it.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

The scientific name of a chicken is Gallus gallus domesticus, while the scientific name of red junglefowl－their wild ancestors－is Gallus gallus. So you said two different species there.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

To some of us old farts who follow older definitions, if they can reproduce and create fertile offspring they are the same species.

Older definitions are not always correct definitions. If you followed what you said, then you would be saying that a chicken and a peafowl are the same thing just because they can create offspring?

What? What are laughing emojis supposed to tell me?