Toad Raising.

[Molpet]

I have lost 4 this spring due to water belly and heart blowout. Of course 3 of the biggest hens, 8-9lbs... and the boy I used for breeding last year, his 2 brothers look rough too

 

[duluthralphie]

I have lost 4 this spring due to water belly and heart blowout. Of course 3 of the biggest hens, 8-9lbs... and the boy I used for breeding last year, his 2 brothers look rough too

I have never lost a toad to these things.

 

[Molpet]

I have never lost a toad to these things.

apparently the original cx hen I used was inferior stock.... the white offspring are the ones with these issues. I had over a dz white hens, maybe close to 16.. need to count I guess.. I saved all the pullets, split them in 3 coops ... so I wouldn't lose them all if something broke into a coop... and lost track
I also have 6 barred hens from the same breeding. They seem healthier but cockerels are 1/2 lb or so lighter, not sure on the hens, but maybe a lb lighter than the white hens.. I may switch over to those if the white ones keep kealing over.

 

[philipdj]

Toad update..

The crappiest hatching season in my life continues. I have two toad eggs in the hatcher. Neither appears to be going to hatch.

I have yet to hatch a toad this year. I might have hit a dead end. I do not think the others with toads around me are doing much better.

Also I noticed a disturbing trend last night. I have this guy he is a inside the barn free ranger. He was too mean to the younger roosters so he went inside with three girls for the winter. Then I have the younger guys outside. He is 50% larger than the yearlings. This worries me that I might be losing size in future generations. My goal was a large sustainable bird.

They are still large but not the super large a Bert should be. If the buckeyes take size from the toads also I could be back to just a normal dual purpose breed. I do not want that!.......

His pictures:

View attachment 1358395 View attachment 1358396

As you can see he is taller than a 6 gallon bucket and he is larger around than a 6 gallon bucket. He would not fit in it.

I think the younger ones would fit with ease..Disappointing.

wooww he is still big, but with better shape than his parents looks like, it just like white rocks with double size. how about the hens looks like..?

 

[Chickenheadmate]

The Toad is a 4 step process,

The first Generation is Cx crossed to CX,, That is known as a frog

Next Generation is a Frog to a Dixie Rainbow, This becomes a lizard
Then the lizard is crossed back to the CX.

That gives you a toad, it is 7/8th CX and 1/8 Dixie rainbow. That little Rainbow gives a bigger bird that does not eat itself to death.
They are huge with more dark meat to white meat ratio. They are not lazy slobs.

The hard part was keeping CX's alive long enough to breed them. The Toads are not problem. They seem to live longer than the CX's.

Which is the hen and which is the roo in each of the steps? Well besides the frog of couse since they are both Cx.

Trying to see how you pick because I've been wanting to experiment but not sure if my red broiler should be the roo, which I have, or hen which I still need to get. Which would be the, first step, but then would you suggest i cross the offspring between them or cross it back to one of the parent breeds?

 

[Molpet]

Which is the hen and which is the roo in each of the steps? Well besides the frog of couse since they are both Cx.

Trying to see how you pick because I've been wanting to experiment but not sure if my red broiler should be the roo, which I have, or hen which I still need to get. Which would be the, first step, but then would you suggest i cross the offspring between them or cross it back to one of the parent breeds?

The roo is listed first usually

 

[Northern.Ontario]

Toad update..

The crappiest hatching season in my life continues. I have two toad eggs in the hatcher. Neither appears to be going to hatch.

I have yet to hatch a toad this year. I might have hit a dead end. I do not think the others with toads around me are doing much better.

Also I noticed a disturbing trend last night. I have this guy he is a inside the barn free ranger. He was too mean to the younger roosters so he went inside with three girls for the winter. Then I have the younger guys outside. He is 50% larger than the yearlings. This worries me that I might be losing size in future generations. My goal was a large sustainable bird.

They are still large but not the super large a Bert should be. If the buckeyes take size from the toads also I could be back to just a normal dual purpose breed. I do not want that!.......

His pictures:

View attachment 1358395 View attachment 1358396

As you can see he is taller than a 6 gallon bucket and he is larger around than a 6 gallon bucket. He would not fit in it.

I think the younger ones would fit with ease..Disappointing.

How much does he weigh?

 

[duluthralphie]

Around 25 pounds

 

[Chickenheadmate]

The Toad is a 4 step process,

The first Generation is Cx crossed to CX,, That is known as a frog

Next Generation is a Frog to a Dixie Rainbow, This becomes a lizard
Then the lizard is crossed back to the CX.

That gives you a toad, it is 7/8th CX and 1/8 Dixie rainbow. That little Rainbow gives a bigger bird that does not eat itself to death.
They are huge with more dark meat to white meat ratio. They are not lazy slobs.

The hard part was keeping CX's alive long enough to breed them. The Toads are not problem. They seem to live longer than the CX's.

Pardon my ignorance, but which is the hen and which is the rooster after the first step?

 

[duluthralphie]

I do not recall for sure.

I think the next round was a rainbow hen, my f2 rooster. After that it was either or both, I saw no difference in the chicks.

The toads 2.0 are toad hens with buckeye roosters. I just put a mess of toad eggs in the incubator, I am hoping for toad legs the first week of October filling my freezer.