Too Early for Feb Hatch-A-Long Thread??

[LilyD]

we are in an interesting part of the country. we are Forever from anywhere that has folks actually breeding to SOP for anything. Most people in our surrounding area are content with hatchery birds that are pretty and lay eggs and most importantly Never have to face the inconvenience of getting a "oops" rooster. oh and they have to be CHEAP! lol most of what I hatch for me this year I will go through and pick my keepers and "gasp" butcher the rest because folks that want "ready to lay" chickens only want to pay hatchery chick prices for them. ( ok I sound mean but in reality most years folks talk me out of most of my mixed pullets so I don't even get to see what they will lay, sigh)

You're not sounding mean at all and even up here where we have a farm on every corner. We don't have many people that would be okay with paying large amounts for chicks. The only saving grace I have is that the chicks I produce are Orpingtons which is one of the breeds that the hatcheries way overcharge for in chicks (blues are between 18-30$ Lavenders are between 15-25$ Jubilees are between 25 and 35$) so as long as I breed pure Orpingtons I can charge $5 per chick for birds I hatch from my eggs straight run and still be less than what they are charging in the hatcheries for them. Plus by having a mottled rooster over the solid hens and later adding their babies back in to the mix. I will get mottled babies in mauve, blue and brown which increases the amount I can charge.

Ideally I am hoping within the next few years that my culls I don't want to keep will be sold at the swaps as sexed pullets when they are older. For 10-20 a bird and still be inside the market of what people are willing to pay. Not sure I'm going to be able to let any go before at least 8 weeks unless they have a physical or confirmation flaw that makes me want to cull them from my breeding program. I won't be able to tell more than that before they are older and grown out a bit.

 

[Willowspirit]

We have a pip! This is pretty much the earliest day we could expect one. Have everything crossed for healthy chicks!

Now we have a hatched peeping d’Uccle chick! So unbelievably cute! 5 or 6 more to go!

 

[LilyD]

No action on the camera yet but it's day 19 at 9:30 pm tonight. So still have a few days to go.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

The biggest issue I see is taking things to extremes in any breed even if you're mixing breeds for hybrid vigor. If you go too far to the big breast meat type birds then the bird doesn't have enough energy/ability to lay eggs so you lose the production portion. You have to find the balancing point and look for the best layers in your birds that still show the characteristics you are looking for in breast and leg and thigh meat (Quick growth, muscle mass, health and vigor) as well as feather and body structure. You can only go so far towards making a dual purpose into a meat bird or you lose all the other things that make it desirable and dual purpose.

I get what you're saying. We grow out and process our own birds at about 20-25 weeks. For the last few years this has mostly been purebred Marans and Marans mixes. I've also raised up hatchery quality dual purpose breeds. All these birds have left us wanted. In terms of the amount of meat they produce and the time it take to grow them out. Both of these need major work from a dual purpose standpoint.

When I say the meat side needs work that what I'm talking about. Every hen from these lines was an ok or exceptional layer.

I did see in an Orpington rooster in the meat section here on BYC that made me think it would be possible to recreate a true dual purpose breed. It was from a hatchery special, I think, where they send you all roosters. The OP then butchered them and compared the different breeds side by side.

 

[Mylied]

Now we have a hatched peeping d’Uccle chick! So unbelievably cute! 5 or 6 more to go!

Yay! Maybe she'll inspire the rest to come out.

I'm up to 3 ducklings and I see pipps in 2 eggs. I can't tell with the last one. It's funny how soon as they hatch they crawl over to the others and snuggle.

 

[Mylied]

I get what you're saying. We grow out and process our own birds at about 20-25 weeks. For the last few years this has mostly been purebred Marans and Marans mixes. I've also raised up hatchery quality dual purpose breeds. All these birds have left us wanted. In terms of the amount of meat they produce and the time it take to grow them out. Both of these need major work from a dual purpose standpoint.

When I say the meat side needs work that what I'm talking about. Every hen from these lines was an ok or exceptional layer.

I did see in an Orpington rooster in the meat section here on BYC that made me think it would be possible to recreate a true dual purpose breed. It was from a hatchery special, I think, where they send you all roosters. The OP then butchered them and compared the different breeds side by side.

@livhatcher gave me 2 buff orpingtons to process a while back. They were big and meaty. Almost like cornish cross.

 

[LilyD]

I get what you're saying. We grow out and process our own birds at about 20-25 weeks. For the last few years this has mostly been purebred Marans and Marans mixes. I've also raised up hatchery quality dual purpose breeds. All these birds have left us wanted. In terms of the amount of meat they produce and the time it take to grow them out. Both of these need major work from a dual purpose standpoint.

When I say the meat side needs work that what I'm talking about. Every hen from these lines was an ok or exceptional layer.

I did see in an Orpington rooster in the meat section here on BYC that made me think it would be possible to recreate a true dual purpose breed. It was from a hatchery special, I think, where they send you all roosters. The OP then butchered them and compared the different breeds side by side.

I think that was one of my roos! I got a Meyer Meal Maker pack last year because I didn't have any chickens since I had to take a break from having them due to an illness, so I'm starting all over again as of last year. The issue I'm finding is the hens lay well but they don't have any width and depth in their body compared to the show quality roo I have. I have 3 hens and a roo and that's it right now. But looking to grow out 25-50 roos and about the same amount of pullets this year to choose from for next years breeders.

I find that with Orps if you want until around 25-30 weeks they tend to do well. They aren't as meaty as a CornishX but they are better than an egg breed bird. I also raise mine free range on the full acreage of my property so they free range a lot for their own food. They averaged around 2.5 to 5lbs at processing which was respectable for hatchery birds. This year I have an English Roo over hatchery hens and I'll keep the best of the best from those babies for adding back to the flock. It will take 10+ years I'm sure but I'm hoping for a 5-6 lbs table bird consistently and still keeping the laying at as close to 150-180 eggs a year as I can.

This was the pic of the orp I posted last fall.

He was very respectable size around 5lbs. The orps in general averaged 3-5lbs. I was very pleased with them.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

@livhatcher gave me 2 buff orpingtons to process a while back. They were big and meaty. Almost like cornish cross.

I have had some English Orpingtons that were so big that I would say they were more closely related to their T-rex ancestry than the rest of my chickens. lol, They are hefty birds!

 

[LilyD]

I have had some English Orpingtons that were so big that I would say they were more closely related to their T-rex ancestry than the rest of my chickens. lol, They are hefty birds!

I know right!! My current rooster is already about 12lbs and is not quite a year, hatched in May. He is like the mac truck of the bird world lol. Hoping he passes some of his characteristics on to his lady friends offspring.

 

[PioneerChicks]

You know how I posted and said I was planning on doing some assisted hatching earlier (thanks everyone for the advice, by the way)? Well anyway, more on that now.

The chick has zipped around about a quarter of the egg, but like I said, hasn't made any progress for a couple of days. The membrane was completely dry, so we wrapped the egg in a wet towel and are leaving it in the incubator for a half hour or so (still waiting). But before we put it back I tried to help it zip a bit. Maybe it was because the membrane was dry, but I couldn't tell which was the shell and which was the membrane. After clipping away a little bit at the shell and getting some membrane too we gave him and put it in the 'bator.

Is this just because the membrane was dry or is it always this hard? Is it okay if I accidentally clip away a bit of the membrane?