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Post by daylilydude on Jan 3, 2011 23:39:59 GMT -5
Somebody has to have some? I have questions to ask?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2011 0:40:16 GMT -5
I'm no expert but will try to help if I can
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Jan 4, 2011 13:47:11 GMT -5
Dude, I don't have poultry anymore, but I used to breed and show chickens and turkeys, also raised ducks and geese for about 10 years.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2011 22:23:22 GMT -5
I had teriyaki chickens not too long ago ;D
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Post by w8in4dave on Jan 6, 2011 0:11:26 GMT -5
We used to raise Chickens and Turkeys when my kids were home.. then they all flew the coop so to speak and we don't raise them any more.. Feed is really high right now so it is pretty pricy to be feeding to raise them for meat chickens...
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rintintin
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Post by rintintin on Jan 6, 2011 0:11:41 GMT -5
I don't have any right now, but I have in the past. Once relocated, I plan to keep many chickens. Egg and meat birds.
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Post by daylilydude on Jan 6, 2011 6:53:53 GMT -5
Ok, ima ask, which breed makes the best egg layin hen?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2011 16:31:42 GMT -5
Ummm...why would anyone raise geese? First of all they dont stay in canada anymore...second they dont fly south anymore. They all seem to come to CT. And third they poop EVERYWHERE. I hear they dont make good eatin either.
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Jan 6, 2011 17:25:45 GMT -5
Jt, I did not raise Canada Geese, they are protected up here. Besides, I used to work across from the Sewage Treatment plant for a town of 700,000 people. The geese just loved to forage on the grass over there. I would have to be starving to death to eat a Canada Goose. Blech!
I raised Toulouse geese, the old gray goose of nursery rhymes.
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rintintin
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Post by rintintin on Jan 6, 2011 19:09:53 GMT -5
Best egg laying hen? Simple answer is to look at what 90%+ of the commercial egg farms use: White Leghorn. They will produce more eggs per hen/per year than any other breed. They produce a white egg (which is what 'most' Americans want). Probably the next best is a variant of the Rhode Island Red, which in the commercial world is generally called "Production Red". They produce a brown egg (which has the exact same nutritional value as a white egg). A good Production Red breed will produce 80-90% as many eggs per year as a White Leghorn. Here is the kicker that caused the industry to standardize on the Leghorn: To produce one dozen eggs, you need to feed your hens 4 pounds of feed...a Leghorn will do it with 3 1/2 pounds of feed. If you have a million hens working for you, the Leghorn is a better "bottom line".
In either case, as a small family farm, you could probably buy crappy eggs from Wally World cheaper than you could produce your own delicious, fresh eggs yourself.
As a side note, a Leghorn is a smaller bird (hence the lower feed bill), and once she is "spent" (no longer laying), she will not produce a decent meal...some chicken stock at best. The Rhode Island Red breed is considered a "dual purpose" breed: eggs AND meat.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2011 22:50:53 GMT -5
They are protected??? For what? seems like they are outta control.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2011 18:32:00 GMT -5
So I was on Facebook, and a friend posted that the meat guy at Kroger told her that the only difference between the "organic" chicken and Tyson's "steroid free" chicken was that the organic got to roam for the last two weeks of it's life. There is are so many things wrong with that statement for so many different reasons! People don't understand the differences with the labels, and they can't get accurate information from the people selling it. I hate the food industry. (Oh, and I tried to explain the differences to her--but it's hard to do in a post on FB because it looks like you're writing a disertation--and I hate to sound preachy).
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Jan 7, 2011 19:12:27 GMT -5
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Jan 7, 2011 19:22:28 GMT -5
So I was on Facebook, and a friend posted that the meat guy at Kroger told her that the only difference between the "organic" chicken and Tyson's "steroid free" chicken was that the organic got to roam for the last two weeks of it's life. There is are so many things wrong with that statement for so many different reasons! People don't understand the differences with the labels, and they can't get accurate information from the people selling it. I hate the food industry. (Oh, and I tried to explain the differences to her--but it's hard to do in a post on FB because it looks like you're writing a disertation--and I hate to sound preachy). Maeve, Your food regulations and certifications in the U.S. are different from ours here in Canada. With that said, even I know that the meat man at Kroger doesn't even have his terminology straight. I believe the term he should have used is Free Run which means they aren't confined to cages they way the used to be. Doesn't mean they are outside ranging. And depending on what the USDA allows to be fed to chickens at Tyson (or Perdue or whereeveryouarepoultry), Two weeks certainly isn't long enough IMO for a Withdrawal period. And of course anything that is on growth steroids or antibiotics (because they are living in crowded conditions) has no place in a discussion about Organics. It's tough to explain sometimes on the 'net. Written word has no inflection nor facial expression to help with the language used. All you can do is try to steer people in the right direction.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2011 19:44:36 GMT -5
JT, geese are people too. Out here near Oakland, we shoot both.
I was not thrilled with the Americauna eggs, too small. I am liking the Wyandottes my sister had now.
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Jan 7, 2011 20:59:28 GMT -5
Wyandottes were my Favourite Breed. Gentle birds, excellent layers of large brown eggs and large enough to make a decent meal when I felt the need to cull extra males.
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Post by stratcat on Jan 29, 2011 15:19:30 GMT -5
My friend has some ISA Browns that are friendly hens and good layers of large, brown eggs. I especially like it when he has too many eggs. ;D
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Post by w8in4dave on Jan 29, 2011 15:25:04 GMT -5
We always had Rhode Island Reds for layers ....We just got three chickens the other day.. I think they are mixed.. I took pics but can't find my camera.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2011 17:00:30 GMT -5
According to records, Australorps hold the egg laying record. Big fluffy black hens, friendly and calm. I have chickens, ducks, and geese and find that the ducks are more reliable layers. They also lay for more years than chickens. Egg production in chickens falls off after the first two years. You could check with the BackYardChickens forum also.
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Post by w8in4dave on Feb 4, 2011 23:30:35 GMT -5
Think I am going to be able to get some cemani chickens... I hope this pans out.. I am going to call the guy tomorrow
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2011 20:30:20 GMT -5
I have Orpingtons because they are duel birds, meat and layers. Mine lay thru the winter as well..I also have easter eggers that lay blue,green and olive color eggs.. for fun to have..
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okiedrifter
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Post by okiedrifter on Feb 10, 2011 15:30:39 GMT -5
I love my coco marins they lay a deep brown egg are good layers and are good meat chickens when they no longer lay or are extra roosters....for some reasons hawks dont bother them when they are chicks like they do the lighter breeds of chicks.....mine are free range but are locked up at night...
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adobo
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Post by adobo on May 25, 2011 3:42:24 GMT -5
here is my bantam hen. her name is MANOK(tagalog for chicken). she's a bully despite here small size. the dogs doesn't dare to get near here except our very jealous dog. She loves cooked rice more than chicken feeds. She loves leftover corned beef too
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2011 0:29:58 GMT -5
I was just reading about cemani chickens... they even have black bones.. wow what a novelty... I have never heard of them. We let the grandkids pick out what they want every couple of years and this year wound up with 16 different varieties.. there are a couple of rules they have to follow.. docile.. all purpose.. good at free range.. this year we got wyandotts, copper marans, sussix, polish and etc... so far we are doing good as most seem very calm and two wyandotts just layed their first eggs this week... we work hard to get the kids to be calm around them and handle the chicks a lot so they are basically all pets.. the hardest part is getting our Jack Russell to be calm around the chickens..LOL.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2011 12:55:57 GMT -5
When on my farm, I liked to make my own hybrids. Two favorites: Buff Orpington and Black Austrolorp = Bluff Orpolorp. Actually my favorite chickens ever! Egg a day (almost) and awesome winter laying ability of the Buff like already mentioned, and big carcass when it comes to that. The other hybrid was White Plymouth Rock hen and Dark Cornish rooster. If I have to choose a favorite breed it's Light Brahma. I love the Wyantottes curvy shape.. OK- I love them all. Ducks are really good, too. I used to be addicted to quack. Supposedly the eggs are not prone to salmonella like chicken eggs. They are big eggs. I had Buff Orpington (yes, duck), Welsh Harlequin, and Cayuga. My best poultry project was , however, Coturnix Quail. Better feed to egg ratio than chickens. And mine didn't eat strawberries, so I let them run that area and eat bugs. In a run, of course. They do have to be caged, which I found beneficial from a predator standpoint. I had geese and turkeys, too- never again... Dangerous to my 5 little ones.
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adobo
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Post by adobo on Jan 3, 2012 3:28:31 GMT -5
here is Manok now with her two cute chicks
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Post by stratcat on Jan 3, 2012 14:43:08 GMT -5
Very nice, Adobo! I've always like Banties since I was a kid and the neighbors had some.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2012 11:20:04 GMT -5
i raise black stars and rhode island reds good brown egg layers i get eggs up till january and start up again by march
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Post by daylilydude on Jan 4, 2012 11:48:10 GMT -5
Got way too many chicken eatin dogs running loose over here to have chickens!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2012 10:55:59 GMT -5
Thought I might update our chickens this year. After comparing a number of them, like every other year. We are impressed with the Red Star egg layers. In all Australorps, Wyandottes, Marans and Red Stars are our favorites. Docil, good free range (find their own food) when let out every few days. We have about 12 left from this springs batch and last month after installing a 60watt bulb in the coup we get an average of 9 eggs per day up from 3-4 eggs per day without light. It has a sensor and comes on when the light level gets down enough. For egg production I believe the Red Stars would be best, smaller birds than the others and less feed needed, but not large enough to eat like the others. I would be shot if I even thought about eating one. My 8 year old granddaughter has named each one and carries them around and I have learned to not even mention chicken and dumplings.
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