Chicken Talk

[Ukroosterman 548]

Come on fellas surly uses must get sick of chatten about a rabbits and a pigeons......? Is there no serious chicken man who just wanna chat chickens......? Let's here what your breeding this season.......? Do you use lights.... Do let them them lay naturally......? Do you single mate..... Or flock mate......? Do hen raise...... Incubate.... Come on fellas let's hear it!..... Uk

[dusk til dawn 169]

fair comment, I start the ball rolling - not using lights this year just goin natural, I personally always single mate.. but can understand

the arguments for flock mateing, if down on numbers, "if there proven good stock what difference does it make" etc etc but single mateing and

accurate records is the easiest way of identifieng the good the very good and sometimes the exceptional producing hens. as for incubators well

very good for early chicks, but again I like a hen to hatch and raise her own, plus I think she teaches them to be abit more streetwise when out.

what am I breeding this year ? you will have to wait for the pics.. lol

[Ukroosterman 548]

So how meny hens do uses....? how many chicks do you normally hatch per year......? How meny do you cull.....? what do you cull for.....? I.E duck toes....... squire tailed.... Couler.....?? ATB uk

[dusk til dawn 169]

uk iam not going to put to much up here about culling that should be awhole topic on its

own . but what I will say is uniformity. size looks and attitude to me should be very close in a family.

and any obviouse defects in young stuff, should go without saying.

[claude 144]

I single mate always have done dont use lights and this year I am breeding with a couple of pairs of small aseel and a pair of irish muffs

[vfr400boy 3,112]

I'd like to see some pics of the coops or pens you guys use as I want to get in to game birds

[Chicken_man 1,651]

Hi there,

This year i am going to breed from a pen of Englsh Blacks ( hopefully). I am keen for the hens to go broody and raise the chicks themselves. The chicks raised from broodys seem to feather better, feed better and generally do better. It will be single mating from a decent cock, and what i think a decent hen. Culling will be done if im not happy at all. If i get a decent result, nxt yr i hope to put the same hen to a light Red and try and get some Dark/Black reds, although i will have to get true colours first , then cross the crosses from what i understand. Maybe someone can enlighten me. You guys have much more experince than me, so i am starting small and working up. Thanks

[Chicken_man 1,651]

Today i also knocked up some new feeders from wood, which will hang on the side of the pens. Im hopeing it keeps the feed dryer and less waste. A couple of wks ago i started to give the chucks meal worms, which they love, and if i manage to hatch some chicks , will also feed to them when there big enough to take. Giving the meal worms i feel is good when they are not free ranging, also a good supply of grit,fruit and greens. I have a spare pen and hope to alternate the birds + Lime the pen when its empty. The pens do get a bit like the trenches at this time of yr, althogh it has been very wet, so I have been using wood chip on the ground, raking it up and refreshing it when needed, then onto the garden. There will be only one spare pen so i am limited for space , which is maybe a good thing

[Ukroosterman 548]

Chicken man...... A littel bit of advice... The worst thing you can with gamefowl is to over feed them..... There not farm hens you want to keep them on the hungry side..... If there being picky or not clearing up... It a sure sign your feeding to much.... You want to them.... ACTIVE .... ALERT .... FRESH ..... ATB Uk

[rentokil kid 4]

single mating is good but the hen can get a bit bedraggled if you leave the cock with her, even if you trim his spurs.i have used light in the past but this year most of my hens started laying just after christmas.

if you get early chicks they need a light as well as a heat source so they can eat during the hours of darkness or i find they grow slowly.

incubators are a must you can wait for a broody and loose good eggs they dont all go broody.

the ones you really want are always the most difficult to breed.

[Ukroosterman 548]

Good post R.k..... Couldn't agree more about the best ones being the hardest to breed.... As for the cock running the hen ragged thats normall the case with young stags or bull stags..... He only needs to be with the hen a couple of times a week..... It's also a good idea to leave him on he's for couple days a week.... This will help build he's sex drive and help with fertilely...... More so with older brood birds..... ATB UK

[Chicken_man 1,651]

Cheers for that UK

[off the tether 277]

For me its about keeping what you have, and trying to keep them at the top of what you are trying to accomplish with them, and the only way you can do that is by single mating, you can have ten hens in with a cock and one of them hens will produce fare better then the rest but if you flock mate how can you tell which hen is the one you wont to breed back to just how I like to do it anyway I personally think flock breeding is the easiest way to lose a good family of fowl all the best O,T,T

[Chicken_man 1,651]

Do you folks breed from pullets/stags, or do you let them grow on another yr. What's the advantage/disadvantage of doing this ?

[Shamo 319]

Breed ONLY from Cocks and Hens, even if you have to wait for the next season. A GOOD Hen is worth half a dozen good Cocks and don't flock breed, even from Sisters.