Neko-chan
Lovin' The Homestead
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- Thread starter Neko-chan
- Start date
pinkfox
Super Self-Sufficient
And for the chickens:
Clipped wings or no? personally ive never found reason to wing clip the chickens, if youve got enough land theyll be fine, you would need deacent fences to keep them in or out of specific areas but if your free raning having the ability to get a little more height can be a good thing for saftey.
Conformation (or other reasons for culling)?, personally if your planning on doing them as a dual breed egg production would be a good thing to keep in mind as a cull requirment.
Preferred diet for the birds? my parents chickens get a layer crumble daily, and then all the fresh grass, bugs dirt,healthy kitchen scraps, slightly over ripe veggies form the garden, grass clippings clover ect they can eat...chickens will eat practically anything lol.
any of the birds on your list could be used as a dual purpose breed...the EE's (arucanas and amerucanas) id say would be the "smallest" birds of the group but all would make a good meat bird, not as good as some of the true meaties, but still plenty of meat.
of the breeds you listed, i LOVE sussex, the parents have a speckled and as a breed they are increidbly sweet, im told all sussex are the same, good layers nice sized body, and nice personalities.
i also LOVE the faverolles! i plan on having a small flock potentially to show seperate than my egg flock, i just LOVE them!
i like our ees too and plan to have a few in my own mixed egg flock, but they tend to be a little flightier than the other breeds.
i have no experience with wellsummers but i love the darker egg color, very pretty.
Clipped wings or no? personally ive never found reason to wing clip the chickens, if youve got enough land theyll be fine, you would need deacent fences to keep them in or out of specific areas but if your free raning having the ability to get a little more height can be a good thing for saftey.
Conformation (or other reasons for culling)?, personally if your planning on doing them as a dual breed egg production would be a good thing to keep in mind as a cull requirment.
Preferred diet for the birds? my parents chickens get a layer crumble daily, and then all the fresh grass, bugs dirt,healthy kitchen scraps, slightly over ripe veggies form the garden, grass clippings clover ect they can eat...chickens will eat practically anything lol.
any of the birds on your list could be used as a dual purpose breed...the EE's (arucanas and amerucanas) id say would be the "smallest" birds of the group but all would make a good meat bird, not as good as some of the true meaties, but still plenty of meat.
of the breeds you listed, i LOVE sussex, the parents have a speckled and as a breed they are increidbly sweet, im told all sussex are the same, good layers nice sized body, and nice personalities.
i also LOVE the faverolles! i plan on having a small flock potentially to show seperate than my egg flock, i just LOVE them!
i like our ees too and plan to have a few in my own mixed egg flock, but they tend to be a little flightier than the other breeds.
i have no experience with wellsummers but i love the darker egg color, very pretty.
BarredBuff
El Presidente de Pollo
Chickens:
Clipped wings or no? I wouldnt do clipped wings because most of them cant fly that good anyhow.
Conformation (or other reasons for culling)? I cull in February based on appearance, egg laying, size, and general utility.
Preferred diet for the birds? A 16% Layer Mash is the typical diet for laying hens. I prefer a higher protein such as 20% but money dictates that, its 4.00$ more. I like to free our birds, seems to cut down some on feed bill, if I had less birds it would for sure. We have 31 and only really need 15, but after we get the cow Im cutting back on them. I have been working on a more self reliant feeding routine for them, I sprouted grain for them last year, I need to order some wheat seed soon. Then they usually get scraps. However when I get my cow they are going to be fed cracked corn soaked in milk. Corn equals carbs, and milk equals protein. Plus free range, and scraps.
ETA: Sussex are not just egg layers, they are dual purpose well.
Clipped wings or no? I wouldnt do clipped wings because most of them cant fly that good anyhow.
Conformation (or other reasons for culling)? I cull in February based on appearance, egg laying, size, and general utility.
Preferred diet for the birds? A 16% Layer Mash is the typical diet for laying hens. I prefer a higher protein such as 20% but money dictates that, its 4.00$ more. I like to free our birds, seems to cut down some on feed bill, if I had less birds it would for sure. We have 31 and only really need 15, but after we get the cow Im cutting back on them. I have been working on a more self reliant feeding routine for them, I sprouted grain for them last year, I need to order some wheat seed soon. Then they usually get scraps. However when I get my cow they are going to be fed cracked corn soaked in milk. Corn equals carbs, and milk equals protein. Plus free range, and scraps.
ETA: Sussex are not just egg layers, they are dual purpose well.
DianeS
Lovin' The Homestead
About chickens:
- Wing clipping - I leave the birds the way nature made them, unless there is a reason to change it. If a particular chicken shows a propensity for flying over a fence into dangerous territory, I clip. Otherwise, I don't.
- Reasons for culling - Periodically I evaluate each chicken, and decide whether that bird is producing enough eggs to pay for it's food. If it is, it stays. If it is not, it is evaluated for selling vs eating. If I can get more meat than the chicken is worth, I eat it. If the chicken is worth more money than the meat it would produce, then I sell it.
(I don't have chickens for showing, if I did I would care about conformation and color. I also don't have a rooster for fertilized eggs, if I did I would care about the % of fertility of the eggs and about having broody hens. So what you want to accomplish with the chickens will determine what qualities you consider in your regular evaluation of your chickens.)
I also feed 16% protein feed, mine is in pellet form. My chickens also get free-range time, and a selection of food from the kitchen.
Hope that helps!
- Wing clipping - I leave the birds the way nature made them, unless there is a reason to change it. If a particular chicken shows a propensity for flying over a fence into dangerous territory, I clip. Otherwise, I don't.
- Reasons for culling - Periodically I evaluate each chicken, and decide whether that bird is producing enough eggs to pay for it's food. If it is, it stays. If it is not, it is evaluated for selling vs eating. If I can get more meat than the chicken is worth, I eat it. If the chicken is worth more money than the meat it would produce, then I sell it.
(I don't have chickens for showing, if I did I would care about conformation and color. I also don't have a rooster for fertilized eggs, if I did I would care about the % of fertility of the eggs and about having broody hens. So what you want to accomplish with the chickens will determine what qualities you consider in your regular evaluation of your chickens.)
I also feed 16% protein feed, mine is in pellet form. My chickens also get free-range time, and a selection of food from the kitchen.
Hope that helps!
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Neko-chan
Lovin' The Homestead
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BarredBuff
El Presidente de Pollo
Yes for self reliant people like us. BUT aska Poultry professional, that would be unacceptable.Neko-chan said:
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Neko-chan
Lovin' The Homestead
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Wannabefree
Little Miss Sunshine
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Neko I think he meant IF u were to ask a "poultry professional" that is what THEY would say. BB does feed his as little bagged feed as possible. He could have worded it a bit better though 
BarredBuff
El Presidente de Pollo
Yeah WBF got it, I must have been asleep when I wrote that, because it didnt make sense when I just re read, oh well!Wannabefree said:Neko I think he meant IF u were to ask a "poultry professional" that is what THEY would say. BB does feed his as little bagged feed as possible. He could have worded it a bit better though
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Neko-chan
Lovin' The Homestead
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