SufficientSelf's Chicken Thread!!!

[rhoda_bruce]

I know many of you mix and/or grow your own feed. What do you feed and in what percentages? Is it any cheaper to buy that way than commercial feed or just (likely) better? We don't have the space to grow our own, so it would have to be bought, stored, etc.

I take a road trip to the river...takes close to an hour going. I load up on whatever my contact gets from the grain elevators. He usually carries corn, milo, rice, soybean and wheat.
I give equal parts of everything, but only a sprinkling of the soy. I give whole grains to my mature animals and I grind for chicks. I might crack some corn for some of my birds who have trouble with whole grain corn.
I don't have exacts, but this method works for me and cuts my costs. The more variety I can get the better.....more nourishment from various sources. I also give kitchen scraps and yard/garden waste and sometimes allow a little free ranging, if I'm not guarding a garden.
I have planted some clover to grow as a cover crop to keep the weeds down in the garden and nourish the soil, which the chickens, ducks and geese will have a chance at after the growing season....that will save me a good bit on feed when that time comes. And in the fall, I plant rye, which serves the same purpose.

 

[BarredBuff]

13 chicks, several more to go

 

[MorelCabin]

Hatched out 17 out of 18 eggs on Sunday...all chanteclers. I bought the new 1588 dgital hovabator this spring and it was well worth it!

 

[Beekissed]

Hatched out 17 out of 18 eggs on Sunday...all chanteclers. I bought the new 1588 dgital hovabator this spring and it was well worth it!

First...
I love you and where ya been? Missed you!

Now...you all gonna HAVE to post some pics of these chicks! I don't know anything about Chanteclers though I've heard the name...what do they look like, what are their best traits and is that why you are hatching them? I'm going to hunt me a pic on the web and see what I can find out about this breed! Are they common in CAN?

The Chantecler chicken is a composite breed, derived from the following: Dark Cornish, White Leghorn, Rhode Island Red, White Wyandotte, Columbian Wyandotte and White Plymouth Rock.

Brother Wilfrid was the poultryman in charge of the flocks at the Cistercian Trappist Monastery at Oka, Quebec, a small community located west of Montreal on the north shore of the Ottawa River. He realized that there were no birds of Canadian origin at Oka and decided to breed a truly Canadian fowl (Wilfrid, 1922). This task took 9 years to complete.

Brother Wilfrid wrote a letter in 1941 explaining how he chose the name Chantecler. The name was taken from a hero in the French poet Rostands fable. popular in Paris about 1910, about the love between the rooster Chantecler and a golden pheasant hen. He thought that the name, derived from two French words, chanter to sing and clair bright, was ideal for his new breed.

G.Toupin (1922) wrote the actual description of how the breed was developed, while still a student at Oka Agricultural Institute. He was a professor when the breed was eventually shown to the world.

In 1908, Brother Wilfrid was in charge of the poultry yards at Oka and when his father visited him they both realized that all the breeds at Oka were either European or from U.S.A. Brother Wilfrid decided that he had to do something about this situation and devoted many hours to planning how he could develop a breed that was unique to Canada.

He decided that the breed should be dual purpose, white, and a good winter layer; above all, the comb and wattles should be relatively frost resistant. He studied all the breeds available at Oka and decided that the first breed to be used should be the Cornish because of its small comb and wattles. To improve egg production he bred the Cornish Male to a White Leghorn female. The progeny of this cross were of a gray colour but with no meat qualities. The second cross in the first year was to mate a Rhode Island Red male to a White Wyandotte female. This resulted in white progeny with black spots. There was however one beautiful male which had true Columbian Wyandotte colouring.

Knowing that the female transmits the feather colour and the male the conformation, Brother Wilfrid decided to mate this male with the best-coloured females from the first cross. The progeny was off white in colour and the majority had the characteristics of the Cornish. Unfortunately egg production was poor and the colouring was not standardized.

Brother Wilfrid decided that he had to make major changes and decided to use a large White Plymouth Rock male on the best pullets. Even at this stage he was not happy with conformation or production and resorted to the true tool of any dedicated breeder, culling.

By 1913 this aggressive culling had improved the progeny so he divided these birds into 2 flocks. In one of them he decided to conduct inbreeding and in the other half he decided to use a good White Wyandotte male.

By 1916 he thought he was close to the breed he had in mind except for body weight. Among the spring 1916 progeny there was one large pullet that weighed 3.5kg. (This is 1kg heavier than today's Standard for the breed.) Despite its size this bird produced 90 eggs in 120 days. This is 75% production in the early 1900s probably in buildings with no insulation.

At this stage he decided to risk breeding this pullet to a large White Plymouth Rock male weighing 4.55kg (This is also heavier than the accepted Standard of 3.8kg for The White Plymouth Rock). These risks were justified and the progeny were excellent.

In 1918 the best males from the heavy male and heavy female matings were bred to the best hens from the originally divided lines of 1913.

Obviously using the heavy lines would result in progeny with single combs, as the genes would be there from the White Plymouth Rock. Again, extensive culling was practiced and single combs were eliminated. Even today (2003) one or two single combs will show up in some matings and these have to be culled. At this stage Brother Wilfrid decided that the Chantecler could be declared a new breed for Canada (Taupin, 1922)

An association, started in 1918, adopted strict rules to control breeding and ownership. A member could not sell, lease, lend, give or exchange any living bird of the new breed nor sell hatching eggs to anyone who was not a member of the association. It was also a requirement that the Association be given a full list of birds owned by members. This might not be a bad idea today especially with rare breeds of poultry.

The White Chantecler gained a lot of publicity at The First Canadian National poultry Conference in 1919 and was officially declared a breed in 1921.

 

[BarredBuff]

Very nice Morel!! Do post pics!

 

[MorelCabin]

LOL Bee! Love you too sis! Chanteclers are a Canadian breed! Bred to have no issues with frostbitten combs or wattles because they don't really have much to get frostbitten. They are also a rare heritage breed...and unlike many other heritage breeds they aren't huge so thier feed to egg ratio is much like the barred rocks and smaller dual purpose breeds.
Oh, and Brother Wilfred was my husbands cousin!

 

[BarredBuff]

VERY, VERY PRETTY!

 

[Beekissed]

Wow!! Small world, huh? They are very pretty! After all these years of breeding and such, are they still true to their intended traits/breeding that he was shooting for?

Okay, BB~show 'em if ya gottem! Wherezdapics, Junior??

 

[rhoda_bruce]

They are very nice. I wonder how they would handle heat.

 

[MorelCabin]

Well, we do get alot of heat here...of course not like the southern states probably...but 32C often during summer.
You'd have to try them!
Here's my grand daughter loving one up