Black Bantams

[Jean]

So, I was out sitting with my black bantam babies this afternoon and was wondering what others are looking at when deciding who to cull.  

Maybe you could give me some tips on stuff that is not so obvious.

I have noticed the eyes are pretty dark on most of them.  Is this a general concern or something in my stock?

I was also looking at wing placement, but decided it probably wasn\'t a good idea to decide right now since it is over 90 degrees outside at the moment.....

[Mike Gilbert]

How old are they Jean?

[Jean]

Most of them are around 16-20 weeks.  Some are younger.  

[Mike Gilbert]

By 20 weeks you should be able to determine eye color.  They may be gray or greenish yet at this stage, but should not be black or very dark brown (the iris).    You should also be able to pick out the birds that will have a nice green sheen on the feathers and cull those that are predominantly purple.  And all the obvious things:  parrot beaks, crooked keels, crooked toes, wry tails, split wings.    It may take another month or two to select for wing carriage and general body conformation if the feathers are still coming in.   Other things being equal, choose the heavier birds - of course \"other things\" are seldom equal.    Oh - I don\'t worry if toenails are black or not.   None of this is new to you I\'m sure.

[Jean]

I wouldn\'t have guessed to pick the heavier birds on bantams.  Would this still be a consideration if my cock bird is on the heavy side?  I just weighed him and he is 42 oz, just under for being DQ\'d.

I weighed and banded 9 of the 15 pullets I have.  They all range from 18-24 oz.  Most of them still have tail feathers that need to finish coming in and all of them were holding their tails down in fear.

The oldest cockerel is getting very aggressive, so I will cull him tomorrow.  He has scalped one of the younger boys and everyone has missing feathers on their heads....

At least the pullets are safe now, I moved them into an empty breeding pen.  I had to lower the feeder and waterer to accomodate them.

[Mike Gilbert]

Yeah, by \"heavier\" don\'t take it to extremes.   I just mean\'t to pick out the thriftier, healthier birds, as those will usually fill out first.   A faster maturing bird is preferable to one that lags behind the rest.