year of the cockerels

[Tailfeathers]

I line breed and started with 15 different lines.  Down to four now but am STILL working toward getting a really good male with clean hackles and a full beard.  Once I get him, I'll keep him probably for several years.  That's the reason I've got so many cockerels on hand.  I'm STILL hoping that I'll get one that's better than his Dad.

God Bless,

[Lee G]

Apologies Gordon. You’ll have to excuse my tenancy for complication. 

And I agree that keeping it simple, (KISS) is a great principle to follow. Many of the old masters believed simple was best, and going down the middle of the road. They bred the most outstanding fowl too, from what I understand, and not just fine feathers either, but the entire package.

So, do you need to know this stuff to breed chickens?  No. Does it deepen your understanding of what's going on in the breeding pen?  Yes.  Can it potentially deepen your enjoyment of the process?  Of course!  The more you know about anything, the more its secrets speak to you. --- Yellow House Farm

I think a lot of newbies like myself get hung up on different ‘methods’ and moving forward, often times before we have anything worthy to move ahead with.

This game is not a race, and it requires patience. I will do well to remember that. 

[Fyremare]

Yes... Year of the cockerel here too... 80% aside from the hatch from Russ's eggs that came out 50/50! Although honestly I thought they were ALL cockerels until a few weeks ago!

The rest of the hatches in the entire range of my friends has been very cockerel heavy. Am going to keep as many as I can handle, to grow them out and choose carefully for next year.

Predators have also been a problem for many this year. I will be labeling my pens after places like Folsom, Attica and San Quenton! There is so much wire around these birds now it's mind boggling.

[Birdcrazy]

Predators have also been a problem for many this year. I will be labeling my pens after places like Folsom, Attica and San Quenton! There is so much wire around these birds now it's mind boggling.

I gave up on prisons about 6 years ago. I was having predator problems with coyotes, foxes, mink, skunks, raccoons. You name it - I had it. Skunks weren't so bad at killing the chickens, but they sure stunk up the place and seemed to beat me to gathering eggs. I built all my pens (runs) 4 feet off the ground with individual houses. I made it so I could shut all birds in their houses at night, but I have not had to do that, as they have not been bothered. I was concerned on the runs for my young chicks as I used 1/2 " poultry netting for bantam chicks. It is quite a bit lighter material than the 1" poultry netting that I used on the other runs. The chick runs were the first ones that I built 6 years ago and so far the material has held up. The only problem that I encountered was I shut the chicks in the house to get used to their new surroundings for a couple of days. That was not enough time, we had a heavy thunderstorm one evening and yes here were all the chicks huddled in the run-drenched. So now I keep a closer eye on them for about the first week, especially if there is rain in the forecast.