Post by simplynaturalfarm on Feb 22, 2015 14:18:43 GMT -5
haecklers, I think mutts in yourclimate are workable. My 30 birds go through a 5 gallon pail of grain per day. My SIl feeds layer ration to her dual purpose hens and saidit is about1/2 bag of feed for 30 hens also. We will feed like that from November til March - she gets 3-4 eggs per day. I haveblack sex link and cinnamon star simply to take advantage of hybrid vigor and I get 20-28 eggs. Same age of hens, and she has buff orpington, blackaustralorp, dominique and new hampshire.
I had dual purpose, but the dogs always atethem when their productive life was over. A dual purpose bird will give me130-180 eggs per year if it isnot a hard cold year. And themajority of those will be summer. I'm getting close to300 with my silverwyandottex RIR crosses - seeing as the extra hatchlings and roosters end up as dog food (dogs need to eat .. . ) why not get more eggs for my dollar? Especially as it costs $3 per day to feed them?
I used to raise 200 dual purpose cockerels to feed us. I knonw some of you guys get lots of meat in a short period of time,but I was getting 2lbs in4 months and they were in pasture pens. 200 is a LOT to butcher - we skinned. They were still hard for hubby to get his hand into to gut and I missed out on the health of the fat in the skin where all the fat soluble vitamins and such are.
In a warmer climate where feed isless, they make a lot of sense. But I don't want to PAY to have dual purpose who end up as dog food eventually. I have had 5 broody sex link so far (I'm fighting 2 right now), and I got 3batchesof chicks last year - whatfun! I ended up with 3 pullets out of that bunch... oh well dogs are eating well..
We have friends who scorned the Genetically modified (they are not..) CC this last year. 300 buff orpington of them for selling and to getthem to 6lbs they ordered in April and butchered September. And my SIL complains constantly about how insanely tough they are even for stewing.
WHen the end of the world comes, I will probably stop eating chicken - my grandpa always says they did not eat chicken more than5-10x per year. Old laying hens were chicken and dumplings. So I will change my eating habits then
I had dual purpose, but the dogs always atethem when their productive life was over. A dual purpose bird will give me130-180 eggs per year if it isnot a hard cold year. And themajority of those will be summer. I'm getting close to300 with my silverwyandottex RIR crosses - seeing as the extra hatchlings and roosters end up as dog food (dogs need to eat .. . ) why not get more eggs for my dollar? Especially as it costs $3 per day to feed them?
I used to raise 200 dual purpose cockerels to feed us. I knonw some of you guys get lots of meat in a short period of time,but I was getting 2lbs in4 months and they were in pasture pens. 200 is a LOT to butcher - we skinned. They were still hard for hubby to get his hand into to gut and I missed out on the health of the fat in the skin where all the fat soluble vitamins and such are.
In a warmer climate where feed isless, they make a lot of sense. But I don't want to PAY to have dual purpose who end up as dog food eventually. I have had 5 broody sex link so far (I'm fighting 2 right now), and I got 3batchesof chicks last year - whatfun! I ended up with 3 pullets out of that bunch... oh well dogs are eating well..
We have friends who scorned the Genetically modified (they are not..) CC this last year. 300 buff orpington of them for selling and to getthem to 6lbs they ordered in April and butchered September. And my SIL complains constantly about how insanely tough they are even for stewing.
WHen the end of the world comes, I will probably stop eating chicken - my grandpa always says they did not eat chicken more than5-10x per year. Old laying hens were chicken and dumplings. So I will change my eating habits then