I've been thinking about doing chickens next year, so I've been doing a bit of research and found that orpingtons will lay in the winter. What would be a nice complementary breed, one that's winter hardy and lays when the orps are not. Dual purpose, please.
How long does it take for orps to reach butcher weight?
And what's everyone's favorite basic chicken raising book?
Thanks, Jay
Orpingtons and ?
Plymouth rocks are terrific layers, large birds, with a quiet disposition. I love them.
I'm hooked on Black sex-links. A Plymouth barred rock cross. Mine lay all winter (though not well now as they're molting) I think the blacks overwinter better, but that's half prejudice anyway!
Plymouth rocks lay in the summer?
I think I had a couple of barred rocks once, they were nice mellow birds.
Mine do -except this year from when we hit the dog days til they finished molting -but they were a recent purchase at the time so that may have been a factor. The BSLs just keep on truckin'....
Plymouth rocks lay all year round. They are great layers.
Cool. And they have a pretty good carcass weight, too, don't they? I'm thinking of getting a mixed run, so I'll get a roo and extra.
At what age can you pick out a roo for type and disposition?
I f you go with black sexlinks the rooster will have a dot on the top of his head and the girls will be all black and they are great layers start at about 22 weeks or so,I allso have golden comet which are a cross between white rock and new hampshire,both breeds are very winter hardy and great layers even in the cold don`t know about eating.
Golden Comets... sounds pretty. I'll look them up too. =0)
I'm wanting to be able to select for personality. I want a gentleman rooster, not some feathered thug. I've never kept a roo before because I saw too many mean ones, bossing the hens around, almost savaging them. Now I learn that traditionally a roo will court a hen before 'doing the deed' and that behavior has been bred out in about half of the roos, making for rude boys.
So at what age does a roo start to court the girls? And is he physically developed enough by then to tell if he's a good one?
Same things happened with studs... farm folks used to pick for disposition first, 'cause a fractious horse can really hurt you. Now studs are picked for everything but disposition and there's a lot of dangerous suckers out there. I know, I've handled some of them. An Arab stud that was being bred because he was a true black... pig eyed, two-faced, puny eared B------ not worth a toot and they were breeding him.
Hi there Jayryunen: Your Post really had me laughing, but I know what you mean by just a feathered thug. You might want to check out the Buckeye's for egg's and meat. They are also layers of very large eggs and are well known to be one of the most cold hardy chickens around. Good luck on your venture and nice talking to you. Haystack.
Thanks Haystack =0)
A roaring chicken!? Oh, that'd go just great with all my braying jackasses! LOL
HA!!! Jay - now it's all neck and dish. No legs. Black? pshaw.
Oh yeah, the hose nose line. Like their playdoh heads have been in the sun too long.
I remember when the Arab's extended trot was that straight-legged float above the ground... instead of the parky thing. Leave that to the Saddlebreds.
I'm not sure any high dollar breed has legs anymore. Seems like everything with a pedigree is breaking down with any kind of use. I'll take a Remington horse any day... jug-headed, slab-sided, goose-rumped, can't kill 'em with working all day.
Had a reservation appy like that when I was a kid...
you could ride her barefooted in the mountains all day. =0)
Jay
Ive heard polish make good roosters that can be more docile than others but they are a bit small and more ornamental - aka not ur eating type but probably a good pick for a nice guy - at least thats what ive heard.
I dont know too much about the meat birds but what I would do is go to McMurray hatchery wesite. They give their list of names of the different meat birds they provide and then just get those names and start researching them on the web. That may be a good jumping off point if your starting form ground zero.
there's a breeds list someone gave for the reference thread that has it all -how much they lay, how meaty, you name it!!