MtViking- A little piece of paradise.

[chickens really]

Ok I have the expert here. Partridge Cochin, two dominiques, Easter egger, a Meyers steeler, golden lace Wyandot, splash Maran.

You have duel purpose so the Cochin, Dominique, Easter eggers etc can be butchered at around 24 weeks.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

I just did a bunch of roosters for freezer camp...if they are small, save yourself some time and skin them, open them up and clean them out...there is enough to make wonderful chicken stock or or "mean roo stew ".....save the heart, liver etc to cook up for your dogs if you have any
Nice seeing you back on here

 

[Mini Horses]

....save the heart, liver etc to cook up for your dogs if you have any

Or cats!
Yes, skin those young birds,part the meat, stew the bones, etc. for broth.. If I find a lot of roos in a hatch, as they mature, I have pulled them out of the flock and penned separate. Feed a good grain mix -- not layer pellets -- some greens, bugs, etc. and they will fatten some. Still good, even if smaller.

Sorry about the loss of Buster. Animals grow on you with those type personalities. Maybe his progeny will carry his good spirited ways.

Nice to see you post -- even if only occasionally.

 

[MtViking]

Thanks everyone, I need to work harder on being on here I enjoy everyone’s tips and conversation. Life just gets busy and I forget to take time to do some of the little things that make me happy like posting on here. Good to know about them all being dual purpose breeds. Buster was a great rabbit but I’ve come to realize this stuff happens especially with rabbits. He didn’t get skinned or butchered though I made him a nice grave he’s worth remembering. He was my first rabbit and I fell for him instantly with his bubbly personality. I’m glad to have his genetics in my lines. Satins don’t get as big as the commercial meat breeds well at least not as fast but they are wonderfully friendly and have beautiful pelts. I’m gonna take a stab at tanning/pickling hides this fall hopefully I can get the hang of it. I’ll have around 30 pelts come September so should be able to do something with them.

 

[MtViking]

Or cats!
Yes, skin those young birds,part the meat, stew the bones, etc. for broth.. If I find a lot of roos in a hatch, as they mature, I have pulled them out of the flock and penned separate. Feed a good grain mix -- not layer pellets -- some greens, bugs, etc. and they will fatten some. Still good, even if smaller.

Sorry about the loss of Buster. Animals grow on you with those type personalities. Maybe his progeny will carry his good spirited ways.

Nice to see you post -- even if only occasionally.

So as far as which roosters to keep, what would you suggest? The Dominique are definitely going in the freezer they are buttheads to all the other birds. We have 19-20 hens so I was thinking of keeping 2 or 3. The Steele egger is a designer hybrid with a Afro rockstar hair do. They are tiny maybe bantoms would it be a problem keeping him and three full size roosters or do I need to consider him in the rooster count? He’s hilarious so I wouldn’t mind keeping him around for the joy of it but other than that he doesn’t have much purpose. My wife like the Cochin I like the Easter egger and the splash maran and the spotted Sussex lol who am I kidding we want to keep all of them except the two buttheads lol. Just trying to figure out the best way to thin the flock. What are your opinionn?

 

[MtViking]

Here’s some pics

 

[MtViking]

More

 

[MtViking]

Chickens are great! So far my favorite to watch and just hangout with. I love breeding rabbits but they aren’t near as entertaining as chickens. I would HIGHLY recommend everyone that can have chickens should get chickens.

 

[farmerjan]

I think you got a few other things in the mix. The big rooster with the whitish coloring on his neck and wings and saddle feathers, as well as the brassy color on his shoulders, is colored more like a Salmon Faverolle but he looks to be awfully tall. They have 5 toes though so you ought to be able to tell if he is a faverolle. He looks to have a "beard" which they do have and the brahma's do not have beards. They tend to be a fairly good table bird, as they will get up in size ...they are considered a dual purpose breed.... originated in France.
The big blackish one with the dark reddish neck,(hackle feathers) and shoulders is the dark Brahma.
The golden laced wyandottes are decent layers.
The two with the crested heads look to be a color of crested polish, although blue is not a recognized color of Polish for show. It looks like you have a cockerel and a pullet. Most Polish are very colorful, having white crested blacks, black crested white, silver which is like the silver laced pattern and golden which is the golden laced pattern. They can have "beards" or be non-bearded.
I didn't see any that I would call the egyptian fayoumius.
The Fayoumis are pretty rare, I think I have seen one or two in all the years I have been around show poultry... they have a silvery neck with like small bars of white on black feathers.... not near as much white across the feather as the dominiques or a barred rock, and the barred breeds do not have the contrasting silvery white necks. Supposed to be flighty but lay very young....

 

[farmerjan]

Looked at the pictures again; the one I called a dark brahma might be the partridge cochin, but is way too tall for show type quality. similar colors patterns.. Yes, I know you want layers, but it is good to know what you are looking at. I like the splash ones, have no experience with marans, but they are a real nice example of the splash pattern.
Maybe the ones with the crests are that "steele" hybrid???? Still looks like a pair to me. If you were to breed them, you would get some blue like them, some splash and some black in their chicks. That is the way the blue pattern works.

The dominiques will lay best of most all the ones you have. Yes they can be aggressive....but they are very active and good foragers.