4 years, 4 months ago-
Posts
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@Hello Team,
Edwin here just shooting the breeze with you all. I just wanted to start a series of messages about what my progress is if any lol. I hope that some of you will enjoy what this backyard breeder is up to. Here we go. A couple of months ago I didn’t have any chickens. Below I will detail what I gotten.
Pullets – 1 Roundhead – 1 Albany – 3 Pullets (secret weapons)
Stags – 1 Roundhead. 1 Kelso
My goal is to single mate this year, and hen hatch. I have two brood pens complete. They have not started laying yet. The roundhead pullet is almost a hen, but the rest are between 8 -11 months old. I hope for the best, but I am conservative in my expectations. Pullets are pullets after all lol.
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@Team,
I picked up a 6’x6’x6′ dog kennel about 2 weeks ago. Really Like it. I have a tough little pullet that is pretty mature, and she likes being by herself. Never used Kennels before, but I am converting to Kennels for brood pens. I hope to get two more 6’6’6′ kennels.Three brood pens is all I need. Can’t wait till I am able to sit on a bucket, and enjoy the fowl on 3 uniform kennels.
The Plan is
Kennel 1 – Tough little pullet (Single Mate).
Kennel 2 – Roundhead hen (Single mate).
Kennel 3 – Two sisters, and hopefully they will accept the Albany pullet.
See you all next time
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Those Dog Kennels, especially the 6x6x6 panels work really good. I have a lot of those here on my farm. I bought them from Home Depot years ago. I also like that I can put them together as 6x12x6 as well. You can also find them for sale on Craigs List.
Good job Edwin, and thanks for sharing.
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@Yes, thank you for the tips. I’m looking, believe me…
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@I am really enjoying my new journey with my birds. The goal is for this to last a lifetime. It’s pretty cool. Everyday I go feed I realize how much I had missed not having birds for about 10 yrs. Went through a bad divorce, enough said:) I missed my little dinosaurs. Once I have my pens set up I will post some pictures for you all.
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@Today I had some time, and I picked up another dog kennel. It’s a 4HX4WX6L. Would of preferred taller, but it’s ok. I will be setting it up this week. Can’t wait! I’ve been on offer up, and craigslist. There are some big kennels on there, but I am not interested in a 10 ft kennel. I do have a wooden pen that which is 4HX4WX6L that I can use time being.
I will be posting some pictures soon. Hopefully no later than Sunday.
This is my first year back. I see myself making some mistakes. Some which I just can’t help lol. I have to stop thinking about buying birds. Like I said, I just can’t stop. After Today I won’t purchase any more fowl. I think it’s part of some beginners evolution to go different fowl. Not all, but some, probably most lol.
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@It’s 2/11/2019, and the weather has been bad for southern California. It SEEMS like it’s been raining for 3 weeks straight. My pullets, or my one hen have not layed an egg yet. I don’t use lights. I am anticipating that they will begin towards the of the month. On a good note my pullets have really started maturing. They are full bodied now. It’s been nice seeing them mature. Looking forward to some offspring. I hope you all doing good with this breeding season. I see alot of people on social media that have little biddies. It’s awesome, I can’t wait. Till next time.
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I live in Southern California too, and we are having a lot of rain. Just when it begins to dry up, it rains again.
I’m getting some eggs, but the majority of my hens are still on vacation. I don’t expect full production until it warms up a bit.
I think we are going to have another late breeding season. ugh!
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@The weather has somewhat cleared up, and the I noticed that the day is extending. Sunset In January in Los Angeles averaged at 5:15pm. February will average approx 5:30pm and for March we are looking at around 6:30pm. We all know that the closer we get to summer the days extend. It’s a given, but it’s nice to see the forecast per day. I’m a stat guy to be honest. I looked up the time using https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/USCA1190:1:US Just sharing some random thoughts. I am forecasting my 1 hen to start laying any day now. My pullets should start beginning of March. It’s only been a couple of months since I started again. I go to sleep thinking about feeding them in the morning. Almost all of my birds are young pullets/stags. They have changed so much in two months. It’s been a wonderful experience. I have big goals, but I don’t mind pulling myself up by my bootstraps figuratively speaking.
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Hey Edwin, Good to see the weather is improving in your area. It’s still raining a lot here, and has been really cold too. I most likely will not start breeding until late March or well into April this year. It’s a bummer, because you get a late start into the breeding season. I like my chicks to be well developed before summer, normally.
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@Team,
I attached 3 pictures.
Gull Brood Cock ( Belk line )
Top – Light Kelso pullet. ( Jumper line )
Bottom Dark Kelso Pullet. ( Jumper line )
Both Kelso pullets are sisters.
Those pictures are from January. The pullets have matured, and are laying. The start to the founders program.
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@Hello Team,
I got an update for you. Breeding season. 2 good updates, a funny frustrating story.
Albany Pullet – Single mated.Has 10 eggs in her nest. I think it’s time for to sit.
Brunner Roundhead hen – Single mated. The hen has 10 eggs as well in her nest.
I hope they both sit very soon.
Kelso Pullet light hackle( My favorite) – I am using a 18 gallon storage tote as a nest. The pen is 4′ square. She lays eggs on top of nest. I grab the egg and put it inside of the tote. The inside of the tote has straw and it’s very cozy. I don’t know how, but she is taking the eggs out of the nest. In the afternoon I find the egg outside the nest. It’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. I have removed her from the breeding pen.
Kelso Dark hackle pullet – She is the sister to the light hackle. Next up! Today I placed her in the pen. We’ll see what she does.
It’s my first year back at it. It’s a ton of fun, but we need some biddies lol 🙂
Update next week…
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@As we head into April I currently have 1 Albany pullet ( I only have one) She is heading to her third week since she went broody. I can’t tell you how impressive she has been. Very good discipline for a 10.5 – 11 month old pullet. The few times she comes out the nest she gets noisy( podcast side note), and eats. Then she is back to her nest. I am optimistically hopeful for a good hatch for next week. I also have a Brunner Roundhead hen ( The only one I have) that refuses to go broody lol. She had 20 eggs in her nest, and no sign that she was going broody. She is a flighty. That might have something to do with it. She has been removed from the brood pen. My other pullets are still young. I am hopeful that in the coming weeks they will get broody. We still have time to breed some. My goal is to raise 12-15 stags to get to maturity this season. We all know that mother nature has other plans sometimes.
Today I did something necessary. I culled a Brunner roundhead stag. The only one I had of his kind. He was not a good representation of his breed, and lacked vigor. I have been going back, and forth with this. Till the decision was made. The decision was made for the better being of my breeding program. It’s tough though. The Brunner hen might be next. I will move her to a different pen, and my hope is that she shapes up. My backyard is quiet. I don’t have any dogs, or kids running around. I feed, and hang out with them. Hopefully she will do better. I love chicken, but I prefer not to eat chicken too often.
I have kept up with my yard cleaning. I am doing quite well. I love spending time with the fowl. I am padding myself on the back there. I could do a 100 things better. I need to work on my feed. I’ve been given advice, but I need to follow through. That is my goal this week. I am feeding high octane. I believe it’s around 20% protein. It’s not bad, but I need to do better. I’ll send an update as I progress with this very important task. With work, and family it’s tough, but the fowl are more than worth it…
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Hey Edwin,
I know how hard culling can be. I’ve had birds that were so beautiful and were great representatives of their breed, but they had one defect. Although I didn’t breed them, thank god, I did hold onto the for way to long. You just have to bit the bullet and get rid of them. Feed is very expensive to waist on birds that have no future. But, yes, I feel your pain.
Kenny
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@Thanks you for the support.
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@Finally got some biddies. I had My Albany pullet hatch 6. They are about 10 days now. I have 4 darker and bigger one’s, and 2 lighter smaller one’s. I am guessing 4 stags, and 2 pullets. They are even starting to show some temperament differences. The Albany was single mated to my Gull cock. The pullet has been a dream mommy. I check on them twice a day. Before work, and once after work. My plan is to have mom with the biddies till decides it’s time to let them go.
I have a Kelso pullet sitting on some eggs. She is on her second week. Even as a younger pullet she seemed pretty mature. I’m cautiously optimistic.
I have my new addition to my yard laying. She has 6/7 eggs. Right before the Quarantine I received a Gilliam Pearl leg Wheaten RH pullet. I plan on having a Pearl legged family. Hopefully she will sit in the next week or so.
It’s my first year with the fowl. I realize that I can hope, but won’t know for sure how the fowl will cross. We’ll see. Next season I will start working on a pure family. As a beginner once again I need to show more discipline. I need to focus on a family, or two and work some crosses on the side. Gotta keep working…
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@Hello Everyone,
first of all work has been crazy, and I had some minor health issues. Life, what are we going to do lol. My breeding season so far.
Gull over Albany – 1 Stag/5pullets 6 weeks old. They are by themselves now, and growing.
Gull over Kelso – 11 chicks. They are two weeks old. I really can’t tell what there gender is just yet.
Claret over Roundhead – She is seating on 8 eggs. Hopefully have some biddies by Monday.
That is all for this season. I am enjoying seeing them grow. We’ll see what we end up. Not ideal, but it’s my first year back lol
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@Hello All,
A sad story with Hopefully a good ending hopefully.
I had a situation that I want to share. I had a pullet that hatched out 11 out of 11. They are Gull(Whitehackle)x Kelso’s. They were doing great till week 6. I had 2 stags die, and a third one died within 3 days. It was weird because the pullets seemed fine. After a couple of days all but were sick. They were droopy, and wings were kind of hanging. They weren’t moving around, and not eating. I finally discovered it was <b>Coccidiosis. </b>I went and got some Corid powder. They are improving, and getting better. I feel like they will make it. They are lively as cheery as always. I have 8 offspring left that are 7 weeks old. 3 stags, 5 pullets. The sickness lasted about a week. I am medicating the water, and making sure their bedding is very clean. I’ll continue to track them, and report on their development. Don’t put your guard down…
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I remember you saying that only the stags were getting sick, but I should have asked what the symptoms were. Coccidiosis is a very common disease for young birds. Eventually, you will be able to breed towards disease resistance, but not until your numbers are larger. For now, you are doing the right thing (giving them Corid).
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@Thanks Kenny!
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@Hello Everyone,
I can’t believe we are halfway through June. My breeding season is over now, and I had some casualties due to Coccidiosis. I lost 3 young stags, but considering all happening in California I am happy with the results. Back In November I didn’t have any birds, and now I have 12 very young stags that I am excited about, and about 24 pullets. This year I am somewhat experimenting since I am barely getting back. We’ll see how they progress, and some culling will have to take place because I plan on being very strict. This will be very difficult, but necessary. Glad to see how active the members board has been. Very exciting, we are all in this together…
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@Team,
Today is the 4th of July. The birth of our Nation. I am a former US Marine, and I’m very proud of our Country. 4th of July means freedom to me. Let’s become better citizens of our Nation, and even better care takers of our birds. Keep Em Crowing!
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I agree Edwin,
I too am a veteran, US Navy here. I was in VFA-25 Strike Fighter Squadron, and the first to get the FA-18 Hornets, First Cruise (the Connie) and the whole bit. We were a show squadron due to the Hornets. I Too am very proud of our country. And to Edwin, and all of our active Military and Veterans, thank you for your service!
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@I want to start sharing some info on my fowl’s progress. I used a Gull Cock (Grana2) and crossed it with an Albany pullet that was sent to me from Oklahoma. I have one stag, and 5 pullets. They are 4 months old. They are looking great. The brood cock is from a Straight comb from a yellow leg family, and the Albany pullet is from a straight comb yellow leg family as well. The result is all Yellow legs, and all straight comb. I was happy with that. I will post pictures tomorrow evening, and I will slowly but shortly keep posting my other birds.
Kenny, thank you for your service…
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@Gull/Albany cross. Both yellow legs straight comb. I posted 1 stag, and his full sisters. All yellow leg, and straight comb also.They are 5 months old. There is the line up. Any thoughts are welcomed.
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@These are my 4 month old Gull over Kelso offspring. I have 3 stags, but this guy is my favorite. I kept 3 pullets. Very excited for these. I got the Kelso’s from a good friend 🙂
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@We’ll the birds are molting, and we are still under quarantine. My stags are growing. It looks like I will end up with 9 stags, and 8 pullets when it’s all said and done. I’m technically in the city so I’m happy with that lol. More importantly this next season I will be able to start the actual breeding process after my inital crosses. My goal is to be at my new place by the end of the year. Got to be ready for next season in a comfortable spot. We’ll see what happens in the next few seasons. As much as I like specific birds, nature will take its course. The best will be kept, and reproduced without prejudice. Time will tell. Stay game gents!
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@The birds are still in the molt lol. I’m working on getting a property that I acquired through years of hard work. My hope is that by is that by next year I will be set up. My goal is to hopefully raise 100 stags a year. I’m in California, and it’s tough out here as everyone knows. I got a 2.5 acres I should be able to do that comfortably. My goal is to build a nice cock house with ample room. Little by little. The key is to remain patient I think lol. I hope to quarantine is over soon. Taking all the precautions, but I feel like a bootlegger.
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@Hello Team,
It’s been a minute. I hope everyone is having a good breeding season. I have 4 hens sitting, and hopefully 3 more in a week or so. I got 12 stags from last year that are just about a year old. They look promising. I’m happy about that. Throught the year I’ve acquired some new brood stock. Mostly to get some pure lines going. Back in 18 I started with just crosses. I feel I’m going in the right direction. If you aren’t moving forward you are moving backwards. Can’t wait for some biddies!
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@This breeding season has been good to me. I’ve been able to get a couple solid established bloodlines. I am happy with the results so far. My stags are around 4/5 months. Breeding is tough, but it’s so fun to do. The proof is in the pudding. I am in my early 40’s, but when I am in my yard I feel like I’m 12. At 12 we all dream, and we all had endless possibilities. This is pricelss!
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