Re: Choosing a new breed - Job Done

Jill wrote:
We bought our birds from SPR. If Black Rocks are known not to be
tolerant of confinement then should people like SPR not warn new
customers that they should consider another breed?
I have advised customers to go for birds like you now have while they
get themselves sorted with more space. The hybrids as you have tend
to be very shortlived. 2 yeares or so is average. In comparison Black
Rocks are 5 -7 and often longer. Folks often come back having got
used to having birds, and having made more room for the next birds.

I was given 10 Black Rock hens some years ago when my neighbour moved away
and could not take them. I had no aggression problems at all with them.
They were allowed free range in my orchard though.
Even so they seemed to have a fairly calm temperament and I would not have
anticipated a problem had I had to keep them in huts and runs, like I have
to keep my chickens now, unfortunately, due to daytime foxes.
The only complaint I could possibly have said about them is that their eggs
were smaller than other hybrids and not as brown as customers seem to want.
They lived a long life, the last one died aged 10.

I suppose it depends on what people want. Do they want an egg-laying
machine that dies at 2 yo to be replaced by another one, the same?
Personally, I don't. I am happy to let my chickens get old and start laying
less and less over the years until they eventually pass away. It suits me,
it will not suit others who want their chickens to produce at maximum which
means (if they are hybrids) they will have to be replaced every two years.

This is not a judgment on people who keep hybrids for their egg laying,
which is phenomenal, more a sharing of my experience, started with hybrids,
amazed by their egg-laying, got fed up of them dying early, got pure breeds.

Tina





.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Krytox
    ... > and the carp pit stinks:( ... off the full range of certified hybrids. ... support customers whom purchase hardware and reloads from me. ... > The vendor I got the motor doesn't have any at the moment, ...
    (uk.tech.rocketry)
  • Re: Full Circle ?
    ... > Yes i know they are hybrids, but i though if you cross two breeds the ... The parent and grandparent stocks for the modern hybrids are not pure ... Give them time to learn their new way of life. ...
    (sci.agriculture.poultry)
  • if youll roll Ramsis darkness with pursuits, itll nearby abuse the status
    ... it breeds a grace too natural near her dull pen. ... The customers, dilemmas, and threads are all scrawny and ambitious. ...
    (sci.crypt)
  • Re: C. Connie Bounce
    ... Different animals to... ... It's a myth that different breeds mating produce healthier puppies. ... Thus they can't produce hybrids. ... because they have a bigger gene pool to draw from. ...
    (rec.outdoors.rv-travel)
  • Re: costs of feed !
    ... Your view and experience is in a small number of birds and breeds. ... productive strains of pure breeds, where it was observed long before the ... hybrids were created. ...
    (sci.agriculture.poultry)
Loading