Re: Chicken advice - with photo link


"Christina Websell" <spamfree@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"martin gutzmer" <mrgutzmer@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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Hi Folks,
I was wondering,how and when does one tell the variety and gender of
poultry?

I assume that only roosters crow - is this true?

I would like to keep the hens I have for "layers" and perhaps send
most of the roosters to processing, and ultimately to the freezer.

I was wondering - If I posted pictures to a site - could some one have
a look and offer opinions as to - gender - and breed - and - worth
saving - or dispatch and feed no more

Finally, my poultry are 9 weeks old and They are eating me out of BAGS
AND BAGS of feed!
I have tried putting them on grass, but many JUST WANT FEED!
At what age are they ready to butcher?

pictures are at
http://mrgutzmer.myphotoalbum.com/
Look for an album labeled
"Chickens at 9 weeks"

You've got an awful lots of boys there :-( with a few pullets. In my
experience, in single-combed breeds, the ones with the biggest reddest
combs and wattle development at this age are the males and they are often
longer in the leg too.
As for breed, what did you buy them as? The buff ones could be Buff
Plymouth Rock, the one in the second photo(definitely a boy) could be
Barred Plymouth Rock or possibly Marans, the whites could be Leghorn,
first pic also a boy) The brown and white could be a game fowl of some
kind but there are a lot of crossbred chickens as well. One might be a
Light Sussex.
It would be easier to advise on breed if you could tell me what the
possibilities are.
Growers do eat a lot of food, I'm afraid, they need good quality food to,
well, grow ;-)
They're a bit of a motley bunch, aren't they? You need to consider your
options, either you cull the obvious males now to save money on food or
experiment with raising them for meat and see if it's worth it in the long
run.

My advice for the future would be: decide if you want meat birds or laying
hens and buy the breed for the job. If you like to hatch eggs you will be
able to eat all your meat birds, regardless of sex, but would need to cull
laying breed males as soon as they show they are definitely boys.
Or you could buy sexed day old chicks for laying.
Or eggs from a guaranteed pure breed utility strain. There's quite a bit
of meat on a Light Sussex or a Marans.
Where do you live? It will affect the advice I can give.

The black one with white earlobes is probably a Black Leghorn, and I think
it may be a rooster.

The good news is that your cochins look to be hens, so if you want to hatch
out some eggs you're all set.


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