Naked Neck/Turken Thread

[BlueBaby]

Merry Christmas to all

Merry Christmas to you also, and to everyone else that come's to this thread!

 

[cactusrota]

great video.

NNs usually lay xl eggs. leghorns are small birds that lay xl eggs too. I meant that when we have hens of the same breed we choose the biggest eggs to hatch. we should never hatch pullet's eggs that still did not get the full size.

Oh, absolutely. I try to avoid incubating pullet eggs as well.

 

[CannedMonster]

Some updated photos of Cleo.
She’s 3 weeks now and will be 4 weeks on Thursday.
BTW she came from a pullet egg. Her mother was 7 months when the egg was laid.
I didn’t have many layers at the time and I didn’t know any better lol.
I remember thinking that she seemed like an awfully small chick.

 

[DesertChic]

if you want his size in your flock you need a huge hen that lays huge eggs. it is hen and her egg that give size to the chicks. roos are more responsible for colour. (I am a good learner and byc is a good place to learn.)

This is mostly true, but somewhat incomplete. It's not just the size of the hen you're breeding, but her lineage. I've actually gotten some of the best size from only an average sized NN hen (about 5-6 lbs when she's at her peak) because HER mother was over 8 lbs. Pairing her with the right rooster has given me the best results and produced some of my absolute favorite breeding hens.

The best thing you can do when breeding for size is keep diligent track of bloodlines, growth rates and sizes at maturity, because knowing only the current generation can lead to disappointments. I've had larger hens paired with large roosters produce all smaller offspring because the hen's size was more of a fluke and didn't pass on to offspring. This is why I learned to create punnet squares for the traits I'm after. It helps me better select my breeders.

Also, when breeding for size be clear on whether you're just going for a larger bird with longer legs and breastbone, or whether you prefer a more muscular, compact bird. One of my favorite breeding roosters is surprisingly hefty for his appearance, with impressively solid breast, leg and thigh muscle that's hidden by his tighter feathering. I've had plenty of birds develop into large birds but with disappointingly little meat for their larger bone structure.

So...don't be too disappointed if you breed a larger hen with a larger rooster and get smaller offspring than you'd like. Track the growth rates and monitor body structure, and select your breeders from there. You may find that those disappointingly smaller offspring, when bred to the right counterpart, will give you the results you're going for.

 

[aliciaplus3]

This is mostly true, but somewhat incomplete. It's not just the size of the hen you're breeding, but her lineage. I've actually gotten some of the best size from only an average sized NN hen (about 5-6 lbs when she's at her peak) because HER mother was over 8 lbs. Pairing her with the right rooster has given me the best results and produced some of my absolute favorite breeding hens.

The best thing you can do when breeding for size is keep diligent track of bloodlines, growth rates and sizes at maturity, because knowing only the current generation can lead to disappointments. I've had larger hens paired with large roosters produce all smaller offspring because the hen's size was more of a fluke and didn't pass on to offspring. This is why I learned to create punnet squares for the traits I'm after. It helps me better select my breeders.

Also, when breeding for size be clear on whether you're just going for a larger bird with longer legs and breastbone, or whether you prefer a more muscular, compact bird. One of my favorite breeding roosters is surprisingly hefty for his appearance, with impressively solid breast, leg and thigh muscle that's hidden by his tighter feathering. I've had plenty of birds develop into large birds but with disappointingly little meat for their larger bone structure.

So...don't be too disappointed if you breed a larger hen with a larger rooster and get smaller offspring than you'd like. Track the growth rates and monitor body structure, and select your breeders from there. You may find that those disappointingly smaller offspring, when bred to the right counterpart, will give you the results you're going for.

Thank you for your insight! I hope to attain a larger overall carcass but also be able to do it in a shorter time, with out completely losing egg production..... ok so it's a pipe dream and I have settled on having several different flocks.... one for each function, green eggs, dark eggs, Egg strain Nn, meat strain with Nn thrown in. My 2 white Nn roos make me think I am off to a decent start...... now if i can figure out how to thin down the flock..... chicken math includes subtraction, right ? Lol

 

[BlueBaby]

Thank you for your insight! I hope to attain a larger overall carcass but also be able to do it in a shorter time, with out completely losing egg production..... ok so it's a pipe dream and I have settled on having several different flocks.... one for each function, green eggs, dark eggs, Egg strain Nn, meat strain with Nn thrown in. My 2 white Nn roos make me think I am off to a decent start...... now if i can figure out how to thin down the flock..... chicken math includes subtraction, right ? Lol

You thin down your flock by either eating or selling those one's that you don't want to keep for your breeding projects.

 

[cactusrota]

This is mostly true, but somewhat incomplete. It's not just the size of the hen you're breeding, but her lineage. I've actually gotten some of the best size from only an average sized NN hen (about 5-6 lbs when she's at her peak) because HER mother was over 8 lbs. Pairing her with the right rooster has given me the best results and produced some of my absolute favorite breeding hens.

The best thing you can do when breeding for size is keep diligent track of bloodlines, growth rates and sizes at maturity, because knowing only the current generation can lead to disappointments. I've had larger hens paired with large roosters produce all smaller offspring because the hen's size was more of a fluke and didn't pass on to offspring. This is why I learned to create punnet squares for the traits I'm after. It helps me better select my breeders.

Also, when breeding for size be clear on whether you're just going for a larger bird with longer legs and breastbone, or whether you prefer a more muscular, compact bird. One of my favorite breeding roosters is surprisingly hefty for his appearance, with impressively solid breast, leg and thigh muscle that's hidden by his tighter feathering. I've had plenty of birds develop into large birds but with disappointingly little meat for their larger bone structure.

So...don't be too disappointed if you breed a larger hen with a larger rooster and get smaller offspring than you'd like. Track the growth rates and monitor body structure, and select your breeders from there. You may find that those disappointingly smaller offspring, when bred to the right counterpart, will give you the results you're going for.

Genetics sure are interesting. I have a little brown partridge girl that's one of my smallest hens but is about as rotund as a quail, and I don't know where she got it from. I know all the possible parentages and none of them explain it. It's like she's an old game fowl throwback or something. I mean she's rounder breasted than any of the TSC Dark Cornish I had, but she's not from any of them. I'm hoping she'll pass on those genetics to at least a couple of her offspring so I can figure out a way to encourage it.

 

[chickengr]

Genetics sure are interesting. I have a little brown partridge girl that's one of my smallest hens but is about as rotund as a quail, and I don't know where she got it from. I know all the possible parentages and none of them explain it. It's like she's an old game fowl throwback or something. I mean she's rounder breasted than any of the TSC Dark Cornish I had, but she's not from any of them. I'm hoping she'll pass on those genetics to at least a couple of her offspring so I can figure out a way to encourage it.View attachment 1624020

she looks like my rumpless araucana mix. she is a little meaty ball, too.

 

[chickengr]

Some updated photos of Cleo.
She’s 3 weeks now and will be 4 weeks on Thursday.
BTW she came from a pullet egg. Her mother was 7 months when the egg was laid.
I didn’t have many layers at the time and I didn’t know any better lol.
I remember thinking that she seemed like an awfully small chick.
View attachment 1623989
View attachment 1623990
View attachment 1623991
View attachment 1623992

she is a real beauty!

my first hatched chicks were from pullet's eggs too. we work with what we have. I now have hens and can afford to hatch from hen's eggs only.

 

[chickengr]

This is mostly true, but somewhat incomplete. It's not just the size of the hen you're breeding, but her lineage. I've actually gotten some of the best size from only an average sized NN hen (about 5-6 lbs when she's at her peak) because HER mother was over 8 lbs. Pairing her with the right rooster has given me the best results and produced some of my absolute favorite breeding hens.

The best thing you can do when breeding for size is keep diligent track of bloodlines, growth rates and sizes at maturity, because knowing only the current generation can lead to disappointments. I've had larger hens paired with large roosters produce all smaller offspring because the hen's size was more of a fluke and didn't pass on to offspring. This is why I learned to create punnet squares for the traits I'm after. It helps me better select my breeders.

Also, when breeding for size be clear on whether you're just going for a larger bird with longer legs and breastbone, or whether you prefer a more muscular, compact bird. One of my favorite breeding roosters is surprisingly hefty for his appearance, with impressively solid breast, leg and thigh muscle that's hidden by his tighter feathering. I've had plenty of birds develop into large birds but with disappointingly little meat for their larger bone structure.

So...don't be too disappointed if you breed a larger hen with a larger rooster and get smaller offspring than you'd like. Track the growth rates and monitor body structure, and select your breeders from there. You may find that those disappointingly smaller offspring, when bred to the right counterpart, will give you the results you're going for.

I have noticed that every 2nd generation will give good results.

it is important to pair hens and roos according to what we want to achieve. male+female=chick does not work properly.