Breeding Chickens- Information That Is Important to Know
Breeding Chickens- Information That Is Important to Know
A Poultry breeder is a person who attempts to improve the breeds of chicken flock. The process of doing it can be described as breeding chickens. Anyone can breed the chicken with a little training. You will be glad when you try and succeed in chicken breeding. Any poultry breeder can only achieve this by selecting parent stock carefully. He or she must keep all records at hand and reach a conclusion using his practical knowledge.
The cost of selecting breeds using laboratory techniques can be afforded only by few of America’s large breeders. It is a rather expensive procedure. Even those who can afford it end up going wrong at times when they push their luck too far. Small breeders on the other hand only work with their own experience and knowledge. There are too many characteristics one needs to consider while selecting. These include the disease resistance, vigor, rear ability, hatchability, and egg production.
Other factors are quick feathering, shell color and texture, egg size, depth and color of plumage, body shape and size. However, the latter might not be as important to the intensive producers of eggs. Since the extent of egg production is on the rise today, any breeder will consider this as an important trait. Breeding chickens or retaining vigor would be more important than any other trait, without which other traits stand insignificant.
There was a time when all breeders thought that it was enough if the best cockerels were put with the best hens together. It was all that was required for good breeding. It was considered as equal mixing that of bloodlines. However, this was not true. In case this is too complicated, you could refer to breeding books by specialists that deal extensively on this subject. We provide basic information in this article that any amateur breeder needs to consider before any breeding activity.
Mating Chickens
Until pullets are a minimum of 18 weeks, and males are as young as minimum of 24 weeks of age, cockerels must not be introduced. The act of mating is a procedure where the semen from the reproductive cells of a cockerel is generally ejaculated in the cloacae of the hen. Semen travels through the oviduct up to meet the egg yolk also known as ovum as soon as it leaves the ovary. In one mating session, the semen released is good enough to fertilize about 12 to 14 eggs. A young cockerel vigorously covers around 80 hens in a flock at one time, although this is not what is recommended as a standard procedure.
When breeding chickens outdoors, one cockerel is good enough for 25 birds. For example in a flock of 100 hens you could introduce around 5 to 6 cockerels. It is advisable to put together those who have been reared at the same time. Do not add any cockerels later as this might lead to loss such as they would be either attacked or killed. It is advisable to start the pen with an extra or two cockerels. This would mean a successful breeding season in spite of losing a cockerel or two if at all so.
G. Smitty is a writer who loves to discuss many topics ranging from feeding chickens to professional basketball. Thanks for reading!
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Categories: Raising Chicken Tags: Breeding, chickens, Important, information, Know
What Is The Purpose Of Breeding Chicken?
What Is The Purpose Of Breeding Chicken?
Chicken breeding is a passion with some people and that is what makes them pursue it as a profession or even as a hobby.
There is a lot to breeding chickens, which includes determining the breeds by the similarities between the chickens, in terms of colour, feathers and various other factors. Usually breeders keep birds of the same breed together in order to not end up with chicks, that each looks different from one another. Not to say breeders never do that!
The more experienced and professional breeders, who are forever looking for new breeds of birds, do experiment and the numerous colourful and beautiful birds out there are a result of such experimentation.
Breeders venture into breeding chickens for a variety of reasons. Some breed chickens for the purpose of getting eggs and some use them for exhibiting and others for meat production.
Breeding differs depending on the goal of the breeder. The traits of the chickens are taken into consideration.
If a breeder is looking at breeding solely with the aim of laying eggs, he looks for the trait of “fecundity”, which is the ability to lay eggs. Egg laying chickens are much smaller in size, as their food intake is less and directed towards creating eggs and not body mass. These egg laying chickens are further categorized into two groups depending on the colour of the shell, white shelled eggs or brown shelled eggs. Chickens that eat more or those that brood are said to be unfit for laying eggs.
Breeding for the purpose of exhibiting the chickens requires totally different traits, such as good looks and plumage color. Chickens that have feathers on their feet are not fit for exhibiting. Basically, a healthy and good looking chicken is what they look for.
Those looking to breed chickens for their meat, look for particular traits in the chickens. Chicken varieties that have the capability to grow larger and faster and birds that are most efficient at converting their feed to meat are best suited. Their food intake is solely for the purpose of increasing the flesh and hence these chickens do not lay as many eggs as the egg laying variety. Another trait breeders look for is their resistance to infection.
A person interested in breeding, should select the characteristics that are most important for the purpose the chickens are intended. There are several breeds of birds and each type is genetically developed in order to satisfy the requirement.
Matthew Smith has been working with poultry for many years. Advice is offered on keeping poultry and the different types of chicken breeds.
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Categories: Raising Chicken Tags: Breeding, chicken, Purpose
Cool Chicken Breeding images
Check out these chicken breeding images:
Chickens run from the camera
Image by johnpaulgoguen
Chicken
Image by Kent Wang
A local specialty breed of chicken. The way they kill the bird is by smashing its head on the sidewalk right in front of you.
Chicken soup
Image by Kent Wang
This breed of chicken is known for its flavor but is not very meaty.
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Categories: Raising Chicken Tags: Breeding, chicken, cool, images
Categories: Raising Chicken Tags: Been, Breeding, chicken
Cool Chicken Breeding images
Some cool chicken breeding images:
Eggs-tra Special for You, Happy Easter!
Image by cobalt123
These eggs are naturally colored, by the breed of the chickens my friend raises on her ranch near Casa Grande, Arizona. Starlene says that one of her hens always produces the green ones. The breed is called "Araucana’, nicknamed the Easter Egg chicken, with more information in the linked wikipedia article. These are just too pretty to do any other decorating with. Hope my grand-daughters enjoy them Easter morning. And with this image, my Easter greetings to all of you, my friends.
chickens
Image by perpetualplum
This color illustration is from Webster’s New Illustrated Dictionary Based on Noah Webster’s dictionary, revised and edited by Edward T. Roe and Charles Leonard-Stuart. The book was published by Syndicate Publishing Company of New York in 1911.
This image is another color bird illustration. This time it’s chickens. The title is "Types of Leading Breeds of American Pure Bred Fowl". The image has a copyright of 1910 by F.E. Wright.
Cosmopolitan Chicken family tree
Image by Le.Mat
The artist is breeding chicken to create a "superbastard". Just the opposite breeders usualy do. He’s ‘playing’ with themes like race, nationalism, genetics…
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Guide To Dog Breeding Business Ebook.
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Make Money By Breeding Dogs And Working At Home. Discover The Secrets To A Responsible And Profitable Dog Breeding Business.
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