Meat birds

[frustratedearthmother]

Dorkings certainly won't help your egg production much! But they are delicious!

True! And, I heard that they were decent about going broody...I only had one hen EVER go broody and that was a Red Dorking that I got from a breeder. My Silver Gray's from a hatchery never did.

 

[treerooted]

Dorkings certainly won't help your egg production much! But they are delicious!

Lol, yes, they will be part of the "meat program". And if the hens are broody I'll be using that feature as well

 

[NH Homesteader]

I think they breed out the broodiness in favor of higher egg production. Now that I think of it, my hatchery birds haven't had much luck setting.

This year we aren't ordering chickens from anywhere, unless we do a small batch of Doms from a somewhat local breeder (Maine). It's turkey ordering year. (which is an issue in itself due to two main breeders having flock issues). The following year we'll order more chicken breeding stock from a breeder to improve on what we have.

 

[Beekissed]

I kept track of egg production back in the day and then year before last I did a whole calendar year of production, just writing the eggs laid each day, totaling up each month, then doing a year's total. Just used a small desk calendar for all of that, it's easier to document things like hatches, laying, POL, etc. on a desk calendar, then store it away at the end of the season as a paper copy of the year.

I should have kept track last season, as it was truly the best laying season of any flock I've ever owned, bar none. I think I'll start keeping track in Jan. again just to see if they do it again.

 

[NH Homesteader]

I keep track of feed consumption for everyone and feed:weight ratios for pigs and meat birds. I know exactly how much we've spent at the feed store this year and exactly how much our cost is per lb for meat in the freezer. Never been good about doing the same for eggs, but we usually just get enough for us and my parents, who we give eggs to.

I would like to keep milk records for myself this year also, but we'll see how I do with that!

 

[sumi]

It would be very interesting to see records for feed input and egg, meat and milk return for all your livestock for a year. To see how financially viable keeping livestock is on a hobby scale, like you're doing.

NH Homesteader, you are going to be kept busy by a new human soon, but if you, or someone(s) else here can do something like that?

 

[NH Homesteader]

I can TRY! Lol I'm not raising pigs this year though, so that'll be missing. I'll have DD help me keep track of eggs even.

 

[sumi]

Whatever you can do will be awesome

 

[NH Homesteader]

I'll make myself a spreadsheet I have OCD tendencies about that sort of thing and studied in a field that was very data-driven so it won't be too terrible for me.

And yes it counts to keep track of feed purchases!

 

[sumi]

A basic outgoing (feed, etc) and incoming (milk, meat, eggs) would be good, FEM. It would be interesting to see how profitable/worthwhile livestock keeping on a small scale is. Who knows, you may end up very surprised!