poultry

[MOhillbilly]

Chiefs.suck. bores the **** outta me. Birds are more interesting.
Ducks,geese,pea fowl, chickens, what do you prefer? Taste,eggs,ornamental?

Have some sexlink red pullets that threw eggs like champs all winter. couple ducks, and turkeys.

Thinking about getting some naked necks and Delawares.

Spill it.

[Pennywise]

I tried raising chickens but all my roosters kept getting arrested for rape.

[Groves]

My google-fu is weak, can't remember where.

Brown coloring comes from a duct in the canal, and only colors the outside of the egg.

A color like blue comes from the bile duct instead, and colors the shell through and through.

There are some south american birds that have brown through and through, but the birds we encounter will only have brown on the surface.

You've likely had some reds in the past that weren't every day layers, but i'm sure their eggs weren't all magically chocolate like a maran.

Clearly genetics has a lot to do with it, even though laying frequency can affect it some.

There's a whole world of folks trying to breed the darkest eggs, so if you can hit the jackpot of super dark and super prolific, the world would be your oyster.

[MOhillbilly]

Shit not like I have anything better to do. Tried like hell to upload some picks of my turkeys. Wouldn't load.

[Buck]

Blackened chicken on the bbq is my fave poultry.

[KS Smitty]

There's a family here that has a hen house on wheels. They just move it every few months. It's the silliest looking thing.

Can't beat fresh farm eggs. We get ours from a local lady and not only are they bigger but the yolks are orange and stand up like a firm boobie. The flavor is so much more eggy too.

We'd have hens but we have no room.

Had some friends that raised ducks. We spent the night at their place and slept in the van. Damn ducks muttered all night. Sounded like a bunch of old men talking and laughing. Decided right then we're not keeping ducks.

[WV]

Not having had fresh eggs in a long long time....are any in the stores close? I buy Egglands Best and like them, but still doubt they are similar.

[El Jefe]

Originally Posted by MOhillbilly

Ok, second part of this is how could you darken the egg shell pigment and keep the production? I thought about a separate yard of morans and breeding next years pullets back to the red rooster. Thoughts?

The only thing I have seen do it was oyster shells, an old timer told me that oyster shells can darken shells and harden them. Outside of that I have never researched it further, so I'm not sure of the relevance of selective breeding, though I'm sure it plays a part.

[KS Smitty]

[WV]

Originally Posted by KS Smitty

I supposed they move it to use it as a method of spreading the chicken poo for fertilizer? I've seen smaller cages people use like that so the chickens eat the bugs and poo on the lawn.

[KS Smitty]

Originally Posted by WV

I supposed they move it to use it as a method of spreading the chicken poo for fertilizer? I've seen smaller cages people use like that so the chickens eat the bugs and poo on the lawn.

Yes and to keep the pasture from turning to dirt. It's a good idea but looks silly as hell.

[El Jefe]

Originally Posted by KS Smitty

Yes and to keep the pasture from turning to dirt. It's a good idea but looks silly as hell.

Silly looking yes, functional, most definitely, especially if you have a tiny flock.