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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2012 20:11:07 GMT -7
Thanks TJ...but I just went back and reread what I wrote...I didn't edit it, but I could really tell I was medicated and a bit tongue tied...errr finger tied!  Guess I need to proof read my own typing a bit better when I am sick!!  |
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Post by wtrfwlr on Jun 21, 2012 20:57:46 GMT -7
Some breeds are better but most hens need rotated to the cooking pot every three years. Our 20 hens are 11/2 years old and we get 15 to 20 of the big brown eggs every day. One guy buys 4 doz every two weeks and another get two doz. With seven Grand kids here for the summer we will eat the rest. Once the kids leave I think we will hatch out 10 new hens, butcher 15 of the older ones and end up with five or six new layers and one rooster. After out test run on supplementing food if we had no feed store we have replaced chickens from the SHTF plan with quail. This summer we will turn 50 quail hens and 10 roosters loose at each bol and keep 10 hens and three quail as breed stock. If we want/need to butcher some we will just hatch out 30 and rotate our breeders. I hope this doesn't hi-jack this thread too badly but woodyz brought up a point that I would like to know more about. You mention that you intend to release your pen raised quail at or around your BOL's. Is that right? Are you going to monitor these birds some how? Banding or something? Have you done this successfully before? Are there established wild bird coveys in these areas? Is your intent to integrate these birds into the wild coveys to boost populations for a more reliably huntable gamebird/food source? My apologies for the list of questions. The reason for asking is that I enrolled in and completed a fairly extensive course in wildlife management that was held here in Arkansas. One program of our studies was concerning Bobwhite Quail. One of the teachers was a top ranking Quail Biologist and had done most of his work on the reintroduction and the propagation of Bobwhites in the South Eastern U.S. Without going back through all my books and notes in the end he concluded that all efforts to integrate pen birds into the wilds or even with established wild coveys failed miserably. If you have any more info on your intentions or past efforts I, for one would be very interested in learning more. We can move this and start a different thread if need be. |
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Post by Dennis on Jun 21, 2012 23:50:09 GMT -7
That's what is so cool about being around here, is all the learning stuff! So about those no-egg-laying-hens.....I gotta killer dumpling recipe!   Took care of the old girls last night moved the pullets over to the big house. My rooster isn't a happy camper though he really took good care of those hens. |
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Post by woodyz on Jun 22, 2012 0:17:42 GMT -7
wtrfwir. I do intend to release incubated and pen raised quail near our bols. I have never seen any wild quail and don't expect these to group at all.
I don't expect them to raise any young on their own, these pen raised birds sometimes act like the want to sit on eggs but they never last more that a couple of days.
My only intent is to release 50 birds I have do money in at the bol. I guess if I had any expectation it would be that if I was unable to transport any penned birds with me in a SHTF situation there may still be some of these around I could catch and pen again.
By next spring, if it has not become too troubled I will establish pens of breed stock at the bols. I have the water problem solved but I still need to determine the best way to insure feed. I don't want to pen any at a location I only visit once a month or less or where I may not be able to return to by any schedule.
I'm turning birds loose here at my primary location as well, so I will have a better idea how they fare on their own.
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Post by spartan300 on Jun 22, 2012 4:39:15 GMT -7
Remember that your egg production will vary depending on temperature. Our chickens go " on strike" to a degree during weather under 50 degress or during extreme heat in the Summer. They are also very sensitive to how many hours of light there are during the day. When the days get shorter they know it.
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Post by woodyz on Jul 20, 2012 18:01:28 GMT -7
We have twenty five chickens. We almost always get two doz eggs each day. The big brown ones. (See Pic) We almost always get two or three a day with dbl yokes. We have several people who buy our eggs every week. What we don't eat or sell in two weeks we recycle. By that I mean I will fix a batch of corn bread with maybe 20 eggs and their shells. The chickens love it and they get some material back to make better egg shells. They get grit and get turned out so the go to the gravel road to eat rocks.  Eggs will keep in the refrigerator for at least two weeks. Don't wash them to store. The have a film on the out side of the egg that keeps moisture and humidity out. Wash them before you cook them. |
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Guess I need to proof read my own typing a bit better when I am sick!! 
