Stock Types

Like most livestock or pure breeds of animal, they are frequent sold according to a level of criteria they meet, and in this respect chickens are no different.

 

Show Quality Stock

By definition, an example of a breed that is deemed as being of show or exhibition quality is a bird that exhibits all the visual appearances required for the standard of that particular breed and plumage type that, at the right time of year, and when prepared for an exhibition, would stand a chance of being placed and receiving a rosette. The key points here are “visual appearance” and “standards”. Show quality birds meet the requirements of the show bench, even if they do not necessarily meet the original requirements or intentions in the development of the breed. For example, an Orpington was originally an excellent laying bird with good table qualities. It is now predominantly a profusely feathered ornament, whose utility value has long since been lost in the drive for excellence on the show bench.

This is a point worth bearing in mind when setting out to purchase a pure breed, as show quality birds may serve you well in a show but not in the kitchen.

 

Breeder Quality Stock

This is stock that will have some defect within its features that would prohibit it from taking any honours at a show, but does have the genetic makeup and potential to be used to breed a showing winning bird. It is a common misconception that two show winners, when bred together, will automatically produce many more show winners. They don’t, and, in fact, they rarely will.

 

Pet Quality Stock

There is nothing wrong with this level of quality if all you are looking for are chickens that provide a bit of interaction and perhaps lay a few eggs into the deal along the way. Usually, these are pure breed chickens that are sub-show-standard, and shouldn’t be used as part of a pure breed breeding programme. It doesn’t make them any less of a chicken, but it also doesn’t mean they are necessarily pet-like in their behaviour, or docile in their temperament. You still need to make sure you select the right sort of breed if that is what you are looking for from your stock.

 

Utility Stock

This is almost synonymous with the term ‘dual purpose’, as it refers to chickens that will serve the keeper well both in terms of eggs and meat. It is worth mentioning here as ‘utility’ is a function that is increasingly becoming recognised within the show circuit. The Sussex breed, for example, enjoys a buoyant show presence when plumage etc., are judged, but increasingly,the utility value of the bird is being considered and favoured above its look. If purchasing pure breed chickens with their practical livestock aspects in mind, as opposed to showing, then seeking out a good utility line is important (just as looking for good layer or table lines are, if those are the requirements you have). There is many a show winning Leghorn, a breed renown for laying huge numbers of eggs, that has had that characteristic lost through breeding purely for show qualities .

Advertisements

As Spring Approaches….

“‘Now that the growing season has started are there any ornamental plants I can grow that my chickens can benefit from?”

There are a number of garden ornamentals that make great grain and seed providers for your flock come the autumn, but put on a stunning display during the main of the growing season. Sunflowers come in a vast range of varieties with something suitable for most gardens. Once the plant has gone over, you can either harvest the seed adding a little to their feed or simply give them the whole head! Foxtail barley can be grown pretty much anywhere and is a far better source of protein than corn, and if you have a particularly warm or sunny aspect to the garden then why not try ornamental millet? Both make perfect partners for more naturalistic planting styles, and let’s face it, if you are ranging chickens in your garden then you are probably erring more of the au naturel garden so why not throw flowers and forage together in one.

 

Egg producers urged to be ready to protect from ‘year round’ bird flu threat – Farming UK News

Last year I predicted this threat could well become a reality in terms of keeping birds indoors and under cover for 6 months of the year. I didn’t want to imagine it could become a year round issue. There will be some tough decisions and tough times ahead for backyarders, the Fancy and poultry shows if this is what the future holds.

Source: Egg producers urged to be ready to protect from ‘year round’ bird flu threat – Farming UK News

A Brief Appearance on BBC Midlands Today talking about Avian Flu

In case you don’t live in the Midlands area or didn’t get to see me pointing out of the anomalies in one country applying HRAs (High Risk Areas) and the neighbouring country not following suit.

 

My thanks to David for picking up on the story, it ran for most of the day and gave the issue and avian flu some much needed coverage

(it even fulfilled a life time ambition of mine by making it on to Farming Today on Radio 4)

A Critical Incident Reflection from the Chicken Coop

Critical incidents are occurrences that let us see, with new eyes, some aspect of what we do. The critical incident in question is the outbreak of bird flu this winter, and whilst at time of writing we seem to be emerging, to some degree, from the strict prevention orders, it has given me a little time to reflect on what has just happened.

Reflection is something I’ve been taught and encouraged to do whilst studying for a Masters however I’ve recently found it useful to apply to the poultry breeding part of my life.

You simply ask yourself three questions, what happened, so what and now what.

What happened? – Europe, including the UK, was hit by bird flu over the winter of 2016/17

So what? – It resulted in a prevention order being implemented in December 2016, extended, and then extended with modification possibly until April 2017. This required enhanced biosecurity measures to be applied and birds to be kept indoors or in covered runs to minimise the risk of contact with infected wild birds. Not a simple task for a poultry keeping regime that relies on a free range, outdoor livestock.

 

The winters also seem to be increasingly wild and unpredictable in terms of their weather and it is safe to say that a husbandry technique that is built around free range and pastured rearing of poultry doesn’t work in gale force weather.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now what? – In the short term my breeding programme is at best delayed, at worst abandoned for the 2017 season. My maintenance costs for the winter have escalated and I have limited stock available for the markets and auctions; not that there have been any to sell through due to restrictions on poultry gatherings, consequently my income from poultry for the year will be hit.

In the longer term is this really a one off. or will next winter result in the same problem or possibly the arrival of H5N9? I will assume that prevention orders will the occur in future years, and as it seems that “lock downs” are the easiest way for the authorities to minimise the risk of bird flu impacting poultry, then I will spend the summer months adjusting my husbandry regime such that I can fully free range in the summer (should there be no prevention orders in place), and I can contain the stock under cover during the winter months, should bird flu and the associated prevention orders reoccur.

It will be a different way of working and I suspect there will be more to consider than just the housing, however I’m not convinced that this is the last we will see of these types of prevention measures that we backyarders and smallholders have had to implement, so I encourage you all to look back and reflect in readiness for the next time it happens.

More sugar coating of egg production – aka Alternative Facts

So…fancy some alternate facts? Read this emotional ‘plea’ to ‘save’ spent hens. They are barely a year old and looking for new homes Source: Hens could be slaughtered – unless people don’t come forward to offer them new homes – Coventry Telegraph

Yep, you read it right, farmer goes and buys 5,000 hens, puts them in a system where once they reach that ripe old age of around 72 weeks they are so desperately in need of a rest from laying eggs and want to moult that they slow down layning and therefore cease to be economically viable so get killed

It is the nature of that farming system. The ‘product’ or should we say livestock consequence is referred to as a ‘spent hen’. The value of a spent hen is around 10-30p per bird. All will go for processing returning a small payment of at least £500. Not much and but it is how millions of hens are disposed of because that is the nature of commercial egg production. Sell them all for £2.50 and you make a tidy £12,500 instead. Sure not all of them will get sold via that channel but sell 1000 and you get £2,500 plus the £400 for the remainder to be sold as ‘spent’, a far more tidy outcome for the disposal of a by-product of egg production.

I know I’m preaching to the converted if you read this blog but for the sake of the hens, poultry keepers and the industry as a whole, lets have a bit of transparency and stop inferring the producer is anything other than complicit in the fate of such animals and start reporting the actual facts.

And if you feel you might have read this rant before by me then you are not wrong… it was almost a year to the day that a similar story appeared in a paper and I blogged on it then

 

 

Farmers, Smallholders Warned Not to Feed Kitchen Scraps to Animals – The Poultry Site

UK – The Animal and Plant Health Agency is warning farmers and smallholders not to feed catering or kitchen waste to livestock such as pigs and poultry, even if they are being kept as pets.

Source: Farmers, Smallholders Warned Not to Feed Kitchen Scraps to Animals – The Poultry Site