Thursday, March 28, 2013

Good forager chicken for your backyard

Naturally, a chicken loves grass and weed. The ancestor, red jungle fowl also loves he grass and weeds. They can control the grass or weed population. Some people consider to raise the chicken because its ability to control grass or weed population.
Placing some flock chicken is cheaper than ordering other people to cut the grass or weed.  The chicken also can drop organic fertile manure that is better than chemical. For your information, chicken manure is better than other animal manure because its consist more nitrogen.  You do not have to buy the chemical fertilizer that can pollute the soil.
Some people are disappointed after placing a flock of chicken. The chicken does not eat any grass. They just bite and throw it. The owner thinks every chicken like grass or weed. In reality, some chicken do not like grass or weed. I have ever raised Bangkok Chicken that does not like grass and weed. They just like paddy or pellet. I have also raised barred Plymouth Rock that does no like vegetable.
Only some chicken loves grass and weed. If you want to raise chicken for good forager, you need to buy the right chicken. Ask the seller which chicken breed that is good as good forager. For example, Buckeye is one of he good forager. It is also large class chicken from America that can provide white meat and fresh eggs. Beside buckeye you can consider Holland, Dominique, Java, Weisumer, Minorca, Blue Andalusian, Dorking and others. The chicken that comes from your yard must be safer than the chicken from farm because the food is grass or grain. You will not use the medicine or vaccine for he chicken too.
You should always remember that chicken also like your plant beside grass and weeds. The chicken may eat your lovely flower too. You have better not to raise chicken if you plant some nice flower at your backyard.
The alternative of the chicken is goose. Goose is a good forager too. They prefer to eat grass rather than grain or poultry feed.  The goose can shout loudly when a stranger approaches them.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

The chicken breeds that right for you

I love care chicken in my house. I had small front yard, which is 6x 1.5 meter in wide. The front yard is not enough for raising some chicken. It is no enough even for bantam. The manure often disturbed me and my neighbors. Sometimes the chicken throws the feed that was also stinky. I was lazy to raise my chicken so my mom mad to me. I thought I was not deserved to raise the chicken in my front yard. I wondered to own large house so I could raise so many chickens in my house.
Before raise chicken in your house, you have to consider the space that you have. Also consider your neighbor. In my country, the space between neighbors is so close. The houses are built close enough. The chicken flock will disturb the neighbors too moreover you are lazy to clean the flock. You need the settlement that is not close to neighbors. The 10 x 10 meters back yard or front yard is enough to raise a flock of chicken that consist ten roster and ten hens.
You should consider the climate of your country. Some chicken cannot withstand to cold especially whose has thin plumage and wide comb. The frostbite can frost the wide comb and finally cause the chicken die. Unless you have a good pen with the heater, you are better to choose the chicken bird that withstand to cold such as Rhode Island Red, Plymouth Rock, New Hampshire and others.
Third, you can also consider the aim to raise the chicken. Some people want to raise the chicken for its egg or some other want to its meat. Raise the best layer chicken that can lay 300 eggs in a year such as White leghorn. You can also consider raising the dual purpose breed such as Rhode Island Red, Plymouth Rock and New Hampshire, which is lays so much eggs and produce nice meat too.
Some people raise the chicken for pet only. You can choose the chicken breed that is very tame and easy to hand. Most bantam is tame and easy to hand such as Japanese Bantam, Serama Bantam, and others. The Sebright is tame too but it often flies from your flock. Find the good forager for your garden that can control your grass and weed and also the bug such as cricket and grasshoppers.

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Cornish Chicken: The bulldog that produce much meat

The Chicken is famous because of its wide breasted. Not surprisingly, the breeder crosses the bird with other chicken to produce broiler chicken. Most chicken meat that we eat is a cross Cornish and white Plymouth Rock. The body of the chicken is round and the breast is so wide. The chicken is very heavy, weighing 10 pound. The hen is only 8 pound.
The chicken is available in white, dark, and red laced color. The game type is dark blue in color. The Cornish has also bantam type which is smaller than standard type.
The chicken was originated in Cornwall from the Malay chicken or other Asia Chicken. The aim of the originated was to produce the super fighting chicken; however, the cross results a heavy chicken. The Cornish has played role in broiler development. When it is crossed with Sussex or Dorking, it will produce meat chicken that you can raise at backyard.
Though it produces much eat, it lays few eggs. A hen only lays once in a week. The egg is small and light brown in color. That is why the chicken is a meat chicken breed. The chicken flesh color is white and good texture that people very like it.
The chicken was developed as the game bird. We can see the strong curve beak and the solid feet, that support the chicken to hits the other chicken. The deep set eyes look very cruel. They look want to eliminate any chicken that disturb it.
This chicken cannot withstand with cold area though it has small pea comb. The feather is so thick and sometimes the feathers do not cover some area of the skin. When the winter comes, the plumage cannot insulate the bird from the cold. The owner should provide the heater for the chicken.
The chicken is not good for backyard due it is not good foragers. The chicken also need bulk feed too.
The problem to raise the chicken is the fertility. The chicken has poor fertility and natural mating is very difficult for them to. The hen goes broody but the hatching level is not good. Perhaps the plumage does not cover the egg well. You will need the other hens or incubator machine. The chicken is good mom that guards its progeny. Sometimes we find the chick bite other chick. It must be ancestor's characters that inherent to the chick.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Is Red Jungle Fowl the polish chicken ancestor?

Many books, articles, blogs said that the red jungle chicken was the ancestor of most chicken. The red jungle that lives in South and South East Asia inherit some good chicken such as Rhode Island Red, Langshan, New Hampshire Red, and other. The red jungle descendant performance is better than the ancestor because it lays more eggs and produces more white meat.
I am not doubt that the famous breed chicken such as New Hampshire is the red jungle descendant because I see the similarity between New Hampshire and Red jungle fowl. Though New Hampshire is bigger than the jungle fowl, but it has similar single comb. The head shape is not different too. Both chicken has perfect long tail sickle at is back.
However, I am doubt that the polish chicken is a jungle fowl descendant it because the polish chicken is no similar to jungle fowl. The first time I saw the chicken, the chicken looks weird.  I could not see he eye of chicken because the crown cover its eye. The crown actually is the feather that grows longer. Sometimes the owner should cut he crown because the chicken will be difficult to walk or find food.
I have never seen he jungle fowl with ball crown. The comb of the polish is also different. It just has small v shape comb behind its beak. The comb looks like horn. Sometimes, we cannot see the comb because the feather covers it.
Unlike common chicken, the polish has no sickle tail feather. Both rooster and hen has similar shape tail. The rooster tails like common female hen. The size is also medium. The feet are shorter than the jungle fowl but it is longer than the bantam. Polish chicken is not a bantam too.