Catskill Homesteader Chickens - Breeding Goals:

1. Active Forager

• CURRENT:: Actively seeks out fresh grass, loves to dig in compost piles, eats food scraps, bugs, etc

  • 2016 - Did a short-term experiment where I only fed one breeding group 1 or 2 buckets of dry layer mash, but went a few days to a week on food scraps, weeds from the garden, and insects from the compost piles, which they actively dug in throughout the day. Plus, they ate fresh greens from the grass paddocks whenever they wanted. They continued to lay eggs, only dropping in production a little. However, soon after, many hens chose to go broody & hatch eggs. I don't know it that's related or not, but I returned to giving them free choice dry layer mash, so they can supplement what they are foraging.

    • 2019-2020 - roughly a year the chickens & meat turkeys lived on BULK food scraps and insects from the compost piles, grass from the paddocks, and didn't purchase any grain! Simply because of the quantity of food waste I was collecting through Delhi Community Compost. They continued producing eggs and chicks, so it was a success. Unfortunately, the source of bulk food waste stopped and after several months of only "compost" in stages of decomposition, their productivity started to decline. So, had to return to primarily grain-fed. 

• GOAL: Little or no supplemental grain needed during summer months (diet based mostly on foraging - if supplied with enough compost, bugs, red wigglers, pasture, etc)

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2. Predator Savvy

•       CURRENT:: Roosters alert flock & hens usually take cover; roosters more of a flight vs fight type. Will alert but have not witnessed them being protective. Hens alert to danger & will often spot ariel predators.

•      GOAL: All hens run for cover at rooster's "predator alert" call, and roosters stand guard, willing to protect if necessary. But, roosters remain non-aggressive with humans, as they are now.

3.  Winter Hardy - Locally Adapted to NY Weather, which is constantly changing day to day!​

• CURRENT: Mix of single and small combs, plus the floppy Leghorn combs, prone to frostbite. At least 2/3 of the roosters have smaller combs, so that'll help future generations. Use 14-16 hours of supplemental lighting for the hens during the winter, so maintained egg production. About 1/2 to 3/4 of the chickens left the coop even on the coldest and snowiest days, without putting down hay or bedding on the ground. Some hens preferred to stay in the coop or underneath it.

• HISTORY: Mix of single & smaller combs, but hardly any frostbite in hens. Single comb roosters sometimes get minor frostbite on combs. Young pullets & most hens continue to lay well through winter with supplemental light. In winter of 2015-2016, stopped using long-day lighting, and while some hens did molt & go through cycle of winter "resting", there was still plenty of pullets & adult hens laying eggs. Winter 2014-2015, used hay to encourage hens to come out of coops during the day. Winter 2015-2016 was mostly very mild, but when it did snow, I didn't use hay on top of the snow unless it got dirty. I noticed a difference as these subsequent generations are becoming bolder in the winter, all running out of the coops to drink, eat food, see if there's anything to forage for, etc. On cold days, they do return to the coops or shelter to warm up, but no heat lamps for these chickens! They get fresh air and can go outside in rain/snow/sleet if they so choose.

• GOAL: Mostly/all small combs, or at least small combed roosters. Single combs ok in hens, if meet other qualities, but large floppy single combs not acceptable. Hens & pullets continue to lay through winter with supplemental light, unless molting. Thick down & feathers to keep warm; active and foraging, even when cold and snow on the ground.

4. Healthy & Hardy

• CURRENT: Healthy - no known diseases or illnesses; though there's usually a small % of chicks and adolescents  that "fail to thrive" - but that's part of the process to not "pamper" them but to encourage the strongest to survive. The chicks are raised in the barn, in brooders equipped with heating plates, but they have to "brave" the ambient temperature to eat and drink. Mimics the natural "broody hen" environment, rather than heat lamps, which also have a high fire risk and heats the "entire" area. It makes them feather faster, get used to various temperatures and how to adapt to survive. We wean off the heat as quickly as possible, to conserve electricity and encourage the chicks to self-regulate their temperature.

•  GOAL: Strong immune system, improve survival rate in chicks and young stock; disease & stress tolerant

5. Colorful feathers

• Current: The first hatch of 2023, we got a lot of blacks, blues, white, some "chipmunk" and varied colors. I discovered one of the main Easter / Olive egger roosters carried "dominant black", so removed him from the flock, to promote more diversity. 

• History: Variety of Solid Colors, Patterned, -

  • Hens: mostly browns, black, black & white barred, blue, white; unique multicolored patterns.

  • Roosters: red, red/white, black, brown, black & white barred, white, blue; generally, more colorful than hens w/ two or more contrasting colors

• GOAL: Wider Variety of Colors, Mostly Patterned, Laced, Multi-colored Barred, Mottled, Spangled, etc; My personal favorite is blues, the Bielefelder or Legbar pattern. Basically, so you never know what color they’ll be or their offspring will produce. Preferably three or more colors all throughout; solid (except for blues)  “plain” feathered chickens not preferred.

6. "Easter Eggs" - wide range of colors

• CURRENT: - Shades of green, blue/green, green, olive, cream light brown, medium brown, dark brown, pink, white

• GOAL: Various shades of blue, green, tan, light brown, dark brown, pink, terracotta; generally the same, just a wider range of shades in each color group. 

7.  Productive Layers

• CURRENT: Need to sort/ cull hens to weed out non-productive or low productive hens. 

• HISTORY: (With supplemental winter light) - Lay pretty much year-round, except for when molting and broody; Each hen varies, but I’d estimate young pullets & hens lay every 1-2 days, until they’re 18 months old, then it’s every 2-3 days, with occasional several days in a row, with a day or two break in between. Don’t know exactly how each hen lays once they’re 2 - 2 ½ year old & older, as they're generally in large groups. Size wise, they vary from Medium to Jumbo, but majority are large to extra large. Pullets from 2014 were laying (in 2015) pretty large, often Jumbo double-yolkers, which they stopped. Shell quality - both genetic and feed-based; mostly nice, thick shells; older hens tend to have “bumps” or thinner shells.

• GOAL: Lay year round (except for molting and brooding) with or without lighting. Would prefer long-term layers, rather than high production and quick "burn-out". 

8. Dual-purpose for Meat

• CURRENT: Most were bred from egg production lines, so it takes 4-6 months to reach to "butcher size". But hopefully, can increase size over time and using better quality, stocky roosters. 

• HISTORY:

• • (2016) - Tried to separate young cockerels & feeding them higher protein (27%) turkey starter feed, in hopes to improve the amount of meat on them. June - processed a 6 month old cock who was 1/4 bantam cochin - he was skinny, but to be expected for part bantam. The higher protein feed helped some, but not worth the extra cost. 

  • (2014-2015) Hens and roosters from hatchery egg production background are generally skinny and don’t have a lot of meat on their bones. Okay for soup, but not good conversion ratio for amount of feed to amount of meat. Hens & roosters from Freedom Ranger meat hybrid line show promise of improving size and weight, even muscling more than non-FR siblings the same age. Some of the cockerels processed in 2015 showed improvement in size.

• GOAL: Not trying to compete with the Cornish Rock “big boys”, but at least enough meat on the roosters and old hens that it’s worth the work to processes them. No established weight goal yet, as ratio of meat to bone is more important than overall size.

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