[Charlie1234]

I might be interested in your cockerel If you still have him in around a month or so.

your more than welcome to him mate,im in no rush,will save him from the Freezer.

[macgro7]

Have a look at this video:
https://youtu.be/8g7bW4g9-cM
Those are king pigeons. Don't they look like Ross Cobb boilers??? They even walk in the same way.

[Dave C]

And we are back on line 

Sorry I must have pressed the wrong button   

Big thank you to Dan for sorting things 

[Dave C]

Have a look at this video:
https://youtu.be/8g7bW4g9-cM
Those are king pigeons. Don't they look like Ross Cobb boilers??? They even walk in the same way.

Them King pigeons look great, will be really interesting to see how much meat you get from them.

I shoot a lot of wood pigeons and luckily I have an endless supply, we love pigeon pitas with sour cream & salsa 

[Dave C]

Got some Indian Game & Sasso x Marans due to hatch Thursday.
Ones pipped already, I find the early starters generally don't finish!

[Charlie1234]

Mate phoned earlier + sasso chicks started to pip 
Keep you posted how many we get .

Thanks Dave C   

[macgro7]

 Poulet de Barbezieux hatched on Sunday.

Interestingly they are black with white bellies and the middle toe is also white.

I thought they might be crossed with something but apparently they have this pattern when hatches and then turn completely black.

[Dave C]

Looking forward to see how this breeds dose for you mate.

Is there many breeders in Uk?
Will gene pool be a problem?

And good luck keeping the fox away from them. 

[macgro7]

I only know of that one lady who breeds them in the UK and she had to import them last year from France and Germany- two separate lines at least.

[Dave C]

That's a good starting point mate and no doubt others will import as they become popular.

If they are unrelated it will buy you a good few years with careful breeding.

[Dave C]

Mate phoned earlier + sasso chicks started to pip 
Keep you posted how many we get .

Thanks Dave C   

Good luck with them mate 

Have you any other pure breeds hatching which you can use as a "Control" to compare / prove that the hybrids are worth doings?

[Charlie1234]

I had some cuckoo maran + barnevelder eggs given me for my birthday but they are 2 weeks away from due date.

I have been persuaded to incubate some Muscovy ducks next 

me + the mrs love a roast duck and supermarket birds have no real flavour. so I have local farmer coming up with his jcb to clear a patch of land that has tree stumps etc growing and some old buildings from 1950`s which are crumbling away. so a new pond + maybe some stables or a good sized shed put up there for them..

The IG chicks are growing nicely now and are only having the electric hen on overnight because its still pretty cool up here at night but we are 1800ft up. I will be moving them to the stable next door next week once I clear it out,pressure wash + disinfect it.

Will get some pics on once they are in.

[Dave C]

Sounds like you've as many projects as me mate 

You will be able to tell they grow like weeds after only a few days mate.
Any news on the hatch?

I've got some nice BLW bantams, some IG and some more Sasso x Marans hatching at the minute. 

[macgro7]

I had some cuckoo maran + barnevelder eggs given me for my birthday but they are 2 weeks away from due date.

I have been persuaded to incubate some Muscovy ducks next 

me + the mrs love a roast duck and supermarket birds have no real flavour.

Bare in mind muscovy eggs are quite tricky to hatch in the incubator. Much easier under broody.
Last year I let the female sit and she hatched 9 out of 10. In the incubator I only hatched 1 out of 12. Only set them as I lost the female, I'm sure she would do it much better than incubator...
Also they are completely different bird than superrmaket duck. First they are different species! They have no fat comparing to normal ducks. Thu taste more like lamb . Lots of meat though

[Charlie1234]

When we had the Business of eggs/poultry we hatched many different types and indeed muscovies were a little trickier. As iam getting 12 eggs for free i`ll give em a go.

Dave,C.. No news yet mate but I will be calling by over the weekend to see whats happening with the hatch.