Hi, My name is erika and I live in cali and I have been raising bantam leghorns for 3 years now and have done well with my roosters. I have at least had 2 champions with my roosters. My hens on the other hand well they don't do very well at all. I need help in what to do. I want some decent hens to help improve my flock. Please help thanks(-:
Erika, Have you hatched chicks and kept pullets from the hatches? If your roosters do not improve the chicks from your hens, in spite of being Champions themselves, they can not be expected to do much better, if any better, from new, unrelated hens. Breeding is a long term project, and sometimes continually selecting the best birds from what you hatch will get you ahead faster than bringing in new blood. It takes longer, but select and cull, is the name of the game. When you do breeding this way, eventually, you will raise few culls and fairly uniform hatches. Don't be impatient, 3 years isn't very long, if the selection of your chicks for the next generation is with a good eye. You can buy Champions, but what you do in the breeding program after that is what is important. Give your hens a good look and hatch eggs from the best one--if your roosters are good producers, the offspring should be better each time. Good luck, CJR
By Cjeanr on Wednesday, March 24, 1999 - 04:14 pm: