Newbie needing info for chook selection

Alicat79 · **Joined:** Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:22 am **Posts:** 8

He everyone. I'm finally getting the chooks i've always wanted. I've decided on either 2 Frizzles or Pekin Bantams. The ultimate for me would be a full size laying hen that didn't make to much of a mess of the bark but i will probably have to comprimise.
If i go Bantams, i'm reading up on breeding them since they are so had to get (not necessarily for showing but just pet quality) so here are my questions:
1. How much noise does a bantam roster make compared to a general full size rooster?
2. Do people actually buy or take on roster offspring or will i have to cull them?
3. Do rosters mate with there offspring? If so is this good or bad?
That will do for now. Thanks for your help.

Peter16 · **Posted:** Wed Oct 08, 2008 12:37 pm

1.Varies greatly, some people say their bantams are far louder then their full size birds, others say they hardly hear boo out of them, it just depends on the bird
2.people do buy them, but if they are pet quality they will be even harder to sell, many people just offer them free. so culling is not the only solution.
3. They would mate with their offspring once their babies mature. Its probably not a good idea to hatch any inbred eggs.
click here to see what to do with roosters.

click here to read about inbreeding

Hope all that helped a little

Alicat79 · **Joined:** Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:22 am **Posts:** 8

Thanks peter, I cked out your link. I can't imagine killing a cute little Frizzle but i get the general idea. :lol:

Also another very nieve question for you. Is there a difference between a plain old egg layers eggs and a fertilised but not incubated egg? When they say to not 'hatch the eggs', do they throw them or can you still eat them?

Peter16 · **Posted:** Wed Oct 08, 2008 2:44 pm

lots of people eat their fertilized eggs, i haven't myself, but there is no taste difference or little chick in the egg.
Someone with better knowledge in that department will give you a more detailed answer.

County Lodge · **Posted:** Wed Oct 08, 2008 2:48 pm

Hi, I will add some thing as well.

Some bantam roosters can be quite loud others not much noise at all. Depends on the bird.

Pekin bantams are not as messy in the garden as most chooks but will still spread you bark a bit.

The offspring cockerels you should be able to sell or give away. Pekin boys are not to difficult to find new homes for regardless of show or pet quality.

Yes roosters mate with their offspring. Daughters to fathers (or sons to mothers) which is referred to as 'line breeding' is done all the time by breeders. Even 'in breeding', brother to sister, is done on occasion if a particular quality is wanted.

You can eat fertile eggs as they do not begin to develope until you incubate them. So if you collect the eggs and put them in the fridge, these eggs are fine for eating. If you collect the eggs and begin to incubate them either by leaving them under a hen for more than 24 hours or place them in the incubator for more than 24 hours, these are not suitable for eating as they would have already begun to develope and you may get a nasty little surprise when you crack it open.

Alicat79 · **Joined:** Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:22 am **Posts:** 8

Thanks for your help. Some things are a bit hard to find in books!

Drew Smith · **Posted:** Thu Oct 09, 2008 11:38 am

So true and many are written overseas :-?

Cheers Drew Smith

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