Survivability and production of heritage breed egg layers on pasture in Delmarva

Survivability and production of heritage breed egg layers on pasture in Delmarva

Summary

On Spring Morning Farm LLC. we are conducting a study comparing two different breeds of heritage chickens. I am studying growth rates, feed consumption, egg production and predator losses. I am looking at Delaware and Ameraucana chickens. The Delaware was purpose bred for the Delmarva Peninsula. Originating in Georgetown DE it was the most popular broiler grown in the region until the introduction of the Cornish Rock Cross and confinement housing methods. The Ameraucana has a more controversial history entering the States in the early 1900’s from Chile in South America.

Accomplishments/Milestones

Both breeds have proven to have good field survivability, with the only predator loss occurring with a Delaware who hopped the fence and was killed by a raccoon. The Ameraucanas have regularly (daily) flown over the fences and roamed the fields without loss so far. The Delawares have almost always respected the fences, staying inside.

The Delawares have grown faster to a larger size than the Ameraucanas. The Delawares eat more (60 to 100 % ) on a average daily basis. And they lay more (up to 250%) more eggs of larger size. They have shown signs of eagerly eating their own eggs. They have also aggressively bullied the Ameraucanas in mixed flock situations. The Ameraucanas have not eaten any of their own eggs so far.

The Delawares are easier to handle allowing themselves to be caught with bare hands while the Ameraucanas actively resist being handled usually necessitating the use of a landing net to catch them. The Delawares are aggressively friendly eating the grass seed off my boots, actively attacking my legs. They will jump into my arms to get at a cup of scratch grain I am carrying. The Ameraucanas are much shyer engaging in none of the mentioned behavior. They are vary wary of their environment and will alarm and flee with panic into shelter at things that the Delawares merely stand and look at. Low flying planes, leaves blowing in the wind, moving shadows are all things that I have observed to panic the Ameraucanas.

Overall it is becoming obvious that the Delaware are an excellent choice for small flock operations. They can be counted on to lay a large number of eggs and to reach a market weight in heritage broiler operations in 16 weeks.

The project is still ongoing with data collection and analysis continuing. The analysis summaries will be published at the end of the last scheduled public outreach. The first public outreach is scheduled for 01/16/2013 as part of Delaware Ag week.

As expected Dr Brigid McCrea has been extremely valuable in the examination and analysis of the data collected so far.

Collaborators: