June 23, 2025

Smart Selectioon-Part 2

Show Notes
Transcript

In this powerful continuation of our Smart Selection series, we dig deeper into how to make informed, effective breeding decisions for your poultry flock. Whether you're selecting for meat, eggs, show quality, or broodiness, this episode is packed with real-life examples, practical tips, and honest conversations about how to assess and improve your birds.

We cover the importance of early environment, tracking maturity rates, identifying “early bloomers” vs. late-developers, the power of journaling your observations, and the tools and techniques serious poultry keepers use to evaluate birds objectively and efficiently.

You’ll hear about managing emotional bias, selecting from the middle of the bell curve, using calipers, color-coded bands, and even lighting tips to enhance bird evaluation. Plus, we discuss trap nesting, pedigree mating, and creating sustainable, well-balanced flocks that meet your goals—whether you’re breeding for the table, the egg basket, or the showroom.

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WEBVTT

00:00:00.050 --> 00:00:03.370
Welcome to another episode of the Poultry Keepers Podcast.

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Today John Gunterman, Mandelyn Royal, and Rip Stallvee finish their discussion on Smart Selection tips.

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So, lets get right to it, we'll pick up where we left off last week.

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I do think it's important to get them being raised at their destination farm as soon as possible.

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Because the local environment and your husband's reef practices will affect the development of that bird.

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So the longer they spend here.

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The worst for the breeding process going forward.

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If they're destined for that farm, they need to get there as soon as possible and get under their, that specific care and management regimen, because that will affect their development, especially at this early age.

00:00:54.530 --> 00:00:55.280
Yeah, that's true.

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So Gwyneth, come get these turkeys.

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I, I think one thing that folks who are fairly new to breeding.

00:01:02.625 --> 00:01:07.965
Need to remember is that there's a difference in maturity rates.

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Maturity rates between meat type birds, layer type birds and standard bread type birds.

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It's not all the same.

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It's, the information on the internet makes, it sounds like the birds are gonna be all mature at 20 weeks and yada yada, and that's just not Nope.

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True.

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Doesn't work that way so much.

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It'll vary.

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Depends on where they came from.

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Yeah.

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It'll vary within the same breed.

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Oh, absolutely.

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Bloodline's a bud line, they're gonna be a little bit different one to another.

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And the reason is because one breeder's selecting for something and the other breeder may not be selecting for that same quality.

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But by spending time with the birds.

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We can learn within our breed.

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Some traits you're gonna show earlier and some are gonna wait until much later.

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They're not all going to be at the same rate.

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And hopefully the breeder you source from is also willing to mentor on the genetics you actually have.

00:02:08.975 --> 00:02:09.195
Yes,

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because

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they have all that information from all the previous generations.

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Definitely.

00:02:14.661 --> 00:02:21.200
And speaking of having all the information one thing I would encourage listeners to do is to keep a journal.

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When you're sit out and you're observing your birds make notes, just jot down what because I guarantee you, you're gonna forget it if you don't.

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Oh, we're a podcast.

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You can't see the binoculars that are in my hand and my window overlooking the yard.

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But the the a BA wing sorry, leg bands you really can't see with the binoculars.

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Can't read the numbers.

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But I do mark my birds with alcohol-based gel food coloring.

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And they're distinctive out in pasture'cause they're white birds.

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And if they're running around with pink plumage or green plumage or blue plumage in a big splash, I'm like, oh, I know who you are from a distance

00:03:01.241 --> 00:03:02.020
makes a difference,

00:03:02.741 --> 00:03:06.431
especially when I've got a hen going over the wire and laying out in the wild.

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And I want those eggs for several reasons, which we've already covered one of the,

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I'm your notes here.

00:03:13.330 --> 00:03:13.570
Yeah.

00:03:14.126 --> 00:03:22.265
Where you're talking about late maturing bloodlines, we kind of touched on that a little bit, but then also the early bloomers that fade out in quality.

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Oh man.

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Now that is

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a trap I have encountered, I've seen that where I pick an early favorite and we go through the duration of growth and the next thing you know, there's 10 other birds that are better than that one.

00:03:33.605 --> 00:03:34.746
You're exactly right.

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It's, I find that I wind up picking my birds that I keep from that sort of middle group of the flock.

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Yeah.

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A lot of them turn out to not the real stellar

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early, early bloomers.

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Early matures, fast growers and not the nedo wells over here, but those in the middle of the flock tend to give me the most consistency down the road.

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Sure.

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And if you take that weekly growth or daily weight data.

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On each bird and chart it in a bell curve.

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You're gonna know exactly where the center of your flock is, and you'll be able to make your selection from the middle of that bell curve and at three weeks.

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And there's a lot of consistency to their later growth rate based upon their early growth rate.

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It's almost an exact mirror, just enlarged.

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It's pretty cool and

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you can't take too many notes.

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Nope.

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The more information you have, the better decisions you can make.

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Very true.

00:04:35.290 --> 00:04:39.581
And we've talked about doing this criteria on a cohort basis, right?

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Having birds of the same age together, even a week different in hatch date, can make A difference later on down the line.

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And there are times where, I do band, wing band, everybody with a different color wing band based upon hatch.

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And eventually I will take the slower maturing birds and throw them in, a week or two back, you're being held back in first or second grade to develop a little bit more'cause they're not ready,

00:05:03.771 --> 00:05:03.952
but you banned'em.

00:05:03.952 --> 00:05:04.971
So you know the who they are.

00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:12.350
I know who they are and they've already been disqualified, but they're still gonna make maybe a good layer or maybe a good meal.

00:05:13.250 --> 00:05:13.761
Yeah, for sure.

00:05:13.761 --> 00:05:13.940
But I'm

00:05:13.940 --> 00:05:14.750
not gonna breed with'em.

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'cause the development wasn't right.

00:05:17.661 --> 00:05:18.716
And something, I'm gonna

00:05:18.721 --> 00:05:24.031
look at who the parents were and go, do you constantly throw birds that do this?

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Or is it on a 10% basis, 50% basis?

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Maybe.

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I don't wanna breed with you too, as a pair anymore.

00:05:30.630 --> 00:05:37.151
Oh, I know what I was gonna say and I've thought about it and then I forgot it, but with getting old, y'all.

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By consistently observing your birds, making notes and studying those notes, you're gonna be able to spot when your line is starting to drift away from the breed standard.

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And it's going to happen, I promise you.

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They'll drift on you from year to year.

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I'm going

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through that now.

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You know that little saying of never, ever made extremes.

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Also I did some dabbling.

00:06:03.336 --> 00:06:03.942
How that work out for you?

00:06:04.612 --> 00:06:05.661
It's approved theory.

00:06:06.562 --> 00:06:06.851
Yeah.

00:06:07.312 --> 00:06:16.137
As it turns out, don't do that because they compound on themselves and hit stronger that next generation and the next thing you know, you just wasted.

00:06:16.437 --> 00:06:17.187
Heterosis is great.

00:06:17.666 --> 00:06:21.237
No, the heterosis is great, the hybrid vigor, but by the time you go

00:06:21.237 --> 00:06:27.357
full circle with it, it's a full two years you've wasted on that scientific experimentation.

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So I'm glad I got it outta my system.

00:06:29.846 --> 00:06:30.776
But also,

00:06:30.877 --> 00:06:34.507
You get, you got to see a punt square in action develop.

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Boom, there it is.

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And it tickled my little peanut brain, which is great, and I'm glad to be past it.

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But

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it's good that you did that now and not.

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Four or five years further down the road.

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Now I can really confidently say any outside cross you do, whether it's into a different genetic family within the same breed or a complete outcross into whatever, know that you're gonna bring a potential of seven years of ramifications by having done that.

00:07:04.822 --> 00:07:07.942
And some of'em aren't gonna become apparent until you've already spent.

00:07:08.497 --> 00:07:10.117
Generations.

00:07:10.687 --> 00:07:10.776
Yep.

00:07:11.336 --> 00:07:13.887
This is not quick, fast, easy stuff.

00:07:13.887 --> 00:07:31.737
This is compounding generation to generation and adding that diversity to see your genetic persuasions and what all's in there know that you're not making as good a progress as you could have made by doing a different approach.

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You're not gonna reinvent the wheel, you're just gonna learn a whole bunch.

00:07:38.036 --> 00:07:43.377
On how those traits actually move forward through the flock and which things will skip a generation or two.

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Yep.

00:07:44.726 --> 00:07:44.906
Yep.

00:07:45.807 --> 00:07:59.086
One thing I want to talk about and Mandelyn, you and John are really good at this, is when you evaluate your birds, y'all evaluate them peer to peer.

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It's the only way.

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Same

00:08:00.706 --> 00:08:02.747
hatch, same age, same type.

00:08:03.646 --> 00:08:09.766
When Madeline, I, you're probably as thorough as anybody I know, but how do you do that?

00:08:10.336 --> 00:08:10.607
What?

00:08:10.607 --> 00:08:12.916
What's your thought processes when you go through that?

00:08:13.766 --> 00:08:17.726
So a lot of people seem to get hung up on what am I basing my decisions on?

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What's my example?

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So to streamline it and make it easier on myself.

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I don't agonize over which bird I'm going to do first.

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I walk into a pen.

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I review that pen and I try to find my favorite visually while observing.

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So when I pick that bird up and I handle to confirm what I think I saw, that bird will become like my baseline bird.

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Every bird I pick up after that is either better, the same or worse.

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So there's a reason my sort cage has three holes.

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Those three holes, let me go.

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Good, better, best.

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Wonky to not so wonky to pretty, okay.

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Depends on the batch and that breeding behind them and what they're showing me.

00:09:04.586 --> 00:09:15.927
But being able to rank'em into three groups really helps me streamline and then group them and then come up with an assessment of that group.

00:09:16.826 --> 00:09:21.476
Now, the next group, I'm not comparing'em to the group before, just themselves.

00:09:22.376 --> 00:09:26.907
But some other important factors, I think is your sorting station.

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You've got everything up at the proper level.

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You've got good uniform lighting all around, and that, that was one of the things that impressed me the most about the time I was able to visit your farm is well, and I have I, a scale and a

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notepad and everything's waist height, so I get a good head on view.

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Everything is there to make the evaluation process as easy as possible on you and on the birds where, I've experienced this.

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My birds actually look forward.

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They'll jump up on the scale and pose for me

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with routine.

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They make it pretty easy.

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They do.

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They do.

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And

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I can go through and sort.

00:10:05.361 --> 00:10:22.756
Having those little cardboard cutout silhouettes of your breed standard and the shilling photos are great for that, for a fluffy bird'cause you've got a general s silhouette, but it still requires hands-on to make sure what's under there is being telegraphed out in the plumage.

00:10:23.027 --> 00:10:23.116
Mitch,

00:10:24.067 --> 00:10:24.288
and you

00:10:24.822 --> 00:10:36.336
talked about, I've got a friend who's a morons breeder who goes outside with color cards at two 30 on overcast days to grade her eggs because that's lighting is important.

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Like the standard.

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That's the standard for the moron egg, or it might not be two 30, but there I remember distinctly something about it has to be an overcast day outside with the color card.

00:10:46.451 --> 00:10:46.692
Yeah.

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Direct.

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I'm not changing or change the

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saturation.

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Yeah.

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Makes it natural.

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I lost point, to me, I see a dozen really brown eggs to her.

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She's oh no, this one no.

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That egg and that egg.

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I'm like, okay.

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So she already selected down to two from a dozen before they even got set.

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Is there anything that you two use.

00:11:08.386 --> 00:11:10.187
That could be a tip for our listeners.

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When you're doing your peer-to-peer selection like

00:11:14.746 --> 00:11:14.897
Make

00:11:14.897 --> 00:11:16.966
sure you're using consistent lighting.

00:11:18.236 --> 00:11:20.996
Even the surface I learned from you zone can make a difference

00:11:21.537 --> 00:11:24.687
right from the beginning straight down on the head from hatch.

00:11:24.716 --> 00:11:24.777
Yeah.

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What's their skull width?

00:11:26.576 --> 00:11:27.777
How do their eyes set?

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Having'em at waist height really makes a big difference.

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Like I, I can host my own chicken show in my own barn every day if I wanted to.

00:11:38.547 --> 00:11:39.716
I do pretty much.

00:11:40.287 --> 00:11:43.917
The other thing I'm lighting, and I know I've talked about this before, is making sure it's a f.

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Flicker free light source.

00:11:46.451 --> 00:11:46.542
Oh yeah.

00:11:46.601 --> 00:11:53.142
And you can check it very easily by using your digital camera on any pocket device and recording in slow motion and playing it back.

00:11:53.621 --> 00:11:57.011
If you see a strobe, your lights are doing that to your chickens.

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It's so fast we can't see it happening, but they do.

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It stresses the birds

00:12:01.662 --> 00:12:02.442
stress amount.

00:12:02.831 --> 00:12:03.282
It does.

00:12:03.331 --> 00:12:05.341
Nice subdued ambiance.

00:12:05.371 --> 00:12:14.101
You don't wanna open flame in your barn and you can't really get incandescent bulbs anymore, but you can get flicker free bulbs, and I do recommend that.

00:12:14.701 --> 00:12:16.711
And it's not a strong, harsh light either.

00:12:17.611 --> 00:12:19.292
It's easier on you and your birds.

00:12:20.192 --> 00:12:20.761
One thing that I.

00:12:21.317 --> 00:12:30.197
Find is that it's much easier to evaluate your birds if you've been handling them all along as they're growing up.

00:12:30.402 --> 00:12:31.417
So they're used to that.

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They're it.

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They're not flipping out and panicking because they're not.

00:12:35.826 --> 00:12:39.067
This is a whole new situation because

00:12:39.067 --> 00:12:39.366
right

00:12:39.697 --> 00:12:45.876
when birds are stressed or excited, their whole body type changes guarantee you.

00:12:46.731 --> 00:12:47.836
Yes, it really does.

00:12:48.172 --> 00:12:54.201
And that can even include a complete change in their silhouette because when they Oh yeah.

00:12:54.201 --> 00:12:54.682
Stress.

00:12:54.682 --> 00:12:57.922
And when they feel on alert, they pull their feathers in tighter.

00:12:58.251 --> 00:13:07.011
Not their natural carriage, but like when two boys are getting ready to face off, you can watch'em, those feathers pull in and tighten because it's a protective measure.

00:13:07.792 --> 00:13:09.591
And then they'll stand up taller.

00:13:09.652 --> 00:13:11.751
They'll stand up on alert.

00:13:12.052 --> 00:13:15.231
And that's a completely different bird than the relaxed bird.

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Every animal, if you observe them, has a similar pot horse.

00:13:18.831 --> 00:13:20.667
Horses will stand up with their ears pinned back.

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Same with canines.

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They all do it.

00:13:23.971 --> 00:13:26.042
Another one affects development.

00:13:26.522 --> 00:13:27.902
Everything affects development.

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Another thing I've noticed, I've seen people who are raising their birds out on range, but they bring them in and they put'em in wire bottom cages to try to evaluate'em.

00:13:39.356 --> 00:13:41.576
They don't even know how to stand on that surface.

00:13:41.606 --> 00:13:43.486
They don't it, it throws'em off.

00:13:43.486 --> 00:13:45.496
It looks like a totally different bird.

00:13:45.527 --> 00:13:45.677
Yeah.

00:13:46.096 --> 00:13:47.326
If they're not used to it.

00:13:48.226 --> 00:13:49.581
And mine are raised on use

00:13:49.586 --> 00:13:50.986
wire bottoms to break a broody.

00:13:51.076 --> 00:13:52.517
That's all I ever use'em for.

00:13:53.417 --> 00:13:56.206
And they're, mine are raised in the hitching time system.

00:13:56.417 --> 00:13:58.576
So they're always on wire.

00:13:58.576 --> 00:14:01.397
It's plastic and it's especially shaped plastic.

00:14:01.397 --> 00:14:03.226
There's a lot of engineering, but it's a lot of plastic.

00:14:03.797 --> 00:14:13.576
So I try to get'em off of that as soon as possible, and onto grass and dirt and soil, and en engaging with the natural environment.

00:14:14.476 --> 00:14:23.356
Now, what method are you guys using to protect yourselves from emotional bias when it comes to picking favorites?

00:14:23.356 --> 00:14:26.297
Like you're focusing on the bird, not your sentiment, right?

00:14:27.106 --> 00:14:27.557
Yeah.

00:14:27.912 --> 00:14:28.331
Oh, you

00:14:28.331 --> 00:14:28.652
have to.

00:14:29.297 --> 00:14:36.856
You have to I come from a culinary background and then into a agricultural and farming background to feed people.

00:14:37.336 --> 00:14:43.517
So every bird eventually is going to feed us in some way.

00:14:44.417 --> 00:14:48.197
I think one thing that helped me Mandelyn was getting my judge's license.

00:14:49.096 --> 00:14:50.746
Oh, that would do it, wouldn't it?

00:14:50.746 --> 00:14:52.966
Because now you're judging for strangers.

00:14:52.966 --> 00:14:58.427
You, I cannot look at a bird without thinking, okay, this is wrong, that's wrong, yada, yada, yada.

00:14:59.057 --> 00:15:01.606
And then I try, I force myself to do that.

00:15:01.606 --> 00:15:08.397
When I'm evaluating my own bird, I try to go at it from the standpoint that I have never seen that bird before.

00:15:09.297 --> 00:15:10.076
So I wanna, sometimes

00:15:10.076 --> 00:15:14.667
I have to spend an extra day on my selection to make sure the choices I made were the right ones.

00:15:14.767 --> 00:15:16.096
Yeah that's normal.

00:15:16.817 --> 00:15:17.356
That's normal.

00:15:17.537 --> 00:15:17.956
Sure.

00:15:18.011 --> 00:15:27.351
And we've gotten until week 16 or 18, and I've actually found by holding things over and, some birds are ready to harvest early.

00:15:27.826 --> 00:15:32.886
I know where they've reached a point where they're not gonna be putting on any more usable.

00:15:33.381 --> 00:15:35.871
Meat in relation to feeding them more.

00:15:36.142 --> 00:15:49.381
They could come out at 16 weeks and there's some birds that, they're out of breeding potential, but they may need to go to 18 weeks'cause they're still putting on mass in relation to the amount of food going in versus coming out.

00:15:49.932 --> 00:15:53.052
Some of my boys, so I don't get hard set on a processing date.

00:15:53.111 --> 00:15:57.162
I've got like processing tollgates so to speak.

00:15:58.062 --> 00:15:59.172
But it's about efficiency.

00:15:59.741 --> 00:16:08.072
It, my, all my mine's all based on, I have a finite income and I need to make that work to feed myself.

00:16:08.341 --> 00:16:11.011
I gotta feed my birds and feed myself in the process.

00:16:11.491 --> 00:16:15.091
It's just like going to the grocery store and looking at prices on the shelves.

00:16:15.542 --> 00:16:16.772
It wasn't until I figured out that.

00:16:17.576 --> 00:16:22.200
I was losing money by trying to save money, feeding my chickens, but that's a whole funny how that works.

00:16:22.205 --> 00:16:22.351
Podcast.

00:16:22.662 --> 00:16:22.951
Yeah.

00:16:22.951 --> 00:16:26.407
That we talked about that ad nauseum, garbage in, garbage out.

00:16:26.407 --> 00:16:29.197
We've all heard that before, but it's true.

00:16:29.256 --> 00:16:31.866
You let them express their maximum potential.

00:16:31.927 --> 00:16:39.187
And it's just, it's the symbiotic relationship that works and it's how it has worked for tens of thousands of years.

00:16:40.086 --> 00:16:53.427
Mandelyn said something earlier, and I wanna say it again because I think it's important, and that is, she doesn't rank her bird's keeper or cull.

00:16:53.481 --> 00:16:55.131
It's not a either or situation.

00:16:55.131 --> 00:16:55.581
With her,

00:16:56.481 --> 00:16:57.081
it's variable.

00:16:57.812 --> 00:17:00.091
It's 1, 2, 3.

00:17:00.991 --> 00:17:05.912
Good, better, best, or not so good, better and best.

00:17:06.406 --> 00:17:06.896
Depends.

00:17:06.896 --> 00:17:07.097
Won't depends.

00:17:07.998 --> 00:17:08.178
And

00:17:08.178 --> 00:17:10.097
we won't settle till our better is best.

00:17:10.097 --> 00:17:11.688
How's is that saying?

00:17:12.167 --> 00:17:13.337
But that's really what it's about.

00:17:13.788 --> 00:17:16.847
It's about improving the overall quality of your flock.

00:17:17.298 --> 00:17:21.438
My worst birds come from my most diverse genetics.

00:17:21.708 --> 00:17:22.607
Imagine that.

00:17:23.063 --> 00:17:24.413
Ironic how that happens.

00:17:24.712 --> 00:17:29.222
So when are you making that big jump from pen mating to pedigree mating.

00:17:30.048 --> 00:17:36.167
When I have sourced a fleet of appropriate size cages to organize it pen by pen,

00:17:37.067 --> 00:17:37.583
I'm working on something, it's gonna be

00:17:37.583 --> 00:17:39.557
a$1,500 investment

00:17:40.248 --> 00:17:40.728
Mandelyn.

00:17:40.728 --> 00:17:43.097
I'm working on something that could solve your problem.

00:17:43.698 --> 00:17:57.678
I'm working on a design for a pair mating pasture tractor, but we've gotta get the material for the prototype uhhuh, but it'll hold eight females, one male out on pasture with a slide door system for exposure.

00:17:58.143 --> 00:18:02.313
An a collection by the hen, so I can label it by the hen as it comes out.

00:18:02.313 --> 00:18:04.053
But that prototype we haven't built yet.

00:18:04.502 --> 00:18:08.597
I have designed a trap, nest front, retrofit

00:18:08.597 --> 00:18:11.238
onto any nest box standard size opening.

00:18:11.238 --> 00:18:11.508
Yeah.

00:18:11.748 --> 00:18:17.157
It's very simple to use, is basically just a three part system.

00:18:18.147 --> 00:18:22.038
But then you have to go retrieve, do you need a nest box for each 10 then for No.

00:18:22.067 --> 00:18:22.417
Let's

00:18:22.488 --> 00:18:22.637
No.

00:18:22.637 --> 00:18:26.268
Once you go and let them out and collect their egg, it's reset for the next 10.

00:18:26.268 --> 00:18:26.327
Yeah.

00:18:26.897 --> 00:18:31.278
So if you have a row of them, naturally what's gonna happen is they're all gonna get stuck.

00:18:31.698 --> 00:18:33.857
Hopefully not in the same box.

00:18:34.577 --> 00:18:35.657
'cause they do like to pile.

00:18:36.228 --> 00:18:38.282
You, that's, you can't overdo the box size.

00:18:38.282 --> 00:18:38.732
That's for sure.

00:18:38.732 --> 00:18:41.252
I'd rather you, you may need a deeper box.

00:18:42.153 --> 00:18:43.262
But not a wider box.

00:18:43.292 --> 00:18:49.863
And I say deeper box is because when the hen lays her egg, she will come to the front of the box.

00:18:50.363 --> 00:18:52.462
There's a gate there that she can't get out of.

00:18:52.768 --> 00:18:53.978
But she's moving to the light.

00:18:53.978 --> 00:18:54.548
That's normal.

00:18:55.448 --> 00:18:58.867
And if she's standing in where the eggs are, she could break an egg.

00:18:59.738 --> 00:19:01.907
So you want to give'em a little more depth to work with.

00:19:02.518 --> 00:19:06.718
So my thought was, because I like to use really fresh hatching eggs.

00:19:06.768 --> 00:19:08.268
Seven days old, no more.

00:19:08.538 --> 00:19:08.657
Yeah.

00:19:08.688 --> 00:19:15.288
So if I remove hens from their home pen and put them somewhere else, they might stress out and quit laying.

00:19:15.587 --> 00:19:15.708
Yep.

00:19:15.758 --> 00:19:16.357
They gotta be used to this.

00:19:16.357 --> 00:19:16.448
But

00:19:17.018 --> 00:19:26.528
if I had a tower inside of their home pen and made it a matter of routine to where, let's say I had a stack of three cages with automatic water.

00:19:27.053 --> 00:19:28.553
Feed cups, everything.

00:19:28.553 --> 00:19:32.752
They are adequately equipped to stay there for six days.

00:19:32.752 --> 00:19:35.542
'cause I expect five to six eggs a week from my girls.

00:19:35.873 --> 00:19:35.992
Yes.

00:19:36.022 --> 00:19:36.202
So

00:19:36.202 --> 00:19:47.153
then by doing that, I know their daily rate for those hens I put in there, I like my pens to have less than the number of birds they could fit.

00:19:47.153 --> 00:19:49.192
So my pens can fit up to 15.

00:19:49.613 --> 00:19:53.032
But for management and cleanliness, I prefer 10 or less.

00:19:53.303 --> 00:19:55.042
So nine females.

00:19:55.702 --> 00:20:01.343
One male, three females in hatching collection and rotate that.

00:20:01.492 --> 00:20:07.883
So three hens go in and then at the end of the week, I swap'em for a different set of three.

00:20:07.883 --> 00:20:11.153
And it becomes a matter of their routine in theory.

00:20:11.752 --> 00:20:15.167
And anybody who doesn't lay five eggs on their past, I pull them outta.

00:20:16.067 --> 00:20:16.742
They just come outta the.

00:20:17.643 --> 00:20:18.963
Yeah, I would say without knowing.

00:20:18.963 --> 00:20:23.413
So we need to, knowing know without what your daily production for each hand is that's critical to know.

00:20:23.863 --> 00:20:24.163
Absolutely.

00:20:24.163 --> 00:20:24.403
But then

00:20:24.403 --> 00:20:27.823
it's set up on a weekly rotation, which makes my life easier.

00:20:27.883 --> 00:20:28.153
Yeah.

00:20:28.242 --> 00:20:28.303
Yeah.

00:20:29.083 --> 00:20:29.563
If you get,

00:20:30.232 --> 00:20:36.008
With three hens, I can tell the difference between my five I have six pens all

00:20:36.008 --> 00:20:36.288
had nine,

00:20:36.988 --> 00:20:41.843
but each egg I know which hand laid that egg now just by looking at it and feeling it and going, oh yeah, I.

00:20:42.143 --> 00:20:45.173
It's her because they're like fingerprints to me.

00:20:45.982 --> 00:20:47.002
Even the eggs, bells,

00:20:47.512 --> 00:20:47.782
I don't know.

00:20:47.782 --> 00:20:50.032
I'll figure it out once the budget allows for it.

00:20:50.573 --> 00:20:50.813
Yeah.

00:20:51.413 --> 00:20:53.198
I can set you up with trap nest front.

00:20:53.198 --> 00:20:54.758
It's cheaper than you can buy coops.

00:20:55.657 --> 00:20:56.077
There you go.

00:20:56.587 --> 00:20:58.087
I'll pick your brain on that later.

00:20:58.627 --> 00:20:58.807
Yeah.

00:20:58.867 --> 00:20:58.928
Yeah.

00:20:58.928 --> 00:20:59.242
Not a problem.

00:20:59.508 --> 00:21:04.238
I've gotta get it all put together, but I had the first part of the prototype made yesterday.

00:21:05.137 --> 00:21:13.417
Now what would be great is if you had some, it's a, I forget what the file is called, that you can take to a library and have 3D printed for all the functional parts,

00:21:14.107 --> 00:21:14.887
the CAD drawing.

00:21:15.647 --> 00:21:17.837
I think there's a special file that they have that

00:21:18.018 --> 00:21:19.008
Oh or those

00:21:19.008 --> 00:21:20.357
printers that you just say, Hey,

00:21:20.538 --> 00:21:22.817
yeah, nah, got that.

00:21:22.817 --> 00:21:22.821
People who do that,

00:21:23.337 --> 00:21:26.337
People who do that maybe could step in and help us out.

00:21:26.337 --> 00:21:27.208
For folks that don't.

00:21:28.107 --> 00:21:30.798
Have access or is this gonna be a product that you're selling?

00:21:31.057 --> 00:21:31.597
What's going on?

00:21:31.597 --> 00:21:31.958
Maybe,

00:21:32.317 --> 00:21:32.798
I don't know.

00:21:32.798 --> 00:21:33.637
I haven't decided.

00:21:33.837 --> 00:21:34.137
Alright.

00:21:34.288 --> 00:21:35.307
I'll be your Guinea pig.

00:21:35.788 --> 00:21:36.208
There you go.

00:21:37.107 --> 00:21:40.468
For a long time, the only ones you could buy were like 80 bucks a piece.

00:21:40.968 --> 00:21:43.877
Is this the pictures you sent me a couple years ago?

00:21:44.087 --> 00:21:44.327
Yeah.

00:21:44.913 --> 00:21:45.732
Ah, okay.

00:21:45.732 --> 00:21:46.327
Yeah, I gotcha.

00:21:46.778 --> 00:21:47.948
And I know where you're going.

00:21:47.948 --> 00:21:58.042
Then somebody else started making the identical thing for$39, and I'm going to have less than$25

00:21:58.942 --> 00:21:59.292
uhhuh

00:21:59.698 --> 00:22:00.567
into making one.

00:22:01.018 --> 00:22:03.597
So I can beat that price if I do decide to sell it.

00:22:03.657 --> 00:22:03.718
Yeah.

00:22:04.587 --> 00:22:07.288
Anyway, we digress and get off of, we do that very

00:22:07.288 --> 00:22:07.587
well.

00:22:08.337 --> 00:22:12.478
Let's talk about flock gold in the selection process.

00:22:12.978 --> 00:22:16.428
Basically we're waiting on the flock to tell us what is and isn't working.

00:22:17.298 --> 00:22:17.807
Yeah, exactly.

00:22:18.708 --> 00:22:18.917
Yeah.

00:22:19.307 --> 00:22:28.722
But before you even put birds in a, the cage to start evaluating them, ask yourself, what's your goal for this group of birds?

00:22:29.522 --> 00:22:31.353
Are you looking for egg layers?

00:22:31.413 --> 00:22:32.343
Are you looking for meat?

00:22:32.343 --> 00:22:32.792
Birds?

00:22:33.692 --> 00:22:34.532
Show birds.

00:22:35.432 --> 00:22:37.593
Do you want birds with broody tendencies or not?

00:22:37.778 --> 00:22:38.317
You know what?

00:22:39.097 --> 00:22:42.458
What do you expect from this group of birds?

00:22:43.248 --> 00:22:45.948
That should be fall in line with your overall flock goals.

00:22:45.978 --> 00:22:46.188
Yeah.

00:22:47.087 --> 00:22:51.472
And then you go digging through that flock, looking for the birds who meet your standards.

00:22:52.373 --> 00:22:54.708
That hopefully also reflect their breed standard.

00:22:54.758 --> 00:22:55.208
Exactly.

00:22:55.208 --> 00:23:00.367
And the more you do it, the more it's gonna self repeat and it'll become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

00:23:00.367 --> 00:23:02.768
And the world will be a beautiful place.

00:23:03.667 --> 00:23:12.458
Let's talk about some tools and tips and techniques that we've used that makes for a better evaluation.

00:23:12.728 --> 00:23:16.147
For example, when I'm doing it, I want a clipboard.

00:23:16.147 --> 00:23:16.853
I, I.

00:23:17.018 --> 00:23:19.837
I used to use a camera, but now I've got my cell phone.

00:23:20.587 --> 00:23:21.278
I use that.

00:23:21.877 --> 00:23:29.407
I usually print out a spreadsheet and I can make notes on that spreadsheet and then I can enter it into the computer at a later time.

00:23:30.067 --> 00:23:38.117
And the other thing that I have found handy for me works well for what I do, is some various colored leg bands.

00:23:39.018 --> 00:23:40.607
Oh, leg bands, wing bands.

00:23:40.607 --> 00:23:42.018