Buckeye Reviews

My husband and I received a buckeye hen and a buckeye rooster by accident. We ordered a straight run of rhode island pullets and ended up with 2 buckeyes. When my husband butchered all the roosters I told him to save the buckeye, not knowing at the time what it was, because he was unique looking. That was one of the best decisions I ever made.

These are the friendliest, calmest birds I have raised.  Instead of shrieking in fear and running when you work in the brooder, they come running to see what you are doing. 

Now that they are in a coop, you have to take extra care not to step on them as they are curious about everything.  They 'talk' to each other a lot at bed time. 

Highly recommend, please take care to purchase from a reputable breeder.  Buckeyes were almost extinct so it is important to breed to standard to maintain the qualities that make them such a unique bird.

I have had Buckeyes for quite a few months now and can say they have captured my heart.

I have also been blessed with Champion Bloodlines...which is rare for a beginner despite I have raised chicken my entire life.

These birds are beautiful to look at, and very thoughtful & thinking birds.

My hens will jump in my arms to see what I am up to, sometimes coop cleaning is difficult to these beautiful & curious birds.

I have been blessed with some champions myself from this great bloodline.

These birds have been cooped & held for 6 days during blizzards and are fine....no fighting amongst themselves......the cockerels mature very slowly and are heavy at a young age.

By 5 mo old they begin to broaden, and by 10 mo old they thicken until you will be surrpised by what appears to be a different bird entirely.

Lanky and gangle at 4 mo of age...they grow slowly & are spectacular when they mature.

Docile & friendly, I recommend to anyone who wants a good layer.

healthy even in Blizzard conditions and lay a commercial equivilant of a large to XL egg.

Pullet eggs at 3 weeks are shown above with my ruler, and it only gets better folks!

Last phot of chicks is Buckeyes and Black Javas.

Wonderful breed of chickens in the northern climates. Gentle roosters that make this breed a blessing.

A great dual purpose breed for the northerner.  Our birds are very friendly, with the hens practically underfoot when they see us.  They are rather spunky and outgoing and make a great pet for the small backyard chicken enthusiast, and they are also productive enough to be considered good dual-purpose fowl for a small farmer. 

Our hens have proven to be excellent layers, but did take 7+ months to mature.  We were very surprised how large the eggs were even when the girls were pullets.  We do not give our hens a light during the winter but they are still laying very well.

Meat wise the boys grew slowly, but they made up for that in taste.  The meat was rather earthy, ironically almost nutty tasting. lol

In diet they aren't as piggish as some breeds we have raised, but they do require a bit of extra protein to grow to their full potential.  They do forage well if you want to cut back on the feed bill. 

I did mention temperament as a con as well as a pro.  Most Buckeye breeders have claimed their roosters to be very friendly, but we had some boys that didn't get this memo.  Thankfully, our breeders are very well behaved with humans and their flock mates.

Neither being on the top, or the bottom of the pecking order they easily fit into a mixed flock