We honor Robert Blosi and his immense contribution to the love of poultry. In many ways, this thread is a kind of book, written by Bob along with all those who contributed to its content.
Thank you, Bob. You used to say, "When I'm gone to that great chicken show in the sky, no one will be...
Agree. That thread is loaded with folks with the top lines of Reds. Don't read from the beginning, just jump in and read the last 2 or 3 dozen pages. That'll pretty much get you up to speed. There will be a LOT of great Reds available next spring and the number of us who have them has...
There are breeders of most breeds and varieties here on BYC. Once you know what breed you're looking for you can get hooked up. Breeders often take excess stock to sell at fall shows. Eggs and chicks won't be available now until late winter as the breeding pens are not together. This time of...
Karen, I do not need references. But you might want to provide them in your own notebook for the time when such references are required. Not here, not now, but sometime.
I asked because it is brilliantly and succinctly stated. Thanks.
As a Rock breeder, the cushion shows me the composite nature of the bird and particularly the Cochin genes. It's always there, right below the surface and if left unchecked, it pops back out. Laura, I'm not 100% up to snuff as to the composite of the Buckeye that Miss Nettie put together, but...
Not that the rubber dishes are overly expensive, but they're made out of what appears to be tire cord.
Handy in the winter, but I don't bother with them in the summer. A simple re-purposed ice cream bucket works better. We must have a dozen, assorted small plastic pails collected over the...
Pinched tails can and does refer to both planes of geometry.
The Standard has great drawings of these faults and really helps to demonstrate them.
Beyond the standard for each breed, the Book, the Standard of Perfection has an awesome opening section of over 40 pages that is the bible on...
The ALBC, the American Livestock and Breed Conservatory is probably as good a place to find such information as any. It is entirely up to you to judge the veracity of their statistics and to understand their point of view.
http://www.albc-usa.org/heritagechicken/
Bob is always telling folks to go slow, start small and shoot for right down the middle. He also repeats that if you start out with outstanding stock, there is so much less work and the need to hatch out huge numbers isn't required. Much of that advice is noteworthy and worth holding onto...
Everyone has a different approach. When I sell a bird, it becomes their bird to with as they wish. We breed for productive, SOP birds. I'm not ashamed to sell folks our Red hens or our Barred Rocks hens. I do "interview" them a bit to see that they are not expecting ISA Brown type laying...
Laura, just to clarify, $52 was for the postage, the box was .... $8 ??? And, assuming this dozen chicks wasn't a gift, so add whatever they paid for the chicks? Thus, without having to say so or disclose anything, this dozen chicks could easily have cost the buyer $180-$200.
Shipping Live Chicks
My buddy Jimmyjay54 and I have been chatting about this shipping eggs fiasco that just happens so darn often. Won't bore you with the details, but lost, I mean LOST boxes for days, scrambled egg insides even though the very best methods are used, hot trucks, freezing...
Barred Rocks and Rhode Island Reds have made a lot of fans and there are many, many growing flocks, but then, they always were popular and widely kept a century ago. And, it is good to remember that it takes people who love the breed to keep it going. The breeds, any breed, must have a good...
We only do two, but with two strains in each breed? Well, that's actually four, I suppose. Yup, I agree that it pushes the limits. We've 6 acres, but the whole thing cannot be chickens, if you know what I mean. There's fruit trees and especially gardens, huge gardens that make up the major...