A Heritage of Perfection: Standard-bred Large Fowl

[Leela NH]

Yup. and then along comes your mentor(s) and other long time breeders who teach you things you'll never, ever get from reading books. So much of the most important "stuff" is not science. It's an art form. And most of it is passed down through oral traditions only.


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If you are really blessed the mentors and long time breeders come at the beginning of your journey into being a Steward. I am so grateful for my mentors...invaluable information comes my way and I soak it up like a sponge!

Leela
Kindred Hill Farm
NH

 

[JenniferDuBay]

@JenniferDuBay


now that you have finished reading this thread you should consider reading all that Bob wrote on BYC

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/posts/by_user/id/50062

I think the most interesting part of these posts is finding 3riverschick's links of turn of the century poultry books. It's cool seeing how it was done way back when, where it was a necessity to breed rather than a hobby. Very cool.

 

[RCleghorn]

If you are really blessed the mentors and long time breeders come at the beginning of your journey into being a Steward. I am so grateful for my mentors...invaluable information comes my way and I soak it up like a sponge! 

Leela
Kindred Hill Farm
NH

Very very true. I got extremely lucky that i met the people i did when i first started out. Come to find out they were some of the best leghorn breeders out there. And they have been absolutely wonderful mentors. Everytime i speak to them i learn something new. I dont think i could be where i am today without ever meeting those people. Mentors are priceless.

 

[ocap]

@JenniferDuBay


now that you have finished reading this thread you should consider reading all that Bob wrote on BYC

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/posts/by_user/id/50062


Quote:
Originally Posted by JenniferDuBay


I think the most interesting part of these posts is finding 3riverschick's links of turn of the century poultry books. It's cool seeing how it was done way back when, where it was a necessity to breed rather than a hobby. Very cool.

I always try to remember that Bob probably talked to the authors of those books, they were probably 50 or 60 years old when Bob was getting started.

You will begin to admire certain people on the BYC site, the way they reply to others or the logic they bring to a "conversation". 3riverschicks appears to be a research specialist from where I sit hundreds of miles away, pause and try and understand what your favorite people bring to BYC.

 

[DesertChic]

Yup. and then along comes your mentor(s) and other long time breeders who teach you things you'll never, ever get from reading books. So much of the most important "stuff" is not science. It's an art form. And most of it is passed down through oral traditions only.


.

My first (online) mentor passed last year. I compiled all of the advice he shared with me in a single document so I can easily refer to it as needed. I miss him terribly. Thankfully I've encountered a number of wonderful, sagacious people here on the BYC who always seem willing to offer help, guidance, advice and opinions. Their instruction and guidance has proven invaluable.

 

[JenniferDuBay]

I always try to remember that Bob probably talked to the authors of those books, they were probably 50 or 60 years old when Bob was getting started. 

You will begin to admire certain people on the BYC site, the way they reply to others or the logic they bring to a "conversation". 3riverschicks appears to be a research specialist from where I sit hundreds of miles away, pause and try and understand what your favorite people bring to BYC.

That's crazy. I'm getting to the age where the passage of time begins to boggle the mind. For instance, this weekend, we're going to a fossil a minerals show. Supposedly, it's been going on for 25 years. Long time, yeah? That was only '91. It boggles the mind that A) it seemed like that wasn't that long ago, and B) I've been alive long enough to think 25 years wasn't that long ago. Moreover, thinking in chicken years, that's 25 generations. If you need a minimum of a hundred pairs of lil chicken feet on the ground to have a workable culling population to strive for perfection, that's 2,500 chickens, minimum, in that time frame.

I simply can't imagine being the steward of 2,500 lives. That's 'awesome' in the traditional sense of the word. I think I am discovering a corner of chicken math and my own mortality all in one.

 

[fscvics]

I started a thread of my own with a question and Ocap suggested I ask here. In the interest of simplicity I'll copy and paste here.

Edit: I posted in the wrong spot I guess so I'll just leave a link for my original thread and step out of the way.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1140803/super-vanguard#post_17729298

 

[Fred's Hens]

Can't help you with your search. In any case, the birds in question would have been merely "labeled" birds, meaning no such breed was ever developed nor accepted by the APA nor any standard written and accepted for them which explains your inability to find anything on Google about them. This thread is for Standard bred fowl, meaning APA accepted breeds.

Your guess of some local hatchery slapping a name on some White Jersey Giant mixes would be as reasonable a guess as any. The stories of giant birds of yesteryear is the stuff of folklore for the most part. The requisite bone structure required to support an active, breeding, laying bird of that size would be doubtful. Very few birds can exceed 10-13 pounds without collapsing into infertility and utter clumsiness, making their usefulness highly questionable and the birds very unthrifty.

 

[fscvics]

That's what I was suspecting. I might call Grandma and see what she knows since her memory is better than my dad's.

Sorry for posting in the wrong spot. Ocap thought I'd get more feedback over here. I still hope folks from that area with long memories might be able to help shed light on what exactly this was.

 

[gjensen]

Right, I was think of having the runs be 15' or 20' feet long by whatever the coop width would be for each individual pen (so either 4' or 8'). They would have access to almost 3 acres to range on different days (2 acres woods/0.85 acres pasture).

I do not even like 4'x4' pens for single large fowl though some are ok with that.