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Some people I know butcher later for more flavor to the meat. Have I butchered my birds earlier? Yes, I have butchered both my breeds at 14 weeks for use as fryers. Do we want our birds to mature faster? No. That is the whole point. If we wanted to eat a fast growing chicken, the fastest, we'd...

I only said some of the NH exceed the weight. Most are spot on with their weight and I don't see any in the shows underweight. With large fowl, you have to be mindful of birds losing size. I said my Buckeyes were 16-18 weeks old. (Where did I say NHs at 16-18 weeks?-- I said Buckeyes.) I don't...

I could not disagree more. The SOP was written at a time when standard bred poultry was the commercial industry, America's food. Read the first 39 pages of the SOP, look at Figures 1,2,39, 40,41 (Page 13-15 "Instructions to Judges, For Economic Qualities of Standard-Bred Fowls, e.g. about head...

I wasn't referring to any one post in particular as I didn't read them all, just some of the last posts or two. Yes, breeding to SOP is breeding for production. Production refers to meat as well as egg production. A Leghorn's body and other egg laying breeds are built for egg production and not...

Fwiw, NH are a dual purpose bird. Thry should lay a fair amount of eggs but their bodies are built to be a good meat bird. A NH should never lay like a Leghorn. If yours does, you no longer have a NH. I would also add they lean to the meat side of things. The more a meat bird, the less their egg...

Me too. I certainly would not hesitate vaccinating my LF Buckeyes for Marek's if I were having losses. I have not had a loss since 2010 when I lost a cockerel to the disease.

I like the integration of different species on my small farm. I believe it is the way it should be. Young Buckeye cockerels follow my cows around picking off horse flies and chasing the bugs. Buckeyes are exceptional foragers. Here young Buckeyes hang with my Dexter Bull:

There's no better mother hen than a game hen. On my place, all the chickens fear my Toulouse Geese. The Toulouse rule the barnyard. My gander will even attack my 90 lb dog -- fortunately my dog does not attack back but just gets out of the way. I had a game hen who had hatched chicks under the...

This all depends on your breed, what part of the country you live & your set-up. There are not any hard and fast rules. My Buckeyes lay eggs in winter and will go broody in winter months too. I do not let them hatch and raise October-mid-February. I incubator hatch & raise indoors those months...

First, there must be adequate space in a coop, in a run and places for young birds to get out-of -the-way. Each person has to develop a system that works for them. What works for one may not work for another. There are not hard and fast rules here on integration. I can only tell you what works...

Oh I would have to respectfully disagree. It sort of depends why you want chickens. If you want a show bird, then Rocks, Reds, NHs & Wyandottes are probably what you go with, for sure. There's more of them, a bigger gene pool to play & more breeders. However, if you want a hardy, tough farm/...

Quote: Does anyone have any pictures of Red Dorkings to share ?

Yes. I tried having some BR turkeys with my chickens but found myself always having to be vigilant for blackhead in the turkeys (and keeping meds on hand) so I got rid of them. I have not had a chicken to succumb to it.

Quote: No offense taken here. I want to make the point that the RIR, NH, Brown Leghorn have always had lots and lots of breeders in all fifty states, and they & other breeds (such as Rocks) will always have lots and lots of breeders-- which is exactly why the Buckeye needs the few breeders...

"Hype" and "ploy" are derogatory in their meaning. Hype also denotes that what is being said about something is inflated or not true. What about Buckeyes that has been said is not true? Of course, there are lots of deserving breeds,and I wish I could have them all. I wish I could be a Sandhill...

Quote: BTW, Your analysis of that taste test in the SPPA Bulletin a few years back was very insightful, educational, well thought out . . . certainly wroth repeating. The ALBC taste test only tested the Dorking (of the Dorking-Houdan-La Fleche), correct? All breeds were tested at the same age...

Quote: Not in my area of the country. The only meat processors do deer, cows pigs (mammals) but do not process poultry. And we asked our local butchers and the answer was "no." So, we are left to process on our own. Most people react to us like we're crazy when we tell them we process and eat...