A Heritage of Perfection: Standard-bred Large Fowl

[Yellow House Farm]

Is this conversation relating to the Eastern Ohio Poultry Association Show at Tallmadge, OH ???

Nope, this would be the Ohio National in Novermber during Veterans' Day weekend.

 

[Regin]

Thanks, I haven't planned that far ahead yet.

 

[Wisher1000]

If you have any hope of going, you had better start planning, they have already filled the two main hotels and are about to have the third one booked. I'll bet rooms will be hard to find next month.

 

[Regin]

I would stay wish my sister. There are advantages to having relatives

 

[kimberly35042]

Okay, guys, I'm going to Ohio and taking birds. Who all is going, besides Joseph? I will take my best, overall birds from the F1 group and the worst backed one. Any other suggestions?

I'm leaning towards attending as well!!

Do our local shows in Clanton have anything to offer you as far as judges and getting opinions? Also, a nice man and his wife from Jemison came and bought some sebastopol geese from me earlier this year. He mentioned his son was an APA judge though I don't remember his name. If you think that might help, please PM me, and I'll give you the parents contact info.

 

[Kinmera]

I wish I could go to ohio! This year however we are only going to make the Rochester ny poultry show in October and maybe the wny/twin tiers show in September. I'm hoping to get a few more of my breeds to work with because I need to increase egg numbers and bird quality both

 

[Redtractorranch]

I have raised bantam Cochins for years, but am moving to a mountainous piece of property in Northern California and would like to choose a different breed that may be more adapted to the terrain and am looking for suggestions.

These are some of my constraints and preferences:

1. I showed a lot in the 80s, but rarely since. I still try to breed to standard, but my family does not enjoy spending the weekend at the shows and I don't enjoy going alone. This allows me to breed something less common that could take years to bring it up to show quality. I like the process, I am not in it for the awards or points.

2. My county only allows 4 roosters over the age of 6 months per parcel. I have two parcels, so I can go to 8, but that severely limits my ability to breed slower maturing birds like Wyandottes. It also eliminates the use of a cockerel line in double mating. I don't mind double mating, I would just have to focus on a pullet line, though.

3. Cockerel culls will be going in my freezer. It would sure be nice if I was able to identify culls when they were young enough to still be good eating. I don't mind holding over 10-15 until the 6 month mark allow the potential keepers to mature, but if I am hatching 100 or so a year I want to be able to cull the majority sooner than that. This could mean that it is an early maturing bird, or it could mean that it is a breed that has it major faults be something that is easy to cull early on (leg color, roach back, bad combs, stubs etc)

4. This sounds silly, but I don't like white birds. I know that they are easier to get the type right etc, etc. The reality, though, is that I think they are boring and when they molt, my yard looks like it is covered in snow. Its not to say I wouldn't own a white bird, but if I am going to be feeding these things and looking at them every day for the next 10 years I should at least like what I see.

I am also not in a hurry. I plan on getting a trio of the 4 most promising breeds and raise them for a year or so before settling on "the one". I have already been down the road of taking someones suggestion of what the "best" breed for me would be and going all in only to find that I hated that breed.

My inclination is towards one of the "neglected" breeds: La Fleche, Campine, Java, Dorking etc. or a color variety that needs help (Speckled Sussex). This bias is mainly since I know I won't be showing much so I think I would contribute more to the fancy by helping to keep one of the rarer breeds from degrading more. I probably will show once or so a year just to give myself a check in to make sure that I am progressing with the breed and not getting tunnel vision.

I am particularly interested in how others chose their breed. Yellow house, how did you choose white Dorkings?

Suggestions? Comments or ideas?

 

[fowlman01]

I have raised bantam Cochins for years, but am moving to a mountainous piece of property in Northern California and would like to choose a different breed that may be more adapted to the terrain and am looking for suggestions.

These are some of my constraints and preferences:

1. I showed a lot in the 80s, but rarely since. I still try to breed to standard, but my family does not enjoy spending the weekend at the shows and I don't enjoy going alone. This allows me to breed something less common that could take years to bring it up to show quality. I like the process, I am not in it for the awards or points.

2. My county only allows 4 roosters over the age of 6 months per parcel. I have two parcels, so I can go to 8, but that severely limits my ability to breed slower maturing birds like Wyandottes. It also eliminates the use of a cockerel line in double mating. I don't mind double mating, I would just have to focus on a pullet line, though.

3. Cockerel culls will be going in my freezer. It would sure be nice if I was able to identify culls when they were young enough to still be good eating. I don't mind holding over 10-15 until the 6 month mark allow the potential keepers to mature, but if I am hatching 100 or so a year I want to be able to cull the majority sooner than that. This could mean that it is an early maturing bird, or it could mean that it is a breed that has it major faults be something that is easy to cull early on (leg color, roach back, bad combs, stubs etc)

4. This sounds silly, but I don't like white birds. I know that they are easier to get the type right etc, etc. The reality, though, is that I think they are boring and when they molt, my yard looks like it is covered in snow. Its not to say I wouldn't own a white bird, but if I am going to be feeding these things and looking at them every day for the next 10 years I should at least like what I see.

I am also not in a hurry. I plan on getting a trio of the 4 most promising breeds and raise them for a year or so before settling on "the one". I have already been down the road of taking someones suggestion of what the "best" breed for me would be and going all in only to find that I hated that breed.

My inclination is towards one of the "neglected" breeds: La Fleche, Campine, Java, Dorking etc. or a color variety that needs help (Speckled Sussex). This bias is mainly since I know I won't be showing much so I think I would contribute more to the fancy by helping to keep one of the rarer breeds from degrading more. I probably will show once or so a year just to give myself a check in to make sure that I am progressing with the breed and not getting tunnel vision.

I am particularly interested in how others chose their breed. Yellow house, how did you choose white Dorkings?

Suggestions? Comments or ideas?

How about New Hampshires. They mature early, lay early and they are trying to make a come back....... but are not so far out of whack that they would take 20 years to improve. If you showed a lot you may know me. (Walt Leonard). What area are you moving to?

Walt

 

[desertmarcy]

I have raised bantam Cochins for years, but am moving to a mountainous piece of property in Northern California and would like to choose a different breed that may be more adapted to the terrain and am looking for suggestions.

These are some of my constraints and preferences:

1. I showed a lot in the 80s, but rarely since. I still try to breed to standard, but my family does not enjoy spending the weekend at the shows and I don't enjoy going alone. This allows me to breed something less common that could take years to bring it up to show quality. I like the process, I am not in it for the awards or points.

2. My county only allows 4 roosters over the age of 6 months per parcel. I have two parcels, so I can go to 8, but that severely limits my ability to breed slower maturing birds like Wyandottes. It also eliminates the use of a cockerel line in double mating. I don't mind double mating, I would just have to focus on a pullet line, though.

3. Cockerel culls will be going in my freezer. It would sure be nice if I was able to identify culls when they were young enough to still be good eating. I don't mind holding over 10-15 until the 6 month mark allow the potential keepers to mature, but if I am hatching 100 or so a year I want to be able to cull the majority sooner than that. This could mean that it is an early maturing bird, or it could mean that it is a breed that has it major faults be something that is easy to cull early on (leg color, roach back, bad combs, stubs etc)

4. This sounds silly, but I don't like white birds. I know that they are easier to get the type right etc, etc. The reality, though, is that I think they are boring and when they molt, my yard looks like it is covered in snow. Its not to say I wouldn't own a white bird, but if I am going to be feeding these things and looking at them every day for the next 10 years I should at least like what I see.

I am also not in a hurry. I plan on getting a trio of the 4 most promising breeds and raise them for a year or so before settling on "the one". I have already been down the road of taking someones suggestion of what the "best" breed for me would be and going all in only to find that I hated that breed.

My inclination is towards one of the "neglected" breeds: La Fleche, Campine, Java, Dorking etc. or a color variety that needs help (Speckled Sussex). This bias is mainly since I know I won't be showing much so I think I would contribute more to the fancy by helping to keep one of the rarer breeds from degrading more. I probably will show once or so a year just to give myself a check in to make sure that I am progressing with the breed and not getting tunnel vision.

I am particularly interested in how others chose their breed. Yellow house, how did you choose white Dorkings?

Suggestions? Comments or ideas?

Have you considered large fowl Orloff? They are not in the SOP yet (a group on Facebook is working on that) but if you aren't going to show anymore, that may not be an issue. They are gaining in popularity, so hope they do get admitted to the standard soon. I have kept Orloffs, Delawares, Plymouth Rocks, Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire, Ameraucana, Wyandotte, all large fowl, and of those, the Orloffs were my favorite because of their personality and beauty. If your mountainous area you are moving to is a cold climate, they will do well. I had to give up on mine because they didn't take the heat well where I am, so sadly, I no longer have them. Their downside is they do mature slowly, are hard to sex until they get close to 4 months old (in my experience, maybe others can sex them sooner). They get fairly decent size for a meal but not as big as a Rock.

How I choose a breed has first and foremost to do with utility. I want a large bird for meat and eggs, so I look at dual purpose breeds. They have to be hardy in a hot desert climate, be able to take the heat. They have to appeal to me in their form and color. Like you, I'm not crazy about pure white birds. They have to take confinement well since I don't free range. They have to have a mellow temperament. No tendency towards meanness in the males or hens that want to take your hand off when taking eggs out from under her. Those are some of the things I take into consideration.

 

[gjensen]

I played around for years, and began to have a preference for a type. That type was best represented by the New Hampshire. The New Hampshire could be said to be my "first love".

Overtime I came to appreciate more active breeds, that to me, made better old fashioned farm breeds. I prefer the colors black tailed red, white, and buff.

I began to wonder why there was no dual purpose birds that had the Mediterranean style, and in particular a Spanish flair. I sought out some Catalanas, and have made them my "project".

I like a bird that has some "spunk". Personality. To me, calm often meant lethargic or lazy. I like a bird that gets out and goes about it's business. I also expect them to fill the egg basket with large and extra large eggs of good quality.

I think choosing the breed is choosing what interests you the most. I think it is that simple, but not always so simple to know.