Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[bnjrob]

Wish I did have a great typed male! It would make the culling decisions a lot easier. Most of the males have some good features, but they also have major defects. Hopefully I will have pullets with offsetting features and flaws. My better birds are large with broad backs and relatively wide tails (compared with their pinch-tailed brethren), but they also tend to have droopy wings, gigantic combs, long earlobes, long wattles, not enough leg, and backs that don't quite slope down to the rear. Since everyone is molting and it's also getting hot here I haven't been overly concerned about the wing carriage but I'm keeping an eye on it.

I think I figured out how the beaks may be breaking. Two birds were fighting on the roost (a weathered 2x4 on edge) and one got pushed off. In his scrambling to stay on the roost he grabbed at it with everything he had. He looked like a parrot for a second as he tried to break his fall by hanging from his beak. It occurs to me I have seen a couple of other birds do the same thing over the last week or so. Can't prove that's the cause of busted beak tips but it looks like a good prospect. I am glad to hear the beaks will grow back. It's only a millimeter or so that broke off.

Thanks for the pen construction tips, Bob. I do need to build more pens but I have to figure out where to put them. I don't want birds stuck in 4x4 pens that are not well shaded, and I'm out of shady spots in the yard. In the meantime I'm culling the scraggliest, most pinch-tailed birds of the bunch.

Sarah

Remember - there aren't any perfect chickens. I honestly think that part of the enjoyment of breeding them is trying to figure out who has what flaws and who would be a good mate to help offset those flaws. Keeps it interesting that way.

The large combs, lobes, and wattles are probably because of your locale - HOT. In talking with other Java people and seeing photos, it seems like people up north have more males with smaller combs, lobes, and wattles compared to us people that live where it's hot a lot. Our females have smaller combs - they start panting at lower temps than the males do. And touching the males combs and wattles - talk about exuding some heat from them things when it's hot!

Our main breeding cock broke a good part of his beak off - grew back almost before I realized it and no problems since.

We had a great hatch last week - 17 in the brooder now. The last hatch until fall/winter is in the incubators now. Was not expecting such a good hatch with the Styrofoam incubator. Got chicks coming out my eyeballs. They are spending their first day outside in the newly finished secure chick play pen. Should get a decent idea of how the match went for the current breeding pens before we start hatching again later. Gotta change out the chicks spiral leg bands already - they have about outgrown them in just a week.

 

[MagicChicken]

Quote:
These birds came direct from Duane Urch as day-old chicks in mid January. They have yet to experience a Tucson summer. I don't think these particular large combs are due to Tucson heat. But the combs might get even bigger after the birds have been here a while. Yikes...

I'm glad you got such a great hatch! Keep us posted on the results.

 

[thedragonlady]

Remember - there aren't any perfect chickens. I honestly think that part of the enjoyment of breeding them is trying to figure out who has what flaws and who would be a good mate to help offset those flaws. Keeps it interesting that way.

The large combs, lobes, and wattles are probably because of your locale - HOT. In talking with other Java people and seeing photos, it seems like people up north have more males with smaller combs, lobes, and wattles compared to us people that live where it's hot a lot. Our females have smaller combs - they start panting at lower temps than the males do. And touching the males combs and wattles - talk about exuding some heat from them things when it's hot!

Our main breeding cock broke a good part of his beak off - grew back almost before I realized it and no problems since.

We had a great hatch last week - 17 in the brooder now. The last hatch until fall/winter is in the incubators now. Was not expecting such a good hatch with the Styrofoam incubator. Got chicks coming out my eyeballs. They are spending their first day outside in the newly finished secure chick play pen. Should get a decent idea of how the match went for the current breeding pens before we start hatching again later. Gotta change out the chicks spiral leg bands already - they have about outgrown them in just a week.

Oh, so true about birds in the South developing largeer combs due to the heat ! Living in Ga, and now in S.C. I've realized that for years. We've had 85 + degree days already , and some of the smaller combed females have been panting. The fans go up today. The hops vine has almost covered the west end of my main run for shade too. Once the humidity kicks in , the birds will hang out in the shade in the breeze during the hottest part of the day. It's a trade off...If I'm going to breed for smaller combs on my show birds; I have to keep them comfortable.

 

[Robert Blosl]

You live in Alaska and want to keep your male in your basement. Do you only want one male with say three to five females?

If you could get someone who lives down the road from you a friend or relative to keep a male for you as a spare. You could breed the male to the females then the next year pick the three or four top females that you feel you have got improvement on and then mate back to this male. You could do this maybe for say three years then find a new male maybe a young male from the friend and then do this again.

Only having one male is tough. I tried something this year and it back fired in my face. I had a champion white leghorn bantam female and kept three males. I was going to rotate the males with her for three weeks then take the male out save the eggs and mark the eggs pen one and toe punch the chicks pen one. Then put the male two in the pen and do the same and toe punch the chicks pen two. Then the last male a cock bird her cousin a great typed male and toe punch pen three. Well she is a leghorn and they lay tons of eggs. She layed her first egg all season this past week. Will I have to do this during June and July? I don't know. I was then going to pick the best female from each male and mate the females back to their sires next year. Toe punch again the chicks then the next year I would have to do it again inbreed and or line breed back to the sires. Then the three family's would have her great traits and type and then would go with the rotational line breeding method.

Sometimes its looks good on paper and it will not work. I had two champion white rock bantam hens one thee and her daughter two years of age. I had them in a pen off the ground three and half feet. A stray part pit bull came in and jumped up and tore the wire on my door and the door opened they jumped on the floor of the pen. Then he kills them for the sport of it. I hatched only one chick from this star mating. He is a male. So my method of the super females hatching twenty chicks and then starting a new line breeding method is over. Five years of work down the toilet. I have her sister, a four year old male a champion him self of one show by the master breeder I got them from and that is it. I sold two trios to some friends and can go back maybe and get a new female. What I think I am going to do is give all the white rocks this Dec to my partner and let him take over the project and stick with my Reds.

I hope this helps you.

 

[Pozees]

Only having one male is tough. I tried something this year and it back fired in my face. I had a champion white leghorn bantam female and kept three males. I was going to rotate the males with her for three weeks then take the male out save the eggs and mark the eggs pen one and toe punch the chicks pen one. Then put the male two in the pen and do the same and toe punch the chicks pen two. Then the last male a cock bird her cousin a great typed male and toe punch pen three. Well she is a leghorn and they lay tons of eggs. She layed her first egg all season this past week. Will I have to do this during June and July? I don't know. I was then going to pick the best female from each male and mate the females back to their sires next year. Toe punch again the chicks then the next year I would have to do it again inbreed and or line breed back to the sires. Then the three family's would have her great traits and type and then would go with the rotational line breeding method.

Sometimes its looks good on paper and it will not work. I had two champion white rock bantam hens one thee and her daughter two years of age. I had them in a pen off the ground three and half feet. A stray part pit bull came in and jumped up and tore the wire on my door and the door opened they jumped on the floor of the pen. Then he kills them for the sport of it. I hatched only one chick from this star mating. He is a male. So my method of the super females hatching twenty chicks and then starting a new line breeding method is over. Five years of work down the toilet. I have her sister, a four year old male a champion him self of one show by the master breeder I got them from and that is it. I sold two trios to some friends and can go back maybe and get a new female. What I think I am going to do is give all the white rocks this Dec to my partner and let him take over the project and stick with my Reds.

I hope this helps you.

Wow, Bob, very instructive on the best-laid-plans theory, so sorry. Also very instructive on the value of spreading out your line.

 

[aveca]

A great lesson for everyone

 

[Robert Blosl]

Got a phone call today from a old time Rock Breeder asking me if I would put together a article for the Plymouth Rock Club Newsletter. More less a round up of who has what colors of Plymouth Rock Large Fowl.

There are not many old time master breeders of PLymouth Rocks left that is folks that have been breeding consitiently for 15 to 30 years. A few that have hit the ten year mark and a few who have stuck with it for five years or a little more. As always many I mean many get into them but get out about as fast.

So Need your help.

Where did you get eggs or chicks this year in large fowl Plymouth Rocks?

Whites

Barreds

Silver Penciled very rare

Partridge very rare

Buff super rare

Columbian biggest come back of all thanks to Yard full of Rocks.

How many of you got some Columbians from Scott?

Tell me what is out there in your view. I will think as well in my mind who has what and maybe we can kick around more interest among the nearly 200 Plymouth Rock Fanicers Club members to get some large fowl Rocks. Bantams are the norm in this club most have the different kinds. Getting started is hard as you almost have to drive to the breeders home or meet them at a show as they don't sell eggs or chicks. Cant blame them its not easy, and most of them have jobs and don't have time to fool with this event.

Look forward to your posts then I will write the article say Friday and email it to the editor.

Horst man Urch are the big chick supplier in a few colors. Jamie Duckworth in North Carolina have lost track of him did any one get any from him in the last year?

Jeremy of course has shipped some barreds from Frank in Kansas, as well as Kathy from Mo and his new strain of white rocks.


Has anyone got any barred rocks from Kraig Shaffer line in Ohio? How about the Cris out in Calif? Marvin Sugler from Arizona with his barred rock line? Hope to hear from you on this message board and thank you.


Foot note just took a look at the white rock bantam ckl and yet so young he has such outstanding type. So maybe I lost the two hens but got a great son and can give this to my partners and we will be off to the races next year in the breeding pen.

I posted this on the Plymouth Rock board. Need any input you may have on sleeper cell Plymouth Rock Strains out there and if you have any and who you got them from.

I think we found a nice strain of Silver Penciled Rocks in Canada back in January. I don't know if anyone got eggs from this lady and hatched them. She had no idea what she had and they where very nice in my view.

Look forward to your post or if you don't want to post send me a personnel message. Some times its not a positive experience and I will keep it to my self I never bad mouth anyone on there shipping of eggs or chicks. Its a very difficult think to do in the first place. I thank all of you who have tried to share your large fowl with beginners this spring. I can tell you in the past three years we have about tripled the populations of most breeds that are out there with your involvement.

 

[BGMatt]

Bob I know Larry Urban in WA state has Silver Pencilled, got some eggs from him indirectly. Breeders directory says he has Buffs as well.

 

[3riverschick]

http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/Outing/Volume_44/outXLIV01/outXLIV01o.pdf
The RISE AND FALL OF POULTRY BOOMS By H. S. BABCOCK
Just a word about the LA84 Foundation site. This is an incredible online archive put together by the folks handling the 1984 LA Olympics. The idea was to showcase the history of sport for those wanting to study it. Thus, they archived years of old lit and magazines. The neat thing about this is that the years they archived included the early years of dog and poultry shows. In the beginning, the dog shows were often seen in poultry shows. Noted dog breeders were poultry breeders first. O.P. Bennett, for instance, was a nationally known Brahma breeder before he founded and made a success of Tazewell Collies.
There is a plethora of early poultry and dog lit here. Just a treasure trove for researchers.
Best,
Karen
Searching for : Outing : gets a lot of wonderful poultry things in that magazine. Then you can just search for : poultry : and 65 pages of hits come up including breed specific articles on heritage breeds. Lots of ways to search this archive. Most of the pages of "poultry" hits are show results and ads. Searching by author for "Babcock" brings 5 nice articles on poultry by the noted poultry man. More "author" searches reveal 5 poultry articles by "Sando" and breed specific poultry articles by "Wheeler". including Rhode Island Red ; Wyandottes; "Plymmith Rocks"; Indian Runner Duck. Author "Rexford" brings up a series of 13 articles from 1907 thru 1909 on "Country home" living including caring for the poultry flock.
"FOWLS FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN"
Good and Bad Qualities of Leghorns, Anconas, Black Spanish,
Minorcas, and Andalusians
By ARTHUR S. WHEELER

 

[catdaddyfro]

I got 10 Columbian Rock chicks from Fogelly this spring(still unsure of the sex ratio yet it looks like 6 male/4 female typical of my luck anyhow) they are from Scott's strain(Yardfullofrocks) and I too received 14 White rock eggs from Jeremy(XWPoultry/j-whip) only 2 hatched but will make another go at getting enough to establish a breeding group, heck I may have male and female IDK yet they are only a week old, we shall see. I have Barreds from Kathyinmo and matt1616 all from XW Poultry Farms also.



Jeff